You Had Me At Hello: The bestselling, most uplifting romantic comedy you’ll read this new year

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.

I just discovered this author in the last 6 months and I so glad. This book is sort of a journey in that it takes place over a period of 13 years although mostly in the present. A book within a book of sorts, which is a favorite of mine to read at times.It's a romance about falling for your best friend and being afraid of putting it all out there. It's also about good friendships that have survived past college graduation-10 years later. What you see outwardly as opposed to what's going on behind closed doors. I loved the main characters and also quite enjoyed the side friend characters as well as the exes that make it into the story. It was just flat out a good story with wonderful writing, characters and banter. 4.25 stars.FYI-Trigger warning of sorts. The subject of cheating is brought up a lot. The main characters do not cheat. It didn't bother me, but I know it does bother some people.

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 enjoyed this book so much I purchased ' Who's That Girl ' big mistake. I would never purchase another book by this author because of how she ended that book. She left it a complete cliff hanger no closure and with a rom- com that's criminal. I read the book ( invested money and time) only to be left with a ? mark. I felt cheated. So even though I enjoyed this book I resent the way the author manipulated the reader on ' Who's That Girl's so I want award her with another purchase

No. I'm sorry. Mhairi McFarlane is not doing it for me. Book 2. Strike 2.It seems that she follows the same criteria in setting up her story and characters.There's always a past when the characters are much younger, and they're so in love, but too stupid to admit it or do anything about it. Always ends with some misunderstanding or some form of really frustrating miscommunication and then bam...flash forward 10 years or so. And what do you know? Those two once-in-love characters end up running into each other, but hold on a second, because it can't be that easy! No no. They run into each other again, but one or both of them are involved with other people, of course! But that doesn't stop them being so in love with each other, that there's this insane amount of push and pull and resistance and temptation and honestly...it gets so tiring. The whole thing just gets so tiring. And of course, the poor other partner of one or both of these characters ends up being this jerk, because hey...how can McFarlane justify them leaving them eventually so the two protagonists can end up with each other in a happily ever after ending?It's really annoying. It's so frustrating for me when you read the backstory of the characters and you see how easily all of it could have been avoided. Rachel is kind of an idiot really. Her trust in that other colleague who ends up basically screwing her over is monumentally stupid. And Ben, why marry someone if you don't actually love them and have nothing in common with them? Why did he not read any of the letters Rachel wrote him? Not one. And all those secondary characters with their backstories that just dragged. I mean, McFarlane's books are big, and they don't need to be!I'm sorry, this book just does not cut it. I have one more McFarlane to get through, but that's it. No more chances after that.

My first book by MhairiGood McFarlane and parts of it I really enjoyed but it was too long-winded (and I usually enjoy a long novel) and full of dysfunctional relationships. If you went by this book you’d think every couple doomed. I liked the dialogue and banter, and the fact that swearing was minimal, but in general didn’t believe the connections between the characters. Rachel herself was a mass of contradictions - but then I suppose many of us are! I grew up in the area of south Manchester where the novel was mainly set so it was interesting to feel I knew where all the action was taking place. I’ll probably try a more recent book by Mhairi as there were times when I thought “yes, I’m enjoying this” so maybe I should try again!

My sister recommended this book to me....”It’s my go to Rom Com” she said...I did enjoy this book but it did prove to me that my sister and I look for different things!This book follows Rachel and Ben from their friendship at Uni through to modern day...skipping a decade in between. I found the flitting back and forth from present day to the past, at the start of the book, more difficult to follow than I think I should admit...(I was ill and tanked up on drugs when I read this!)...so would have liked a heading or something to make it clear.I guessed the story fairly quickly, but enjoyed it nonetheless. I loved how the difficult decision, that Rachel makes at the start, is received by her friends and family - this is how mine would react 100%! I also found her navigation through new singledom very believable.All in all this was a lovely book with a predictable but satisfying ending (honestly if it had ended any other way I’d have been really cheesed off!). Am looking for more from the author!

4.5 stars - While not as polished as Mhairi's later novels (the jokes are cruder, and slightly more steam between the characters) I still thought it was great. In fact I think I enjoyed the rough-around-the-edges aspect more. She has a knack of really getting inside her character's heads; I did feel for both Ben and Rachel. I enjoyed the flashbacks throughout the novel to show their developing relationship. Loved the twist at the end; I picked it early on but then she still managed to make it into a surprise.

It becomes clear with this book very quickly what the state of play is. Rachel and Ben are best friends through Uni but there are very definitely underlying feelings there between them. The problem Rachel is in a long-term relationship. When they go their separate ways at the end of Uni their friendship falls apart and ten years later bump into each other reigniting their friendship and those old feelings, except this time Ben is married.While the story was easy to read, and emotionally charged throughout I just didn’t connect to either of the characters in the way I would have liked. I found them both a little self-serving and immature. While the outcome is pretty much a given in these books I was hoping they would walk away lonely and apart because I didn’t think they deserved each other, they didn’t deserve that love or even wanted it enough.This was a fail for me, I didn’t enjoy the characters, every single person in this book is out for themselves, there is a definite lack of human compassion here. I found the plot predictable and unoriginal and I didn’t connect with the writing style at all.