The Man I Never Met is my favorite kind of rom-com. There's romance, some heat, but also a little left to the imagination. There's some snarky dialogue and characters that are as lovable as they are believable.. I can't do rom-coms that are just too cute, that have too much of a Hallmark movie vibe, but the Man I Never Met has just the right balance of will they or won' t they, can Hannah and Davey overcome the challenges they face, with the comfort of knowing that there will likely be a satisfying ending, which there was, and which I loved.

Davey dials Hannah's number instead of the job that he is interviewing for and it makes for a super fun meet cute.
After Davey gets the job, he messages Hannah that he got it and then things start up from there. Davey lives in Texas but will be moving to England for his job and Hannah and him strike up a friendship that leads to more. They are so excited to see each other when he moves there in January, but unforunately for both of them, things do not go as planned.
Davey doesn't show up that day and then when he finally responds to her, days later, she finds out the reason why. The book wasn't quite as happy as I expected it to be, and it was quite sad, but there were lots of moments of joy throughout. I loved Hannah and Davey's friends and family, they were always rooting for them and wanted them to be happy.
I am giving this book a 3.5 star rating because I really felt like it skipped over a lot of things. Each chapter was the next month, we had to infer a lot. Also, there were so much time that Hannah and Davey spent apart, or with other people that it felt odd to me and rushed at the end. I realize that the author had personal experience with this situation and that part was done with perfect care.
Thank you to Random House, Netgalley and Elle Cook for an early copy.

My main beef with this is just that it's not what I thought it would be since the main characters spend nearly the entire book apart from each other physically and are not in contact for a large chunk of it as well. But it is engaging and short, so I can't be too mad.

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I love emotional reads. I've had a very busy week, with parent conferences on top of regular teaching duties, after taking an extended weekend for my bday. Sometimes I have more time to read when I'm out and about and traveling - when I'm home and dealing with all the regular stuff, I run out of time to read!
It took me almost a week, but I really enjoyed The Man I Never Met. I finished it early this morning - my bestie who's in town this weekend thought I had a cold… nope, I was just trying to hold in all my sobs as I finished it.
Davey dials the wrong number, expecting to call the interviewer for an architect position he wants in the UK. Instead, calling from Austin, TX, he calls Hannah, in the UK, and a random friendship begins. Their new friendship builds as he finds the right number for the interview, accepts the job, and plans to move to the UK. Throughout this process, they both develop feelings for each other as they anticipate his move. Not sure why anyone would leave Austin (one of my favorite cities), but I kept reading regardless.
As the title suggests, the main characters don't meet. My heart broke a bit when that happened. But the surprisingly serious storyline kept me engaged. And the ending… that's where my tears came in this morning. To quote my friend, "I know you don't cry in real life, but do you always cry when you're finishing a book?!" Many times, yes. I just have a lot of feelings (I'm not that girl from Mean Girls but I totally understand her vibe) and a good romance just hits me with all the feels, in the best way.
This book comes out Tuesday and I think it's great, especially if you enjoy romances set in the UK. Thank you Random House and NetGalley for a widget to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. And thank you Elle Cook for sharing your personal life in this book - I'm excited to have read your contemporary debut, and I look forward to reading more of your books, both historical and contemporary.

I liked The Man I Never Met from the very beginning. I loved the “Cute Meet” that Hannah and Davey had.

The middle got a little slow and I didn’t really like the whole Hannah and George thing but I understood why the book needed it.

I loved the ending the most. It was perfect 😍

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for a copy of The Man I Never Met in exchange of an honest review

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of this book!

Star Rating: 3⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub Date: November 22, 2022

I am so torn on my rating of this book. On one hand, it's a solid 4⭐️ read. On the other hand, the plot drags as the two main characters make bad decision after bad decision after being put in a bad situation they didn't choose (and, in some cases, they did choose).

First off, the good. I loved the interactions between Hannah and Davey. Their chemistry was so well-done, and the way their relationship grew organically through phone calls and texts. Plus, they had the most adorable meet-cute, and I'm a sucker for any love story in which the lovers meet in a non-dating app/non-modern way. I like old school meet cutes - wrong numbers, bumping into someone in a coffee shop, etc. There's just nothing romantic about a story that starts with a right swipe, you know? The romance, up until the "big twist," was so romantic. The sexual tension, the longing and pining, and the build-up to the in-person meeting. Perfection!

