Get ready for big revelations among Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed. Big changes are happening with this friend group. It won't be what you expected. A lot of secrets are going to be exposed when tragedy hits. But it will make Eve question everything in her life including her friend group. I won't go into too much detail but I love that Eva is changing in her life. She was kinda stuck in her life but when tragedy hits, it changed everything including her perspective of friends. It's okay to change. No one is never going to be the same as they were before. It's life. People evolve throughout the years. And Eve is going to realize what she is meant to be and maybe with whom. You won't know whom at first but definitely expect mixed reactions. Not all readers are going to love at first. But remember Mhairi McFarlane has a way in changing our mind with misunderstood characters. I do not know how Mhairi McFarlane does it but she knows how to make readers fall in love with villain-like/misunderstood characters. She is brilliant in her writing. Whenever I start her books, I always say nope I am not going to love this character and then, she starts her magic and reveals layer by layer and I immediately fall deeper in love. And she does it in Just Last Night.

A great addition by Mhairi! I love the group of friends and the multiple dynamics that always occur within a group. When one of them passes unexpectedly, all the secrets come out, and I think Mhairi handles grief and moving on in such a realistic way. It's not about being said all the time, but in those moments where you remember and it takes your breath away, or always thinking instinctively that you can't wait to share a story with that person, and then realizing you won't be able to. It's an addictive read, and though it has serious elements it's done effortlessly well. I would have liked a little more to the ending, but still well done.

Boy, was this an emotional one! More than I was expected. While the plot is completely different, it evokes some similar feelings to Meet Me in Paradise. With heavy themes of grief and what it means to know someone, this one has the potential to be a tear jerker. But it is also a romance, and has some humorous moments.

I will say that this book surprised me. I thought I knew what was happening/going to happen and then the book proved me wrong twice. TWICE! I love books that can surprise me without seeming implausible, and this one accomplished that. I don't want to say too much and spoil a beautiful story that thrives on the element of surprise.

TW/CWs for grief, death of loved one, and child abuse (physical).

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

After reading and enjoying one of McFarlane's other books, I was excited to give this one a try! I enjoyed the main character and think that she did some real growing up over the course of the story, which is always interesting to read about. My one main confusion is with the pacing of the story. It felt as if the plot didn't really start until about 20% in and even then not much happened until the last 15%. The relationship also seemed to go from 0 to 100 rather quickly with not much to go off of.

Overall, I would recommend this book as an unique concept, not quite so romantic romance story.

As I'm typing this, I still feel so raw and messed up just thinking about how utterly devastating and beautiful this book is.

I have read Mhairi McFarlane's past two books before this and honestly can say that Just Last Night has got to be her most emotional yet. It consumed me, made me think of the what-if's, reflect on my relationships, and grow alongside Eve's character who I found to be very relatable and loyal and endearing and real. To learn about her friendships with Susie, Justin, and Ed and see them interact as a close group and stay tight for more than a decade was so enlightening. The history was there, the separation anxiety, the dilemmas, the longing to be with each other forever, and eventually the heartbreak. I loved how McFarlane handled sensitive topics like loss and grief and betrayal and self-blame. It didn't feel rushed and I appreciated that as a reader, it felt like I am grieving too. That I'm also looking for that person everywhere, remembering stuff and wishing things could've gone differently.

I couldn't not give this 5 stars. I just can't.

This is only the 2nd Mhairi McFarlane novel I've read, and honestly, I was not expecting this one. The first I read was a more lighthearted rom-com, with a little bit of serious stuff, but this one was the opposite! 'Just Last Night' tackles some big emotions and topics: unrequited love, lifelong friendships, unexpected death, family trauma, abandonment, and more. The author writes these all very well, though a personal preference, I didn't like how the abuse plotline was sort of thrown in towards the end.
However, her characters are never flat and always flawed in a realistic, sometimes endearing, sometimes frustrating, way. This book was compelling to read and full of emotion and growth. I think you have to be in a certain mood to read this book, especially the first like 75% of it which can be quite heavy.
I wish the ending wasn't quite so rushed and didn't love that Eve was a little blindsided by some of the resolution. There are definitely some unexpected turns in the story and the romance part was really not swoony or epic, but a secondary tale, which I didn't realize going in.
I would still recommend someone pick it up, especially if they've read other books from Mhairi McFarlane!

This was my second Mhairi McFarlane, and I loved it as much as If I Never Met You! Her characters are well-developed and I cared about them. I’m a reader who always tries to predict what’s coming and this plot surprised me several times, which I always appreciate. And this author has great turns of phrase - I highlighted several excerpts including this one:

“There’s a nice lie that the world likes to tell us all, which is: it’s never too late. It’s too late, all the time, for loads of things. We should all be hurrying like the rabbit with the pocketwatch from Alice In Wonderland.

