ARC received from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This seemed unnecessarily long, but the last few chapters made it all worth it. I can’t remember the last time I swooned and stupid-smiled so much over the ending of a book! It’s adorable, and I enjoyed all the characters - especially Georgina’s group of friends. There’s so many lines and passages that I highlighted throughout that I look forward to revisiting when I need a pick-me-up.

Unfortunately this book was not what I wanted it to be, and maybe that falls on me and not this novel. I think the cover is a little misleading because it very reminiscent of the many illustrated romance covers that are very trendy in the publishing industry at the moment, which was why I had assumed it was romance. I’d say this is a bit more toward literary or woman’s fiction as opposed to romance.

At the time, I did enjoy the story overall. It took me awhile to get into it, which is why it took me several weeks to finish it and that’s unheard of for me. It didn’t keep my attention and fell flat for me. After some time, I was able to get into the story and finish it. I did find it funny, but it wasn’t what I wanted it to be.

Georgina Horspool is having a pretty awful day. She gets fired from one of the crappies restaurants in town, then goes home and finds her boyfriend in bed with someone else. But it turns out those might have been blessings in disguise, since that leads her into a job at a new pub. Except it turns out her ONE TRUE LOVE from high school, is one of the owners. Only, it turns out he doesn’t remember her. George can’t decide if she’s thrilled or heartbroken about that. As she learns from past mistakes and tries to go forward is a positive way, she finds herself falling in love with this boy all over again…

Holly: I got the audiobook so I could listen while I was at work and on my commute. I enjoyed the narrator, but she had a pretty heavy British accent that was hard to understand at times. I listened to about half, then read the rest.

What did you think?

Rowena: I read my eARC of this book so I had no problem with the accents in my head. LOL. I really enjoyed this one. Right from the jump, I was invested in what happened between Georgina and Lucas. There were parts of the book that moved slowly but for most the part, I wanted to know what happened at every turn. Sure, I wanted knee Lucas in the balls a time or two but in the end, I really liked him and Georgina together.

Holly: I wouldn’t classify this as romance. It definitely read more like women’s fiction. The book was more about Georgina’s personal journey and her relationship with Lucas was a side-note. I thought it was really slow in parts, too. The middle especially seemed to drag. But, like you, I was invested in Georgina’s journey, and wanted to see how things would turn out for her and Lucas. I really liked the way the end played out, though I didn’t fully buy into their HEA. I don’t think we saw enough on-page development of their current-time romance.

Rowena: I agree I wouldn’t call this a romance either since the focus of the book was more on Georgina’s growth as a person, finally moving on from her past.

I really loved seeing Georgina’s growth. I loved seeing her really grow into an actual relationship with her sister and her mother and then eventually, with Lucas. She had a great support system and my heart hurt for her when the people in her support group found out the truth about her past. I hurt for them all. I loved her personality and seeing her really rock it up there on stage at the open mic nights. Her Mom and sister annoyed me right up until they started supporting Georgina. I couldn’t stand the Step-Dad but loved seeing Georgina’s sister really step up when Georgina needed her to.

Holly: I couldn’t stand Georgina’s step-dad either, and I felt sorry for her mom, but I’m glad she came to a good place with her family. Especially her sister, Esther. I was pissed at her a good portion of the book, but she really came through in the end.

Man, I definitely cried at the end. Her last open mic night had all the feels.

Rowena: I agree. That last open mic night made me cry and love Georgina all the more. I’m glad that everything worked out for her in the end. She definitely deserved it and I thought Lucas handled entering her life again well.

I really connected with Georgina, right from the jump and enjoyed seeing her really come into her own. I also like Mhairi McFarlane’s writing style and enjoyed the way that she brought Georgina’s world to life. I definitely want to read more books by her.

Holly: I liked McFarlane’s writing, too, and I’ll definitely be looking for more books from her in the future.

Rowena: This one was one of my favorite reads of the month and I enjoyed it so much, I’m giving it a 4.5 out of 5. What about you?

Holly: I enjoyed it, but not as much as you did. I’m going to give it 3.75 out of 5. I really liked Georgina’s personal growth, but the romance was lacking and it was really slow in the middle.

