I am so happy I found this author! I can't wait to read more of McFarlane's books! I have been hearing how great these books are, but I had not gotten around to reading them. But now I NEED to read them! I couldn't put this one down!

Between us by Mhairi McFarlane is sold as a second chance romance and while that piece is there this novel may be best sold as chick lit, a break up novel, a fictional hot to survive gaslighting and lying boyfriend. But alas there is a happy ending, romance and good friends so this is a beautiful novel despite the romance title. As my first intro to this author it was a bit surprising as a romance but I am told she has more traditional romances which are equally brilliant and more romance focused.

Roisin has been dating Joe for a number of years and has had the same friend group for roughly 10 years so it's not a surprise that she chooses to celebrate her birthday with that friend group while they also celebrate an engagement and her boyfriends new TV show. Joe has written a new show featuring a couple and friend group that is a bit dark.

Roisin finds the TV show to be more true than she likes as it shares a deep secret that she has only shared with Joe. He is horrible to her about the show, the secret and the show ends up causing issues amongst them and the friend group for numerous reasons. Needless to say Roisin and Joe do no survive Joes success and thankfully the friends support Roisin.

Matt, a friend is exceptionally and unexpectedly supportive in this situation as he is the friend group playboy. With Roisins support group she is able to get back to dating and eventually finds a new romance.

Whilst this novel heavily focused on the breakup, Joe's disrespect, gaslighting and frankly his dislike for Roisin and their friends, it ends with a quick romance. Believable? Not quite sure but it happened. Still a wonderful read.

This is the first book in ages where I have so many thoughts/feelings but also don't know how to feel at the end. 🤣😫 the earlier titles by this author I didn't love, but last few were SO great, I had high hopes for this one. Bear with me, a thinking out loud review is ahead!

Roisin (a teacher) and Joe (screen writer) have been together for 10 years, they have an amazing friend group (affectionately called Brian club) and the book starts with an elaborate weekend celebration for an engagement, birthday and the premiere of Joe's new show.

I love the found family trope. Love it. Eat it right up. Based on the first couple chapters, I was hopeful to see that here. And whoa the drama. Not the happy family I thought we'd find. ***Partial spoiler ahead***. I picked this up based on liking the author, not reading the summary and Joe at the beginning really just rubbed me the wrong way. I liked Matt from the beginning, there was just something there. But finding out one of Roisin's besties had been in love with him for as long as she had I immediately retreated with an oh never mind because they would never. As the group watches the first episode of Joe's show, Roisin is presented with a lot of familiarity and starts to have some questions. Turns out Joe took some real life creative liberties. Thus begins Roisin's quest to unravel the web of lies and formally ending things with Joe. She enlists Matt's help on the investigation as he had unexpectedly found himself unemployed and working at her family's pub. As Roisin begins to uncover the secrets behind what is actually a biopic on Joe's infidelity. As her and Matt obviously get closer, come to find out he's been pining after her for a decade. (Granted Gina was the one who told her about said feelings and was shockingly okay with them getting together, rooting for them even). The book had soooo much going on, that the ending felt really rushed and loose ends weren't entirely tied up. But at the end of the day I think I did actually enjoy it? It was different. Definitely not the romcom I had in mind, more of a, I guess happy thriller that was mostly drama? A thriller through a chick lit lense if you will!

Thank you Netgalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for a copy of this arc! This is the first time reading anything by Mhairi McFarlane and it was a joy to be introduced to a new author.

This book was heavy with the feels. Rosie has been with Joe for years, helping him through his career as a writer for television. At the premier of his new show, Rosie realizes how everything seems oddly familiar. Similar characters. Similar situations. Unknown cheating??

Enter the gaslighting from Mr. Joe. He could be the poster child for narcissism and gaslighting. Seriously.

This man took up way too much of the book. That is the only reason I gave it three stars.
I adored Rosie and cheered for her every step of the way through this book and her healing.

I really enjoyed this book and appreciated the elements that were addressed such as gaslighting. This was a realistic story and engaged me from the beginning.
Many thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was really looking forward to this one but unfortunately it was a little boring. It didn't exactly feel like a romance, so I guess it's contemporary fiction with romantic elements. It did have some sweet moments, and I liked the ending. I just found myself not really caring about any of the characters.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was really cute and funny! I really related to Roisin and the struggles with her relationship and how old friendships evolve. There wasn't any like shocking reveal, at least to me, but I enjoyed the ride and laughed a lot. I will definitely be checking out more from this author. I received an advance review copy for free and I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

This book definitely falls more into the women's fiction category than romance. The focus is Raisin's journey of self discovery and healing after her boyfriend essentially creates a tv show about her life. There is a romance, don't get me wrong, but it is not the driving factor of this book as it isn't started until about the half way mark. I'm not going to lie, I struggled with this one and it's taken me months to finally finish it. I enjoyed Mhairi's previous book but something with this one just didn't click as well with me.

