Never Ever You
Sarah Echavarre

‘Somehow, someway, this nightmare is real.’

After reading the book, the cover graphic makes total sense.
I genuinely didn’t think I would like this book when I started, the Sliding Doors backwards narrative didn’t endear me, but it weaved its magic and I fell under its spell.

Haha I envisioned Milo looking like Alfie from Emily in Paris (not really accurate but fun).

‘My personal life is a Jerry Springer - lever trash fire.’

A happily married woman wakes up to an astonishingly different life in this funny and emotional romance with a narrative running in reverse.

‘A weird wave of grief washes over me. It’s jarring, but the longer I think about it, the more it makes sense. My sense of comfort and security, my joy, my old life, my sense of control… I’ve lost it all.’

With every new tomorrow, she’s moving backwards through time to face a year she’s already lived, in one she’s completely unprepared for.

‘Sweat breaks out on the back of my neck something terrible is going to happen, has happened, and I have no idea how to prepare for it.’

It’s Riley and Tristan’s one year wedding anniversary and her life is perfect, even if her devoted husband’s family is fairly insufferable, especially his rude cousin Milo.

‘I had no idea what was true and what was a lie. And that’s warped my sense of reality.’

But when she wakes up exactly one year later, no wedding ring and Milo in her bed, she’s freaked out. Further more so when she discovers Tristan is a happy new father - with another woman. What is this cosmic prank of Riley’s life!

Out today, 17th September!
@lakeunionpublishing

‘And in this moment - in this world, in this timeline - he’s the only one I want.’

Never Ever You by Sarah Echavarre is an entertaining and really fun time travel romance story.
A very unique experience that I devoured.
The characters were enjoyable. And the plot keeps your attention.
I thought the writing was very well done. I was never bored or not interested.
A sweet and simple story.

I've generally been a fan of Sarah Echavarre's books and I usually enjoy a good sliding door what if romance but sadly this one was a bit of a flop for me. I struggled to get invested in the characters or the plot and it was just okay as an audiobook. Not one I would go out of my way to recommend sadly. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio and digital copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

When Riley wakes up the last thing she remembers is the night of her first anniversary. She was madly in love with her husband, Tristan & living what appears to be a picture perfect life. Only a year has passed & when she wakes up she’s in bed with her husband’s cousin, Milo. Tristan has a new baby- with another woman? What has happened & why can’t she remember anything? Every morning she wakes up & finds she’s gone back in time a day earlier. Once Riley realizes this, she’s able to slowly put together what happened the night of her first anniversary with Tristan & how she’s ended up where she is today.

I went into this one blindly & I’m glad I did. I enjoyed each of characters (even the ones you love to hate, such as Riley’s awful mother in-law) & think each was well written. The relationship between Riley & her best friend especially is one of the best parts of the story.

Never Ever You is my first book by Sarah Echavarre & will not be my last. Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing & the author for the opportunity to read this book ahead of it’s September 17, 2024 release date.

What would you do if you suddenly woke up in the future, living life backwards, with changes to every aspect of your life? The premise of Never Ever You is fascinating.

As the main character, Riley, goes from her present into the future, and then back in time, the reader is faced with a lot of questions - does she change her behavior and choices based on what happens in the future? Could she have changed the result in her present time if she hadn't jumped forward in time (and then backward)? Ultimately, there are not a lot of answers as to the time jump forward and then backwards (or why it happens), however, the author does a great job building the main character's development as a person, as well as her experiences. It is in many ways a backwards romance (with a new romance and break-up in reverse), with a time component.

If the book had continued further, I would have loved to learn more about the time component (and why or how it happened), or have a first person perspective from some of the other leading characters to give input. Alternatively, if Riley had changed her behavior in the past, would it have changed the ultimate result? Overall, it was a ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5, considering a slower start and some unanswered questions about the premise of the book. But, definitely worth a read, especially if you love a fictional time component (think, The Time Traveler's Wife, How to Stop Time, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and This Time Tomorrow). Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this advanced reader copy!

I usually like a book that mixes things up, tells a story from a new perspective and this book does just that! On the flip side, I don’t always enjoy books that have a magical/unreal plot line to them BUT this book was done well! I was able to fully accept the time travel aspects of the story. It was a quick, enjoyable read. Not super elaborate or deep but I didn’t mind. The timeline does jump around a bit and sometimes confused me but it all worked together by the end.

Read if you want a fun, different, quick, clean romance.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

It’s Riley Ricci-Chase’s first wedding anniversary, and she’s living a perfect life in London with her utterly devoted husband, Tristan. So what if his parents and insufferable cousin Milo work Riley’s last nerve? She has Tristan. The next morning Riley wakes up exactly one year later. No wedding ring. It’s Milo by her side. And Tristan is a happy new father—with another woman.