I was expecting a cutesy rom-com and instead I got a story about female resilience and how to cope with bad men, bad family members and bad career luck. Hilarious and adorable!

Laugh-out-loud funny with an endearing heroine to boot. Georgina is served some hard times on a party sized platter but she's trying to change all that by leaving her cheating boyfriend behind and getting a new job. But her new boss is an old flame that doesn't even remember making her all hot and bothered! Georgina handles everything that life throws at her with grace and sass. You'll want to be Georgina when you grow up!

Georgina seems to not want grow up stuck on the memories of her high school experiences. She lost her first love, works a series of jobs, has one-night stands and no goals in life. Now in her 30s she's going nowhere. Sosing her recent job as a waitress she is a adrift again. Along comes the opportunity to bartender for one evening at a new bar in town which becomes a more permanent job. Lo and behold she finds one of the owners is her first high school love and he doesn't remember her. What a downer to the ego. The story unfolds and becomes more than a romp, romance, or comedy as the truth about Georgina comes out in storytelling. It reminds me of a meme I recently read that people who knew us in the past don't have a clue about who we've become. In this case does Georgina really know herself and can she discover the person she really is and what she can be and do.

I really, really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't capture me. To be honest, I thought it was going to be a light rom-com and it was apparent very early on that I was mistaken. Since I couldn't get into it, I will not be posting a review on Goodreads. Thanks for the opportunity!

For some reason I went into "Don't You Forget About Me" thinking it would be a laugh a minute. In fact, the book, while funny, has quite a melancholy feeling. Truly terrible things happen to our protagonist. I also thought it was a romance, and while there is a romance subplot it's not that either. All that being said I really loved it. Georgina Horspool is a hot mess - her boyfriend is a jerk and she is aimless at 30, having dropped out of college and bouncing from job to job. Georgina has always wanted to be a writer, but she is dealing with past trauma - slowly revealed over the course of the book - as well as a tendency to let things happen to her. I loved Georgina. She was a great friend - her friends were so lovely - and her relationships with her family members were messy and real. (I especially appreciated the family dinners - they were hilarious and sadly true to life.) I also really appreciated the way her relationship with her boyfriend is handled - after she catches him cheating early on in the book their relationship turns even more toxic. This book grapples with toxic masculinity, rape culture, abuse, and women's rage in a really considered way and with multiple characters. Georgina is also still hung up on her first boyfriend who unexpectedly comes back into her life. I really liked the way their story unfolded, but this book is about Georgina forgiving herself and growing up first, and then her love life second. Highly recommended.

Don't You Forget About Me was a really unexpected read for me. This read as more literary fiction than the cutesy romance I was expecting. It will really pull at those heart strings....read with tissues :-)

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

Don’t judge a book by the cover or even the first couple chapters…
I will be totally honest, it was really hard for me to get into Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane. This, in part, comes down to personal taste in writing styles; I have a hard time staying interested in a book with constant internal dialogue and over-saturation of adjectives for every little description and action, which is a big part of Don’t You Forget About Me. You are probably wondering why then I gave it 4.5 stars… it grew on me and ended up being a story that was well worth the read.

Mhairi takes the common experiences and struggles in life and conveys them in a somewhat snarky but surprisingly profound story about Georgina, an English girl in her late 20s who feels defined by her youthful identities and mistakes and allows them to shape her into an adult who is adrift in life. However, through a strange turn of events, Georgina is able to redefine how she sees herself, finally bringing her the true happiness she always wanted.

I think the expression, “not my cup of tea”, can be just as applicable with authors as it is with so many other things in life. Just because I don’t gravitate towards a certain style of writing doesn’t mean that particular author is untalented or that they cannot convey a message intertwined in an entertaining story. This is my take away after reading Don’t You Forget About Me. I am familiar with enough authors who write in the same style as Mhairi to acknowledge that it is popular with many readers. So while initially, I struggled to stay engaged in the story, eventually I found that there was actually an intriguing plot threaded between Georgina’s internal monologue and lack of confidence in herself. One of my favorite symbols is the pink fur coat she constantly wears as it becomes a representation for the image she has allowed others to define her as. In the end, Georgina’s self-transformation is inspiring.