I think the truth is: opportunities in life are like doors flashing open and slamming closed, for good. You won’t necessarily notice when they’re open or get any warning when they’re going to close. If you don’t bolt through them when you can, then that is that.”

It doesn’t get a perfect score because of the ending, which wrapped things up a bit too neatly to feel realistic. But overall this was a delight and I had a hard time putting it down!

This was a terrific book!  It tells the story of Eve, Susie, Justin, and Ed who meet as teenagers and remain lifelong friends.  When an unexpected tragedy strikes, they are forced to reflect on the foundation of their relationships and what that means as they face a future so different, in many ways, than they could have every expected. 

This is above all a novel about friendships -- its joys, hurts, and complexities.  The author writes perceptively and movingly about the relationships between the four friends, making the relationships among the group and its individuals feel rich, realistic, and dynamic.  This yields an emotional and engaging read that makes you think about friendship, grief, and growth.

Highly recommended!

Eve has a rough night when her friend Ed, she's been in love with for years gets engaged during a night out with their friend group. The next day even worse news ensued. She lost her best friend Susie from an accident and now must deals with the grief, Susie's estranged brother and Ed. This book has so many layers and was such a beautiful story about love, lost and starting over,

This was a beautiful book. When I opened this book and read the prologue I had one idea of what was going to happen then was actually very surprised. I recently lost my mother and I connected so well to Eve. All her thoughts around grief, the loss of a person in such a quick way, and finding out things you never knew when they were alive. All of it was so real for me as it was in this fictional world. So many quotes expressed exactly how I felt. While this is a wonderful journey for those that can appreciate a fantastic book, it was beyond that for me. It was healing. It was reading Eve’s thoughts that were basically my own. It was reading this grieving process throughout the book and being able to work through my own grief. It will be a book I read many times and come back to certain quotes again and again. This was a beautiful story that I cannot wait to share with everyone.

You will to forgive me if this review has typos or nonsensical moments because I was up way past my bedtime even though I knew I had a busy work day ahead of me. There was just no way I was putting this book down until the end, My emotions were already so tangled up in Eve's story that I could not just set her aside until the journey was done. I laughed with her. My heart broke with her, I cherished her friends. I got so mad at her friends. I wanted more for her and applauded her growth. I am not sure how excited about the romance aspect of the book. I think I wanted Eve to work on her individual identity and happiness more. Considering my love of all things romance that is a testimony to how invested in Eve I became. if I was willing to forgo a good swoon for her emotions health.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very heartwarming story that deals with friendship, relationships, tragedy, loss and grief.

“Everything’s the same and everything will always be different.”

The story centers around Eve and her journey as she navigates the end of a relationship, being in love with her best friend, being stuck in a job she tolerates, and suffering a tragic loss. This story is emotional and at times painful...but the wit and humor is perfectly placed to balance this book. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed watching Eve grow.

Mhairi McFarlane is wonderful with character development, her humor makes me laugh out loud, her writing is top notch and her stories have a wonderful way of making me laugh, cry, and swoon. The perfect mix of emotional and witty. I really enjoyed this book.

Once in a while a book will completely surprise, completely gut me, then put me back together. This was the most recent one to do that. Prepare yourself when going into this book. Not only is this book hard to put down, the author takes you on an emotional journey on dealing with grief while learning how to grow and discover yourself along the way.

This author is the only one who’s writing style I enjoy with books set in England. While other books have failed with me, this author has a way of making cultural specific dialogue and customs universal instead of hard to read or understand. She’s able to convey an emotion that doesn’t get lost in translation.

Eve is tragic, yet relatable and writing in a way that makes you empathetic to her situation. Her world has been turned upside down and secrets come to surface and as the reader you feel as if you are going through the emotional rollercoaster of not only deciphering the people she thought she knew, you are there alongside her processing, discovering, and dissecting her new normal. The writing is charismatic with a complexity yet relatable tone to its emotional subject. Though you may not have gone through an event as Eve did, the author did a marvelous job making the emotions real and the characters authentic and engaging. I was beyond impressed with the amount of growth and development with Eve. It was endearing to see a woman hit her lowest point, to use that event and propel her into a journey of self discovery, to only come out on the other side stronger and confident than before.

