A review by bowiesbooks
If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Where to begin? First of all I genuinely would not put this in the contemporary romance genre. The romance is not the forefront of the story, it’s more about Laurie’s journey, which is fine, but not a romance story. Secondly, I’m a massive sucker for the fake dating trope but this one just didn’t feel like it. Because Laurie gets broken up with in the first few chapters and her and Jamie start this fake romance to make him jealous, about 3/4’s of the book is about her still sifting through her emotions with Dan and trying to get over him. I found this really hard to then connect with her and Jamie as a couple because so much of the book was about Dan and their past. I just really didn’t feel excited or emotional when it came to their relationship. It’s an easy read and one with romance in it, but I really wouldn’t say it’s heavy contemporary romance as it missed a lot of the