Everything after that, though...a little bit of a let down until the last thirty pages or so. The story dragged at points, and both Hannah and Davey made bad choice after bad choice that had me screaming "NO!" at them in my head so many times. The bad choices, honestly, just compounded into a story that lost that tangible connection between Hannah and Davey for a while. I feel like their relationship was the strength of the story, and the middle of the book lost that important element.

The ending, though, was sweet and everything I could have hoped for. The poppy fields, the chance encounter, the friends playing a role...I loved it all. I just wish the middle had kept some of the heart that Hannah and Davey gave the beginning of the book.

This novel follows Davey and Hannah after an accidental dial leads to an unlikely friendship and romance, resulting in a scheduled meeting at the airport despite miles between then. After Davey fails to show up, this novel follows their lives after the failed meeting. With surprises along the way this is an emotionally tender and sweet love story.

First, thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Elle Cook for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Second, this was not the book for me, I unfortunately DNF’d it. I loved the premise, but it was boring. It was also hard to keep up with the text exchanges. They were thrown into paragraphs. In my option they should have been spaced out to make it easier to read.

More than half the book doesn’t even include Hannah and Davey together.

This was just the book I needed to officially pull me out of my reading slump! Holy smokes this story was a cute one! I love that this one starts off with a not so traditional meet cute. I met my SO on a dating app, so the way Davey and Hannah “met” made my heart smile. I also enjoyed that it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for their whole story either. Real life can suck, and this book did a fantastic job of showcasing that. However, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the way Davey handled things. He was kind of a jerk and immature at times, which I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt because oofta, but he still occasionally rubbed me the wrong way. I’m really glad he ended up figuring things out and I thought he really grew as a character. I really loved Hannah, though, and 100% felt for her. She was my favorite part of the whole book and I kind of want to be her bestie.

I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a cute (yet sometimes heartbreaking) romcom!

Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never even met? This explores that possibility when Hannah and Davey accidentally start a phone-mance after he accidentally calls her-a half a world away. As their relationship grows over the phone and they prepare to finally meet, he doesn’t show. The reason is life changing and it looks like they’ll not get their chance at love! Through the heart-ache, relationships and lingering thoughts we get to hear views from
both Hannah and Davey that help us feel and see the reasons for the life altering decisions. The author did such a great job handling a delicate health issue that we don’t often see in a rom-com contemporary novel. I definitely recommend! Thanks Net Galley for this advanced copy!

Kind of had a Sleepless in Seattle or You've Got Mail vibe. It was very emotional and is a real slow, slow. burn, but I enjoyed it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House-Ballantine for sending me a eARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars, rounded up

I just adored this book. Barely put it down over the last day because I needed to know how it was going to end.

Hannah, who lives in London, receives a phone call from a man who dialed the wrong number for a job interview. Davey lives in the US and is relocating to England. He sends her a message later to let her know that he got the job. As they are both single, they begin texting, calling, and eventually video chatting as Davey progresses toward moving. They develop feelings for each other and Hannah arranges to meet him at the airport...but he doesn't show up.

What happens after that just gave me all of the feels. It's heartbreaking, heartwarming, and very real. Every character in this book is well-drawn and the situations are incredibly authentic. I truly went through the gamut of emotions--happiness, anger, frustration, sadness, despair, hope--you name it I felt it! I liked and appreciated the growth the characters went through and the genuine friendships portrayed.

There are a few too many coincidences to make it fully believable, but I set that aside because it's just such a wonderful book. This author writes historical fiction under the name Lorna Cook, but I hope she continues with the contemporary romance because I will definitely read more of it.

THE MAN I NEVER MET in many ways feels like a more up-to-date SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE meets YOU'VE GOT MAIL. The narrative balance wasn't quite there for me (we really don't hear from Davey that much), and a lot of the story feels highly implausible. The reasons Hannah and Davey remain separated don't always feel convincing enough, but ultimately it's a feel-good, entertaining story with the satisfying rom-com ending you want. My absolute favorite contemporary romance? No. Worth the read? Sure.

A misdialed call, text messages, and video calls connect two people - Hannah in London and Davey from Texas in ways they never imagined. Davey misdialed Hannah while calling in for a job interview in London. They have a brief chat and Hannah believes that will be it, but then Davey texts her to inform her that he got the job! Hannah is happy for Davey; he is happy, and they decide to keep in contact.

