Thank you Mhairi McFarlane for my lack of sleep last night and tiredness today. I started this with the intention of only reading a chapter or so and as always happens with McFarlane's books, ended up reading all through the night to finish it in one sitting. McFarlane does such a great job handling the sometimes difficult subjects in this book while also telling a heartfelt story about a group of lifelong friends, first loves, and heartbreak. Highly recommend, just don't start it right before you want to go to sleep.

OH MY!!! Just last week After my 10,000th reread of If I Never Met You, I thought “I need something new from Mhairi McFarlane”. FF, I hop on Netgalley and randomly select this one based on the cover and description, and it wasn’t until I opened it on my Kindle did I even notice the author! How serendipitous?!?!?! This was a great read to kick off my 2021! Sometimes McFarlane’s characters and their flaws can be formulaic and repetitive, but hey, it works. I love a witty protagonist and McFarlane delivers every time. I've read just about every McFarlane book (making Who's that Girl a priority to top off the list this year), and I love how she interweaves the genres of Women's Fiction and Romance. She also handles a couple of dark topics in this one [TW: sudden death and physical abuse], but she navigates seamlessly through processing and dealing with these emotions, I think much of this is owed to her descriptive and engaging writing style. I also just love the relevance you get when her characters refer to past and present pop culture moments - you really get a sense of who they are and it has me a bit more engrossed and aware of the setting. I’m looking forward to the final version in May. (less)

This book broke my heart, put it back together, then turned around and broke it again. It is a poignant look at a life long friendship of four people who tragedy hits and forces them to deal with things swept under the rug. Secrets, betrayal, manipulation, and unrequited love test this friendship during the toughest of times.

I just enjoyed how seamlessly Mhairi McFarlane took us between the past and present at just the right time so we fully felt what the characters felt then and now. I have to admit the British humor was beyond me at times. The sass and snark of these women (Eve and Susie) was entertaining, but it was the irreverence of Justin’s that really had me laughing out loud.

So, I stayed up all night reading JUST LAST NIGHT laughing, crying, and turning page after page. Well done, Mhairi McFarlane.

I received an advance copy of the book. This is my voluntary review.

Ugh, I tried. I seriously tried to get into this book and I had such high hopes for it. But the first several chapters left me bored out of my mind.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Sadly this book just wasn’t for me...

Mhairi McFarlane is one of my current favorite authors. Her books are always more than just romance. This tale of friendship and betrayal tugged my heartstrings and made me examine my own friendships and expectations of them. Highly recommend.

I don't know what it is about Mhairi's stories but I'm always so intrigued by the premise and I just feel let down by the plots and characters. There is nothing wrong with the book per se, but this plot let me feeling all the bad feels and I never felt like I was on board with the characters and their arcs throughout the plot. I do think it was well paced and the characters were interesting but I felt like they weren't totally fully formed and left me with a lot of questions.

Mhairi McFarlane has a very specific style of writing:
--northern English setting
--heroine who undervalues herself
--hero who is seen as an 'arsehole' at the beginning
-- often the book begins with the end of a long relationship or emotional affair.

So you know what you're getting when you start one. But man this one is her best yet. She's perfected her style, and Eve's story is so wonderful.

I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say it's Eve growing after a personal loss, and reconsidering truths she's believed for 16 years. And it's a lovely journey.

Friendships are forever or are they? This story follows Evelyn as she navigates love, loss, tragedy and finding the strength to love again, which is a lot for one story. Will the loss Eve is feeling, keep her from finding her happiness??
 
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This book was more of a 3.5 stars read for me. The subject matter can read kind of heavy with all the loss and back story mixed with family issues. I guess I never really found my groove reading this book. I also don't know of a more appropriate title but I wouldn't assume the subject by the title itself, if that makes any sense. Just an Okay read for me.

Thank you Mhairi McFarlane, netgalley, and HarperCollins for this ARC opportunity! ❤

Mhari McFarlane is quickly moving up my list of can't miss authors.
In Just Last Night, Eve, Justin, Ed, and Susie have been bffs since they were teenagers. But then one night something happens that changes their lives for ever. In the aftermath, Eve discovers a shocking secret and has to work out whether she really knows her friends at all. When she is at her lowest though, she finds a new confidant in an unexpected place.
This was the kind of book I couldn't put down and wanted to read "just more chapter" until it was ridiculously late at night and the book was finished.

