This book was so cute... I loved the main character, Roisin and going with her on her journey through her transitions in her life. I think all of the characters with well developed. I especially loved Roisin's relationship with Matt. All in all I loved this book!

I’m a big fan of Mhairi McFarlane and really enjoyed #BetweenUs, even though it’s different than many of her previous boo. I’d classify this story more as women’s fiction, than a standard romance because Roisin and her ultimate partner don’t spend much time alone together (and even less romantically).

This story is about the shifting relationships among a group of friends in their 30s, five of whom met 10 years ago while working together in a bookstore. It focuses on Roisin and Joe who have been together for the past decade. Roisin is a teacher and Joe is a writer, who is on the brink of being incredibly successful, thanks to the launch of his second TV series.

The group gathers for a celebration of an engagement, a birthday and the first episode of Joe’s new series. After watching the show with the group, Roisin feels betrayed when she realizes that Joe has incorporated a painful episode from her family life into the show without her permission or knowledge. This leads her to begin questioning what else in the series is based on real life, and what the truth actually is about her 10-year relationship with Joe. In addition, she is concerned about her friend group splitting up because of everyone’s changing circumstances, including a growing financial gap.

I found the story of Roisin's journey to learn the truth well written and engaging and kept turning the pages to see how everything worked out.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #AvonBooks for the ARC.

Some angel at Avon Books granted me access to Mhairi McFarlane’s novel, and I dropped everything I was reading and raced through it in 12 hours! It was delightful to experience McFarlane’s narrative voice again, which is always kind, psychologically astute, and funny as hell.

Between Us has an excellent set up— it asks, what if your long term boyfriend has become a wildly successful screenwriter and, just as your relationship becomes rocky, releases a new series that appears to be based on your relationship and friend group, but portrays your life in a disturbing light?

Roisin knows that Joe’s police procedural television show is not exactly a documentary. To start with, Joe isn’t a detective. However, when she spots one personal scene taken straight out of her own life, she can’t help but suspect more of the show has been lifted from reality.

Like most of McFarlane’s novels, Between Us deals with complicated family ties, an endearing crew of friends, and includes a romance you can root for. Compared to past novels, McFarlane’s latest focuses less on romance. I didn’t mind since I found the psychological drama fascinating and really well executed.

If you enjoy reading about relationships—both romantic and platonic, I highly recommend this delightful interpersonal drama! Thank you to Avon, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy. Between Us releases on August 8th.

I had a good time with this! I found it extremely relatable as a 28 YO female.

Pros: I felt like the FMC was incredibly relatable, and portrayed an adult that has spent a lot of time in a relationship that she now realizes was a waste of time & struggles with what to do next. As she realizes who she is and what she wants in life throughout the book, I am so happy for her. I felt like while ending may be somewhat predictable, the final twist was not something I really saw coming.

Cons: I do feel like the lies went on a tad long. It was a very very long first act break up.

All in all, I would definitely recommend to someone who wants a relatable contemporary romance with a good plot, a friends themed friend group, and a HEA.

*many thanks to the publisher for my ARC*

This was my first exposure to this author, and I found the story engaging and entertaining.

The protagonist, Roisin, has been in a relationship with Joe, a screenwriter, for almost ten years, although things have been cooling off for months. Both are part of a group of friends who met working in a bookstore in their early twenties and call themselves The Brian Club. As the story begins, the group has gathered to celebrate an engagement and to view the premier of Joe’s new television series.

As you might imagine, in the decade since the group formed, there have been many changes in circumstances – shifting relationships, career developments and financial disparities – that leave the group less cohesive. The opening episode of Joe’s new show reveals an event that Roisin had shared in confidence; his use of the graphic scene without telling her has left her feeling shocked and betrayed. It plants the seed that leads Roisin to begin to question if she really knows Joe and what he is capable of doing. In other words, how much of his writing stems from creative imagination and how much may be based on deceitful reality?

