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You Had Me At Hello Mhairi McFarlane 0884933652402 Books

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You Had Me At Hello Mhairi McFarlane 0884933652402 Books

I guess I went in with the wrong expectations. Just too much sad and not enough happy. The writing is fine, and I liked the characters. The best part of the book for me was the interaction between the heroine and her friends. Her friends are hilarious and unique and just so cleverly written. I found their stories much more interesting than Rachel's. I just can't get into a romantic story where the "hero" is married for 98% of the story.


Tags : You Had Me At Hello [Mhairi McFarlane] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <P>Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart.</P><P> Ten years after they said goodbye, Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day. As they talk, the years melt away.</P><P> But life has moved on. Ben is married. Rachel is not. And slowly but surely, Rachel feels the return of the broken heart she can′t do anything to mend.</P><P> Couldn′t put down ONE DAY? Love WHEN HARRY MET SALLY? Then this is the book for you. Hilarious, heartbreaking and everything in between, you′ll be hooked from their first ′Hello′.</P>,Mhairi McFarlane,You Had Me At Hello,AvonUK,000748805X,Contemporary Women,FICTION Women,Fiction,Fiction General,FictionRomance - General,GENERAL,General Adult,Great BritainBritish Isles,Romance,SCOTTISH NOVEL AND SHORT STORY

You Had Me At Hello Mhairi McFarlane 0884933652402 Books Reviews

Rachel's college days are over. Her journalism career covering the courts is going well, for the most part. And her age group is, one by one, heading down the aisle. Rhys, her longtime live-in boyfriend is ready to take the plunge. But somehow Rachel just can't bring herself to commit to anything less than something of the romantic caliber of one glorious one-night stand from her college days. Even though she knows in her heart of hearts that she'll likely never find it. Doesn't matter. Then new complications ensue when the other half of that one nighter moves back to town. With wife in tow. Yikes and now what???

This first novel by British journalist Mhairi McFarlane is warm, witty, great fun to read and, for this reader at least, unputdownable. The author gives us an added treat at the end Six mini essays on "Things we don't need to see in rom coms anymore." I also highly recommend Ms. McFarlane's second novel, "Here's Looking at You," which I read first and liked every bit as much.

Addenda 1/13/15 Good news! Ms. McFarlane has a third novel coming out in mid May, titled "It's Not Me, It's You."
Two former best friends reconnect after not seeing each other for ten years. She's newly single and he's....married. Quick-witted characters, an endearing heroine, and a love story with history come together to make a romantic comedy that I totally fell in love with. I'm two for two with Mhairi McFarlane's novels. YOU HAD ME AT HELLO was delightfully romantic with generous dose of laughs and heartfelt moments. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Ten years earlier at university, Rachel and Ben were best friends. Rachel had a boyfriend and Ben had, well, several ladies. But something broke up their friendship and they hadn't seen each other again until they bump into each other. Freshly single after ending her 13-year relationship (and new engagement), seeing Ben drums up all the not-so-best-friendy things she felt for him at university. The dashing and good looking Ben is very married and very unavailable. Timing sucks, right?
"Some people end up with their soul mates, like Mindy and Ivor. Some people end up with partners they can work at being happy with, like Caroline and Graeme. Some get second chances at getting it right, like Rhys and Claire. Some people get who they deserve, like Lucy and Matt....Other people, of which I might be one, end up on their own. And that's fine. I'll be all right."

The story is told through flashbacks to Ben and Rachel's time at university and the present time ten years later. I had such a blast reading this book. Rachel's character was so relatable to most women. She's hit 30, has a few extra pounds, and hopes no one calls her on it. Her career as a court reporter is going well, save for her male co-worker who dances around sexual harassment in the work place. She has a group of hilarious friends who would probably help her bury a body if she ever needed it.

One of the standing themes in this book is settling and comfort. Often times in life it's easy to fall back on things we're used to instead of taking that new job opportunity, putting yourself out there romantically, or making that extra connection. When Rachel and Ben see each other again, Rachel has just taken the leap of faith, turned over a new leaf, and started a new life. Meanwhile, Ben appears to have taken the safe route with his current wife. Over the course of the novel, we as a reader can glean that Ben's marriage isn't built on the same intensity of devotion he felt towards Rachel.

All of Ben and Rachel's hangouts in the present are either with Ben's wife present or brief work lunches, both respecting Ben's marital boundaries. But it's apparent that whatever feelings they had at university haven't completely evaporated.
"The whole world is one table by a window in a café-bar in Manchester and the person sitting opposite me. If joy could be seen by the Hubble, tonight scientists would record a peculiar iridescence on an island north of the equator."

There was a bit of slight book anxiety reading this book. I rooted for Ben and Rachel but felt conflicted over Ben's marriage. McFarlane didn't use a cheap tactic to make readers hate Olivia, like paint her as an evil villain or have her cheat on Ben with another character. She handled the situation gently. The dinner party scene gives great insight on the health of Olivia and Ben's marriage, even before Rachel got into the picture.

I love a good romantic comedy with a love story that has some history. This one fit the bill for me and was exactly what I was wanting. The writing was good, the characters were enjoyable, and my reading experience was really fun. There is a follow-up novella that I read right after this, After Hello (it's free).

* I purchased this book myself.
You Had Me at Hello was a amusing story and the dialogue was occasionally witty and funny in places, but it pales in comparison to her second book "Here's Looking at You" which was similar but funnier, better edited and more poignant. The characters in You Had me At Hello are much less appealing, the plot flows less, and the whole thing feels much less polished. I’m so glad I read the other one first as I might not have tried this author again based on this book alone and I’d have missed out on a really good writer.

First the good stuff the writing is really good and pretty snappy and the plot keeps you turning pages. It goes back and forth from present to past in a way that is easy to follow and keeps a good pace as one never gets bogged down in either time period.

The less good stuff I did not care much for the characters in this story. I couldn’t really get a handle on Ben who was good-looking but who seemed to be all over the map in terms of his personality and very inconsistent. Rachel seemed too much of a doormat for me to identify with. So rooting for these two was not a given and at one point (mini SPOILER here) it looked like it was really over and I felt relief and thought now they can both grow up and move on. Strangely, that would have been a more satisfying and realistic ending.

I had a few issues with the plot which have left me feeling uncomfortable about this book. Mainly the fact that Ben was married to someone who seemed perfectly nice and they’d only been married TWO years. This made the denouement of the story much less “satisfying”. Also, the culminating event which led to their being apart all those years was just not convincing and the scene in which she finally declares her feelings was jarring somehow because most of the reasons she had kept quiet all that time still applied, specially reason 1 above.

All that said, I highly recommend this author and I am so happy to have discovered her. This first book suffered by comparison to Here’s Looking at You but it was still pretty good. I am greatly looking forward to her next book!
I guess I went in with the wrong expectations. Just too much sad and not enough happy. The writing is fine, and I liked the characters. The best part of the book for me was the interaction between the heroine and her friends. Her friends are hilarious and unique and just so cleverly written. I found their stories much more interesting than Rachel's. I just can't get into a romantic story where the "hero" is married for 98% of the story.