I think this was the Mhairi McFarlanest of the Mhairi McFarlane books I’ve read. (Which is, coincidentally, all of them.) She has a specific writing style and a manner of unfolding the story - and that was in full effect here. And while I had a good idea of the major players and their roles nothing felt rote Bc McFarlane successfully tackles some big big issues in a beautiful way.
And because I just finished it I’m so tempted to say it’s the best of her books. (I should reread the others for an honest comparison - otherwise it’s the giddy buzz talking.) There were certainly aspects here where she outshone even herself. The beginning of this story was nearly flawless. It brought more emotion than I’d anticipated. It feels as if Ms McFarlane has honed herself to a shiny edge. And this story moves forward gracefully and easily - like a silvery little stream or river. Something natural and lovely.
I cannot recommend this author enough. I talked to another reader recently about how if you read any author enough you find something you can’t adore. But Mhairi and I? We’re not there yet.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to offer my unbiased opinion.

This was absolutely heartbreaking. What a lovely, tender read. This was so full of complex and beautiful friendships, loss and love. Superb!!

I really liked this book... I've read others by Mhairi McFarlane and was excited when I received the ARC for Just Last Night. The characters were relatable, witty and real. It was a little slow to get into but at the same time I didn't want to put it down. It was beautifully written with great dialogue and great characters. I was a little disappointed with the letters and diaries, I kept waiting for Eve to slip and read more and find something really juicy =) I would recommend!

Mhairi McFarlane once again did not disappoint! This was a slow burn, but when I really got the meat of the book, she tackles some hard subjects. Physical abuse, self loathing, overcoming, and more. It was a beautiful book about friendship, forgiveness, and moving forward. Her characters were difficult to like at first and I’m still not sure how I felt about Susie, but they all grew on you. Thank you Justin because he was a beacon in some of Eve’s darker moments.

This book has all the feels. It is a little slow to get into but please keep going as it is worth the read. Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.

If you haven’t gotten a chance to read Mhairi McFarlane, I highly recommend you remedy that ASAP! Just Last Night is the the forth novel I’ve read from her and simply put it was fan-freakng-tastic! This novel had it all—an incredibly well written storyline, endearing characters, and even though this novel brought tears to my eyes at moments, I found myself laughing hysterically at other times! Mhairi has a gift for writing novels that play out like a movie in your mind— so naturally I already have mentally cast all of characters lol!!! Just Last Night is a 4.5 star read that comes out just in time to add to your summer reading list—whether your sitting on a beach or relaxing on your back deck, this is the book you will want to be reading!

Fans of McFarlane's other novels will definitely enjoy this exploration of grief, friendship, and the ideas we project onto our friends and crushes and enemies. The romance took a while to get off the ground, which was unexpected, but enjoyable, as my favorite part of the book was how it handled the grief of losing a best friend. Some surprising twists and some complicated characters figuring themselves out, alongside laugh out loud funny lines.

Mhairi McFarlane does it again with Just Last Night! Just Last Night was such a great book and I truly felt as though I was right there with the characters, experiencing everything they were. After finishing If I Never Met you and now this book, McFarlane is being one of my must-read authors! Looking forward to sharing this title with our audience for great Summer 2021 reads.

Took me a little while to figure out where this was going, which was great. Her books are always so heartfelt and full of emotion and this one did not disappoint!

This was my second McFarlane book. The first I didn't care for, this one I enjoyed much more. My only complaint was that it was really slow getting going. I almost gave up at about the 35% mark but then the Finlay character got my attention and I started to want to know why he was such a black sheep in his family. I really enjoyed Eve's wit and sarcasm and that is what kept me plodding along in the beginning. By the end of the book I was really glad I stuck with it.

This was not at all my usual read, honestly, BUT that is exactly why I chose it!

And I thoroughly enjoyed it! This book is about friendship, and love. And I appreciated that this book stayed true to the wonderful, beautiful, gritty, and sometimes awful nature of relationships (both romantic and otherwise).

If you are looking for a story about actions and their consequences, dealing with the "What Ifs" of life, and growing and changing as a person--this is for you!

The characters are not stagnant, they have their twists and turns throughout the story. There are moments where they make TERRIBLE decisions, and moments where they make difficult and appropriate decisions as well.

In summary, this book is about love, loss, and LIFE. :)