Between Us is not the romantic comedy or the love story you've been expecting. I would classify it more as a life story with an element of love included. Rosie was the focus and her relationships took center stage - and not just the romantic type. Themes of platonic friendships and support from them were included over and over. Definitely not the most emotional MM book I've read, but still a very compelling story. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I had higher expectations for this book as a devoted fan of Mhairi McFarlane, but don't get me wrong, I still devoured it and enjoyed her brilliant writing style. This book delves into gaslighting, exploring dysfunctional and manipulative relationship patterns that blend into emotionally consuming family dynamics.

The only thing that bugged me was that most of the book revolves around the unhealthy relationship of the heroine, who finds herself deceived by the illusion of their love life, leaving little time for her second chance romance. Indeed, her blooming romance with another man after getting rid of her toxic ex is too instant for my liking.

This one started off so slow In all honestly I wasnt sure if I was going to finish this one or not. It isnt til about 2/3 rds of the way in that this one gets kinda interesting. It was also hard to really connect with the main character or any of the other characters.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

I put this book down about a month ago and haven't reached for it again. I didn't get very far and realized quickly that it wasn't holding my attention the way I wanted. Maybe I'll pick it up again one day, but I'm not sure.

I only read about 10% of the book, and in that small percentage, not a lot happened that pulled me in or made me want to continue.

Another wonderful read from Mhairi McFarlane. Mhairi’s books are like deeply emotional sweet treats I get to indulge in once a year. I adore her writing and her deeply layered storytelling. She is one of my absolute favorite authors and her books will forever be auto-reads of mine.

Between Us has a little bit of mystery, a lot of female empowerment, and a nice dose of swoony moments. I feel like this cover does not convey what you’re signing up for, but I won’t spoil anything else. 😉 I loved it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second novel that I've read by Mhairi McFarlane and I really like how she writes stories that go beyond a romance or love story as the primary storyline. At its heart, Between Us is a story of a group of friends and the dynamics of the relationships within that group and how they affect the group as a whole. In the beginning, I felt like I was watching an episode of Friends, but some of the relationships came to the forefront while other characters became less key to the storyline. I found the characters interesting, with some more likeable than others. I will say that I didn't find myself eager to pick the book up. However, whenever I did reach for it, I didn't want to put it down. I did like that the relationships were complex and realistic enough that you didn't know which way things would go, at times. I also liked the complicated mother/daughter relationship between Roisin and her mom. Overall, I am glad I read this story and will pick up other novels by Mhairi McFarlane.

I really enjoy Mhairi McFarlane's writing. Her books never disappoint. She crafts wonderfully relatable characters and offers plenty of tension, chemistry, and romance in her novels. Between Us is entertaining and engaging,, a great read

I really really really wanted to absolutely love and devour this book, but I found it to be a bit slow at times. I found that it picked up in the third half of the novel, I think I went into this one with too much of the mindset that it was going to be romance, which might have been my own fault.

Thanks to Avon, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

This is the second Mhairi McFarlane book I've read and I am really coming to love her slow, even style of plotting. Sure, there are some kinda crazy things going on in this book (a character writes a tv show that may or may not be based on his real life cheating but definitely includes secrets from his girlfriends life that he used without consent) but it still felt like a book where slow and steady wins the race, which was a great balm for the ups and downs I've been feeling in general.

Heck, the main character (Roisin) doesn't even figure out just how big a jerk her boyfriend Joe was for the 10 years they were together until like 3/4 of the way through the book! And the final relationship seems to only really blossom in the last half of the book, which was such an interesting choice. I liked it? I think?

Regardless of the pacing, the characters felt real and I appreciated Roisin's growth through her journey and I'll keep reading McFarlane's books forever.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun book. I enjoyed it a lot!

This is my fourth book by Mhairi McFarlane and my favorite of the ones I've read. It was a unique and refreshing rom com that dealt with some serious issues in a tactful way.

This book begins with one of my favorite things -- a long time group of friends meeting up for a weekend. I loved all the dynamics of their friendships and reading about their group origin working at a bookstore. Roisin feels like her long- term relationship with Joe is coming to an end, and after doing a group viewing of his newest tv show she has more questions and concerns about the relationship.

While Joe is off to LA for work, Roisin goes to her hometown to help her mom with the pub she runs. One of Roisin's old friends comes to help, and things go from friendly to more between them -- in such a sweet and surprising way. I loved this swoony romance and was rooting for them through the ups and downs.

This book also touches on emotional manipulation and gaslighting -- Joe make Roisin doubt herself and is an artful liar. I think this all shown in a very realistic way and is something few books touch on.

Overall I would absolutely recommend this book and I really loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!