There’s a surprise element to this book I wasn’t expecting. I went in with a different mindset and what kind of story I would be reading but it was completely different that the synopsis led on. In a way it is better than my preconceived ideas. It was a strange yet cathartic experience getting to the end of this story and seeing the final outcome. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC

This is only the 2nd full McFarlane novel I've read, but I already can tell she is not afraid to go down the difficult paths in her storytelling. 'Just Last Night' tackles some big emotions and topics: unrequited love, lifelong friendships, unexpected death, family trauma, and abandonment. Her characters are never flat and always flawed in a realistic, sometimes endearing, sometimes frustrating, way.
This book was compelling to read, therapeutic at times, and full of emotion and growth. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish the ending wasn't quite so rushed and the fact that Eve was a little blindsided by some of the resolution made me wonder about her often 'under the radar' insightfulness. There are definitely some unexpected turns in the story and the romance part was really not swoony or epic, but a secondary tale.
I would definitely recommend to my patrons that enjoy 'chick lit' and even more of a sub-genre 'brit chick lit.'

As a huge Mhairi McFarlane fan, this was by far one of my favorite books of hers I have read (and I think I have read them all). A theme I have found from Mhairi McFarlane's books in the past is that the build-up is the majority of the book so when the two main characters get together I tend to end there without much of an epilogue. While the way she writes the build-ups typically satisfies all my romance-y feelings, sometimes I want more about their happy ever after and this was the first novel of hers I read that gave me that! It was just enough to let you know how the characters were doing to let you know that yes indeed they are going to live happily ever after.

I also really enjoyed how this book handled grief from a multitude of perspectives other than just Eve's. When it comes to grief, past trauma, and general mental health all through a rom-com, I find that sometimes it isn't handled properly but I think Mhairi McFarlane smashed it. The lead-up and breakthrough to finding out Finley's past trauma while also dealing with love interests never felt cringe or inappropriate but instead very mature and authentic. Even the rhythm of the novel was written so well that you would be crying but soon laughing in a way that just felt so real.

I was initially worried about reading a rom-com that dealt with grief but with Mhairi McFarlane's comforting touch, it was absolutely brilliant.

I like the blurb on this one, but found myself struggling to get into it. It was a DNF for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC!

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this ARC!

Just Last Night is the first book I’ve read by Mhairi McFarlane, and it will certainly not be my last. Her writing style is so warm and comforting that even though this book had so many heavy topics, I felt like I was being comforted by an old friend.

The characters she writes are so lovable, yet so flawed. They’re human. And that is something that I don’t feel is as common in books today as it should be. I could see myself in Eve- settling for what’s there, not wanting to take many risks. I saw myself in Ed- creating idealistic situations where everything is sunshine and roses for me, but maybe not everyone else.

There is sadness, drama, anguish, and humor, happiness, and hopefulness. I truly felt every emotion through this book, and did not want to put it down.

I gave this book 4/5 stars because there were a couple plot points that I didn’t fully expect and kind of thought they came a little out of nowhere, but they didn’t detract from the book overall.

I received an arc from #netgalley for Just Last 🌙 in return for an honest review.

Mhairi is an auto buy for me. Her books are always funny, evocative, sweet, heartwarming and heart-wrenching in turn. I have read all of her precious/previous books. What I like the most is that there is a lot of supporting characters adding the right amount of appeal to the book and the book always has a real life quality to them.

Just Last Night felt mostly heart wrenching. As the excerpt says, Eve is hanging out with her 3 friends one day and the next day is no longer the same and their circle changes in a big way.
The setting of the book is a character in its own way in this book.

The negative of the book is I have to wait for her next book. Excuse me while I go cry buckets.

One of the many reasons I love Mhairi McFarlane's novels is because they give me *all* the feels. As I was reading Just Last Night, I became Eve. I'm not generally an emotional reader, but I gasped when we learned of the tragedy. It was so well-written that I felt like my own heart was breaking. Likewise, I felt lighter as Eve began to heal.

Mhairi also did a good job writing about abuse and its long-lasting effects on a family, as well as Alzheimer's.

Just when I thought I had something figured out another layer was added.

I literally could not put this book down. I needed to know what happened to everyone before I could sleep. I needed to know if friendships remained intact and how people were able to move on after the tragedy.

One of the things I love best about Mhairi McFarlane's novels is the rich friendships that populate her fictional worlds. These friendships are critical in all her books, but here, finally, the friendships take center stage in the plot. McFarlane's gift for writing friendship is so profound that when, only a few chapters in, tragedy strikes I immediately had a sense of the pain each of the characters was going through. When, in the wake of that tragedy, secrets begin tumbling out and characters from the past appear to further disrupt things, we understand deeply that it is the friendship between Eve, Susie, Justin, and Ed that is the true romance of the novel, even as other romantic plot lines develop. As usual, McFarlane also tackles difficult subjects here with grace and good humor, and never does the sadder plot points and revelations weigh down the story or the characters. Time after time again, I adore these books because they feel like people I know and am glad to befriend.