Don’t You Forget About Me just goes to show that it’s worth giving stories a chance to develop before rendering a final verdict. Read it for yourself and I think you will not only be entertained but encouraged that there are still happy endings in life.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane follows thirty-year-old Georgina as her high school sweetheart, Lucas, comes back into her life during a whirlwind of change. This was a fun time, y'all! While I considered giving this one a 4-4.5 stars rating, I ultimately had my gripes and settled on 3.5 stars. I loved a lot of things about this book. The protagonist, Georgina, is a GEM, and I am absolutely desperate to be apart of a friend group like hers! From what I can tell, Mhairi McFarlane really excels at writing characters. I could also picture all of the settings extremely well, which tends to be one of the hardest things for me to do while I'm reading. I think my main complaint is the ending. This may be a personal preference, but I found the ending to be a tad bit cheesy and predictable? I know it's a romance, but I think I might have been a little happier with the ending had the author tacked on a few pages to the second to last chapter, rather than the entire last chapter. That's just my two cents, though. All in all, like I said, this is a super fun time, and if contemporary romance is your genre, I highly recommend checking this one out!

Trigger warnings: Sexual abuse/assault

Really great book! I enjoyed reading it. I’m recommending it to all my friends! I’m looking forward to purchasing it for my library.

Georgina just had the worst day ever. She got fired from her job (luckily which she hated anyways), only to come home to find her boyfriend in bed with another gal. Add to that, her next job she picks up is run by her first love, who doesn’t recognize her one bit. What will crossing paths again lead to? Is it too late for anything to happen, or is Georgina going to get a second chance at love?

First of all, don’t let that adorable cover fool you. What you’re going to get isn’t totally a warm-fuzzy rom-com... but more something that reads like women’s fiction. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, as I really enjoyed the book. I just think readers might like to know what they’re getting into. There is romance, yes, but it’s equally a story of figuring yourself and your life out and dealing with past wounds, with a side of finding love. (Trigger warnings worth mentioning: mental health, assault, bullying)

What most struck me was how this story had me laughing from the first chapters and then all the way throughout, while also making me tear up and ugly cry at the end. It’s the first book I’ve read by Mhairi and I found her writing to be sharp, witty, and simply fantastic. And then there were the characters, who I so enjoyed coming alongside. I was rooting for the likeable, relatable, foul-mouthed, pink furry coat-wearing Georgina so much, and oh, how I so felt for her. She’s one of those characters who works their way into your heart and you can’t help but want to give a giant hug to. I loved how she was always able to pick herself back up again when people/situations knocked her down. Side note: I always appreciate a group of fun/amazing friends as we saw here, and don’t even get me started on the cute dog and Lucas, who was also wonderful and ok, totally swoon-worthy.

Hilarity aside, this story was a quick, easy read full of warmth and heart, and I’d highly recommend it, especially if you’re looking for a rom-com with some great depth!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the complimentary copy.

This is a cute story of second chances with first loves. Don't You Forget About Me is a book that many people will relate to, for several reasons, especially if you've worked for an AWFUL employer. It's also a book about chance meetings in the unlikeliest of times, and I really enjoy books with that premise.

I look forward to reading more of Mhairi McFarlane.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This was SO GOOD. It was funny, sad, sweet... so much more than I expected. I went into this thinking it'd be your standard romance- cute, fluffy, sexy, but this was surprisingly deep. All I can say is: READ IT.

Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for the eARC! This review will be posted on Goodreads and to Barnes & Noble's website.

I really liked this, although it's definitely not a romance in the canonical sense of the word (the romance is not the central plotline, although there is a HEA). Instead, this is an excellent installment in the world of "chick-lit" or "women's fiction" (can we just call it fiction?), where the heroine grows on her own and doesn't need a man to solve her problems. Even the dark parts, which are slowly revealed towards the end, don't seem gratuitous.