Over the next few weeks, Roisin becomes a bit of a sleuth, begins to heal her estranged relationship with her mother and begins to realize she has feelings for a long-time friend. While I found the storyline engaging, I felt the character development was uneven among the members of The Brian Club. The descriptions of Roisin’s interactions with her students added a touch of levity to an otherwise serious novel.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

I was super excited to receive this book via netgalley. I continue to really enjoy Mhairi McFarlane's books - they're consistently charming, witty, comforting to read- but this one felt slightly underbaked. I felt like this could've been edited more, the pacing was odd, and things really dragged with Joe. Weirdly short chapters? All that said this was still a lovely read for a day when I was sick as a dog and just needed something light and fluffy.

this was an interesting book about a group of friends who have become something more 10 years later. Roisen has been with joe and their relationship after 10 years isn't so good. He is writer for a tv show that ends up putting secrets into his show. Roisen starts questioning things and goes back home and takes a leave from her job to figure out life. she ends up breaking things up with joe and finding a new relationship. She even gets back at joe Good romance but it happened to late for the it and the fact that she was too focused on Joe and getting back at him.

I LOVED this book! Mhairi McFarlane has been on my radar but this was my first book of hers that I've read and now I can't wait to dive into her backlist.

Roisin and The Brian Club were all such fun characters that I felt a deep connection with. Roisin's internal battles were so relatable and I loved how all of the relationships in this book developed.

Thank you Avon, Harper Voyage and Netgalley for this advanced copy.

I’ve read all the other books by Mhairi McFarlane and loved them all so, so much. With BETWEEN US, I did find that I had a hard time connecting and being invested in the characters and the story.

I’m glad to see people enjoying the book, even though it wasn’t for me. I was just hoping for a little more depth and intensity. But as always, I will read anything this author writes.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

i screamed (*internally) when i saw that i got approved for this e-arc because mcfarlane is someone who got me back into reading last year (i've read almost everything she's written since). i will say that after reading though, this one does feel a little less magical or triumphant than her other works. a lot of the mcfarlane staples are here like a strong friendship dynamic, a heroine who finds her self worth, and a kind love interest, but i wanted to feel more. i will still continue to read everything mcfarlane writes though as long as she releases a novel.

I accidentally read this book in one sitting. I kept trying to put it down, but then would tell myself "one more chapter" and all of a sudden I've finished and it's 4 am.

I've loved everything I've read by Mhairi McFarlane, and this book was no different. It had everything I've come to love in her books- the amazing FMC, the WIT, the nitwit bf with the audacity, a little bit of mystery, and a sweet romance.

I do wish that we had gotten more time with the friend group in their past years (in the form of flashbacks or memories), and I especially wish we learned more about Matt and Roisin's friendship over the years. The last 30% of the book had non stop action and events and I do wish more time was taken with this because it did seem a rush.

Overall I really enjoyed it, I devoured it, and I'll continue to read whatever Mhairi writes.

I recieved this ARC thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley.

This was a good book. I enjoyed this book a lot. This was a good one. i was hooked on this from the start. Must read stuff.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This story is it! I have been in a serious rut until I started this book and just could not put it down. The suspense is unique in that it’s romantic but still a deep look at what it means to have childhood trauma, to have a long term adult relationship, and to reevaluate it all. Plus some amazing pop culture references that keep it feeling real and modern. I wont spoil it, except to show that I did not guess the ending correctly but it somehow felt just right. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review. Be sure to pre order this one for August!

I really wanted to enjoy this one, but struggled to get through it. There were multiple times that I wanted to call it a DNF, but resisted out of respect for NetGalley and the publisher/author. Overall, I had two main problems with this book. The first and most glaring was the pacing. It was difficult to get to the romance of the book when the first half of the book was set-up for it. I felt like if it had been marketed differently I would have been more receptive to it, but it was difficult diving into a group of friends that I knew nothing about and feeling invested in the charcters. I wish it would have given more time to get to knwo the charcters before showing their flaws or skipped ahead to the break up.

