To counterpoint the high concept romance, I wanted the pain that spurred the protagonist into doing it to feel very real: thus the awful separation and ‘emotional ghosting’ Laurie gets right on the cusp of starting a family and in sight of middle age.Īnd of course at the heart of it all is that romantic comedy mainstay: two people who imagine they’re chalk and cheese.”Įnjoy this classy rom com from a clever, witty writer.If faking love is this easy… how do you know when it’s real? If I Never Met You is Mhairi McFarlane’s sixth novel and she says she’d wanted to write the Fake Romance trope for ages: “The social media age is such a rich time to write the wholly performative love affair because there’s so much highlights-reel-showing-off going on already. You won’t, because look at the time and money and effort you’ll have wasted if you do. “The definition of Sunk Cost Fallacy is a refusal to change something that makes you unhappy. “I think long-term relationships are the most potent demonstration of Sunk Cost Fallacy you’ll ever see,” Jamie said. It’s a fauxmance rather than a romance, but things get complicated in this hilarious, touching and well-written tale which will have you turning the pages into the wee small hours. It was such a shallow thing, but Laurie felt so damn uncool for being satisfied by a life that Dan wasn’t.” She felt so foolish: the whole time he’d been growing colder, quietly horrified, hemmed in and alienated by it.

“Laurie had made them a great home and it still wasn’t enough. Laurie wants revenge to make Dan jealous.

He’s looking for a promotion, but his bosses have indicated that he needs to settle down. So when Laurie gets stuck in the lift with her good-looking colleague, Jamie, who is the office heartthrob, they hatch a plan to stage the perfect romance.

She is devastated by this turn of events, and to heap on more humiliation, they still have to work together in the same law firm. If I Never Met You is about Laurie whose partner, Dan dumps her after 18 years, just as she is hoping they will start a family. Fancy a bit of light relief from all the doom and gloom around us? Here is a fun, easy read with lots of humour and plot twists by the Sunday Times bestselling author, Mhairi McFarlane.

If i never met you review