I received a copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

I was drawn to the premise of this book as high school sweethearts reconnecting. However, I wouldn't say that this book is about that, it is more about Georgina and her path through the end of her 20's. I found myself checking my percentage read to see why the romance between Georgina and Lucas hadn't started yet and around 1/2 through I thought that the balance between the first part and the second part was off. I think the ending turned out rushed for a book who promises a reunion of sorts in the description. I liked the characters, except Robin of course! He was perfectly detestable and played the villain well. Overall I enjoyed the book it just was a different type of book than I was expecting.

4.5

Georgina Horspool has just been fired from the grossest most unsanitary restaurant in Sheffield. To top off her night she then comes home to find her boyfriend in bed with his personal assistant.

Kind of adrift after the double whammy, and needing money to pay bills, Georgina jumps on the next opportunity to come her way: tending bar at a newly opened pub. The catch - and based on how things have been going for Georgina you know there is one - is that the pub is co-owned by the boy she fell in love with at school: Lucas McCarthy.

Seeing how Lucas has grown and changed, and seeing his business success, makes Georgina take a look at her life. Where once she was voted most likely to succeed, in the past twelve years she's only been jumping from one dead-end job to another. The problem, however, is that Lucas seemingly doesn't even remember who Georgina is. With Lucas showing up again in her life, Georgina is forced to examine some deeply held secrets from her past. A secret that ultimately tore young love apart.

This is the first book by Mhairi McFarlane that I've read. It took a few chapters to really grab me. Starting out with a Prologue of "Then" readers are introduced to a young Georgina at the end of sixth year. We see her paired with a young Lucas in literature class. We see them begin to fall for one another. We get to the moment before everything went wrong when we're pulled out of the "Then" and thrust into the "Now". This is intentional on Ms. McFarlane's part for sure and I appreciated this fact because in order to understand the impact of the things that happen we need to see where Georgina is now. How her life has transpired since. The only thing I can complain about is the fact that I didn't feel quite the depth of devotion between young Lucas and Georgina that I feel should have come across. Seeing as how important their connect is/was to Georgina, I wanted to feel it more from the onset. Then, his forgetting her later would have been more of the blow I think it's expected to be.

Moving on, once I got past the first couple of chapters and really began to get a feel for and understand Georgina, I just didn't want to put the book down. It's undeniable that there's something that's held Georgina back all these years, something that has left a lasting impact upon her, and the driving force is witnessing Georgina come to terms with it, and speak her truth. I don't want to give too much away as I loved seeing the story unfold not really knowing - although certainly suspecting - what happened.

I really loved Georgina's character. Despite a sense of aimlessness - at least according to her family - she's a good person who works hard and tries really hard to do right by people. It shouldn't matter what her profession of choice may be, but to her family, she can't be successful without the 9-to-5 job with a pension, or somesuch. I liked that Georgina finds happiness on her terms and doesn't buckle under pressure from her family.

I love the tension between Lucas and Georgina. I mean, did he really forget her? Is he faking? Georgina's recollection of their brief time together marks a significance that isn't something easily forgotten with time and space. Their obvious pull towards one another is so palpable. But, again, I liked that, despite the memories seeing Lucas again conjures up, it's not only about Lucas, it always remains Georgina's story and her feelings. She's never overshadowed.

Don't You Forget About Me is a compassionate look at how certain situations impact you and stay with you, influencing you even if we don't recognize, at first, that, it is happening. It's a look at young love and the choices, and sometimes assumptions we make, that can blind us to the truth.

At the end of the day, I really enjoyed this read and I'll definitely be looking for everything else written by Mhairi McFarlane.

This was my first time reading a book by Mhairi McFarlane and I cannot wait to read more from her!

The story follows Georgina as she not only gets fired from her waitress job but also finds her boyfriend cheating on her all in the same day. Right after this all happens she ends up taking a temp job at a new bar only to find out her first love is one of the owners...after she gets hired of course. Since this story is based in England, the slang was a times hard for me to understand but that is what Google is for! I loved how much Georgina evolves throughout the story and gains her voice. Lucas is a lovable character and the love story does not feel forced.

There are some strong topics discussed such as assault and abuse. This was not the "typical" romance novel I thought I was getting but it was still enjoyable and kept me turning the pages.