Secondly, (and this is slightly embarrassing, but I think fair) it was difficult to read because of the slang and locations. At times I felt like I was reading a rough translation to English. There was so much UK slang and locations that some paragraphs felt entirely unreadable. This may come from me being an American, but I felt lost on so much of it that it was difficult to be enaged in the setting.

I was nearly incandescent when NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager sent me the ARC for Mhairi McFarlane’s latest offering, “Between Us.” Having recently found this author and absolutely loving the intelligent, fully formed characters and great storylines of her previous books, I was overjoyed to read this one.

It took me longer than usual to get into “Between Us,” than it usually takes me to get into her stories (which is immediate). While I enjoyed the story and the characters, for some reason I could not connect with them like I have in her prior writing. Not to the degree I usually do, anyway.

Roishin and Joe (a real piece of work) have dated for 10 years and they are part of a group of friends called The Brian Group. These people have all been friends since they worked together during college. Nearly ten years into their relationship, Roishin feels disconnected from her boyfriend. He has reached a level of fame after years of her supporting him and doesn’t really see her in front of him anymore. Things happen, they break up (or do they?), she relies on her other friends, and finds herself back home tending bar for her mother. The mother-daughter relationship, is fraught with past hurts, secrets, and all the things that trickle down into her current life. In comes Matt, one of The Brian Group, to help out with the bar, and to become Roishin’s best friend. From there the romance begins.

There is nothing really wrong with this story. I think I had really high expectations based on her past novels and this one just missed the mark. It’s definitely worth a read if you don’t demand as much as I did. I am looking forward to reading the rest of her books. She is a fantastic writer and by the end of her books, I end up missing the friendships the main character has, and wish I could read more.

This is my first McFarlane book!! I absolutely loved it so now I have to go back and read her others. This is a good problem to have!

These characters jumped off the page. A full cast is no easy feat and she did it with ease! McFarlane did an excellent job at showing us how people slowly reveal themselves and how maybe they have always been that way and we didn’t want to see. The situation was so relatable.

Only critique is I want and need more Matt and Roisin scenes!!! I could have read more on their relationship blooming. But maybe another time you will be inspired to check in with the group.

Thank you for allowing me to read this Arc.

There were too many characters and a lack of perspective in this novel for me. I had a difficult time following the plot and had to restart from the beginning multiple times.

It look me a minute to get into this, but once I did, I really enjoyed it! The characters are flawed by likable (most of them) and I immediately wanted to see how their stories played out.

I wanted to love this and feel all feelings I typically do with a McFarlane book, but unfortunately it fell flat for me.

What I enjoyed:
-The diverse cast of characters
-The theme of healing after a toxic / unhappy relationship
-The text conversations
-The women’s ficiton romance blend

What wasn’t for me:
-The first half was extremely slow. It wasn’t until around the 60% mark before I was invested in any part of the story or connected with the main character.
-The new love interest seemed sudden and there was not a lot of depth into their feelings
-I thought there were questions left unanswered about some members of the friend group and no epilogue !!

Thank you Avon for the ARC! Pub date : 8/8

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. This isn’t my first Mhairi book, I enjoyed Just Last Night, but this has made me a life long fan.

Roisin was so incredibly well written. Her feelings and the way she processed things felt so real to me.
I feel like I’ve read a lot of stories with infidelity and emotionally abusive relationships where I was let down by the resolution or felt the main character taking the “high road” felt unrealistic. Roisin’s pursuit of the truth was so satisfying.

The other characters were lively and added to the overall tone of the book. If there is one piece of criticism I could offer it is that the nude photo incident seemed out of left field and unnecessary, I think any other conflict between Gina and Matt could have had the same “three strikes” plot device.

I can’t wait to buy the hard copy of this when it’s released later this year.

Thanks to Avon for an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.