Hannah agrees to meet Davey at the airport when he moves to London. She made a big sign and can't wait to meet him in person. She waits and she waits, and she waits. Concerned she texts him but gets no response. His plane has landed but he is nowhere in sight. There is a life changing reason why he wasn't there.

This was a wonderful, sad, hopeful, and lovely book. I enjoyed both main characters and their exchanges together. I loved how the author had two strangers connecting without meeting in person. I also enjoyed how the *oops* wrong number changed their lives. Most people would have answered and said, "sorry, wrong number" and moved on. Not Hannah!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about connections. I loved how in the beginning, one small thing (calling the wrong number) changed both of their lives. How making a simple mistake can have such a BIG outcome. The author also deals with a sensitive subject in this book with grace.

A brilliant book which pulled on my heartstrings and left me smiling.

If you love Josie Silver's books, or are a fan of Bridget Jones, The Man I Never Met is the perfect novel to pick up this winter. Can a misdialed phone call lead to something more? Hannah picks up when Davey calls the wrong number, and after a brief conversation, she thinks nothing more about it. That is, until Davey texts her with an update, and their text-chats continue from there.

I loved the slow burn development of the relationship between Davey and Hannah, and also the heartbreak when obstacles get in the way of happily-ever-after. This book made a good case for falling in love with someone you have never met in person. While at times I wanted to throw something at the characters to get them to get over their hangups, I was really rooting for a happy ending, and I also loved the supporting cast of characters who added much to the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House-Ballantine for the advance copy of The Man I Never Met by Elle Cook. The opinions in this review are my own.

Will they ever get their romantic E.M. Forster moment?🌾🌾🌄

4.5🌟 stars
I found this a slowest of the slow burn romances, but Davey and Hannah build a connection long distance that even serious illness cannot break. Is their initial conversation a fortunate fluke or fate? Happily, they get closer and closer, sharing their thoughts and inner lives through a month of ever more frequent and lengthy transatlantic telephone texts and calls in the expectation that they will soon be together in person.

The first part of their story is told by Hannah; later the point of view alternates between Hannah and Davey. I found this a good way to handle it because, for the period when the two are not directly involved in each other's lives, it was important to understand their individual thoughts and feelings.

The pace of this romance is a bit slow, but I loved its poignant heartbreak moments, their attempts to get on with separate lives leaning on family and friends, the way their paths just miss intercepting and the idyllic ending. Thanks, E.M. Forster, for setting a high bar for a climactic romantic moment!

In the end, I liked this story and the characters more than I initially expected; author Ellie Cook won me over! Cook has been added to my list of authors to follow.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

I enjoyed this a lot and I read it when I was in the perfect mood for a lighter UK romance. The beginning was awesome and I was satisfied with the end. There was more travel than I expected but I read it super quick and liked it a lot! Definitely recommend to fans of Jane Green, Sophie Kinsella, et. al.

The Man I Never Met comes out next week on November 22, 2022 and you can purchase HERE.

We start our films at the same time. He says he's had to really dig around the outer corners of every streaming service under the sun to find it, and I am full of dread. What if he really hates what has always been my favorite film? This is a bit like letting someone inside your soul.

Hannah and Davey are straight from your favorite Rom-Com. This book gave me Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, and Serendipity vibes.
I loved watching Hannah and Davey's relationship development and how the span of time showed the changing in each of their lives. I thought the middle of the book dragged, and the ending seemed rushed. This book was dual POV, but it didn't switch to Davey's POV until later than I would have liked.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I don't think I would pick it up again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell/Random House Publishing for the E-ARC.

*Spoilers* This story was really well done for the most part! I thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters, I think Joan the most. I'm sure we've all had a George in our lives and wondered about the one that got away. While I liked how deep Cook was able to dive into Davey's experience in his illness and mental wellness, I feel like the timelines were uneven, as if the second they finally met, everything was good and there was nothing left to get over. I honestly feel that it would've taken Hannah more than that initial explanation from Davey to be okay with all that she was put through, even if it was a result of him being sick. For the strong character she finally was able to build herself up into, it seemed a bit rushed for immediate forgiveness. I just wish there had been a bit more time/conversation put in for them to be together before the ending brought them to a full closure. I know there was an epilogue of sorts, but it still didn't feel quite adequate.

I wanted to throw my phone across the room over how these two characters were acting. I needed them to get out of their own heads and be with each other faster. I absolutely loved their love story even though I almost cried at the beginning and the end, and the—middle out of frustration. If you love slow-burns, met online trope, friends to lovers, and British people you will love this book.