This was an interesting take on a time travel travel romance! I loved how Riley woke up in the future and then in the past to revisit what went wrong over time.

I think it was kinda obvious of what might have happened to Riley's marriage but it was still fun to see everything unfolded.

I loved Milo so much. He was a great partner & so supportive of Riley. Enjoyed the clever reverse-in-time chapters & their significance.

<i>Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.<i>

Riley is happily married to Tristan, even if she can’t stand his cousin, Milo. She goes to sleep one night and wakes up the next morning with no ring on her finger, and next to Milo. And it is a year later. And Tristan has a baby with someone else. What happened? Riley goes back in time, one day at a time, through her entire missing year. I liked the time travel aspect, the dialogue could have used a little work.

After a disastrous first wedding anniversary Riley wakes up exactly one year later, and everything in her life has changed. Then she starts living the year going backwards one day at a time.

I absolutely love time travel books and this was no exception. At first I was not sure if the whole going backwards thing would work, but it ended up working great. The characters were rather frustrating, especially Tristan and his obnoxious family, but the story was good. The pet names Tristan and Milo had for Riley were rather cringey, though, like Miss America and Sleeping Beauty. I'm not much of a romance reader, but this book was really good.

For me this was an entertaining, time-bending romance novel. The main character lives a full year in reverse, waking each morning to the day before. She never knows quite what will happen, only the results from living the previous days and doesn't want to ask too many questions and appear crazy in front of friends & family. I've previously enjoyed Sarah's other books under her other pen name so wasn't too shocked to also enjoy this one. Not a very spicy book but there is some spice. Overall, I enjoyed the time difference & waiting to find out what events lead to the actions of the day she's experiencing. A solid 4-star romance for ingenuity & well written characters.

This one kept me on the edge of the seat and turning the pages. I recommend for a good autumn vibes read!

Wow, i really enjoyed this story. Riley is happily married to Tristan and life is perfect, only she wakes up one year later and nothing is as she remembers and she is now with Milo and not with Tristan. Each day she wakes up it is one day earlier and so we know what has ultimately happened but have no idea how and so every day she wakes up she is able to add another little piece to the puzzle and is slowly piecing it back together.

I loved the premise and the storyline I do only think that maybe the timeline was a little tight? i mean thats a rough year for anyone to have!

Brilliant story and very engaging. Definitely one i will remember for a long time to come.

I feel as if this story as been told before. There wasn't much original idea here to differentiate it from other "time travel/wake up to a new life" stories.

Know that this moves backward in time, a device that takes a bit to become accustomed to, How did Riley end up with Milo- her husband's cousin-only one year after she married Tristan? That's the story here and if I have a quibble, and it's a big one, it's that this is a very compressed time line for all this drama. You know at the start that Tristan is already remarried with a baby, That's fast. His family, btw is awful, This was a miss for me, mostly because it just felt too....cringey- but I know others might enjoy it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

First of all, I was drawn to this book by the cover. Yes, I can be that shallow, but it's a pretty cover with nice colours.

This is a strange book as the plot moves backwards. Not a spoiler, it's in the book's description. It starts on Valentine's Day, 2024, jumps to Valentine's Day 2025. Then it goes backward to explain how everything changed in the one year. It's confusing to the main character, Riley. It's confusing to me as the reader. But, it's also intriguing. Admittedly, it takes me a while to get into the swing of the backwards timeline. The reader sees the results of actions before the actual actions. Hard to explain but the author makes it work.

The story centres around family dynamics and very dysfunctional and toxic relationships within the family. Books with this theme are usually quite heavy, but Riley somehow lightens it up. The older I get and the more I read, the more I realize how many dysfunctional families exist. Some of the main themes are infidelity, prejudice and friendship. The characters are great, some are lovable, some are not.

If I suspend the fact that my mind likes everything to be logical, this is a fun and entertaining story.

The ending made me smile!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

I went into this book with no expectation but was really impressed. I couldn’t put it down. I thought the backwards storyline was very original and was an interesting premise to think about. How would you feel watching yourself fall in love with someone but in reverse? I would highly recommend this book as it’s an easy read. Great to read on vacation or over a lazy weekend.

3.5 Memento stars

While I’m not normally a fan of sliding door stories, this one worked for me. It has a memento-like format with a scrambled timeline.

One morning, Riley Ricci-Chase fast-forwards one year later in her life. She does not understand all the changes that have happened. What happened to her happy marriage to Tristan, and why is she now with a man she despised?

We learn the details along with Riley as she wakes up one day earlier in the timeline each day. I guess it’s foreshadowing. We know what’s coming, but we don’t know any details.

I did enjoy this one, although her timeline change was never explained. If you can live with that in a magical realism way, you might enjoy it too! I wanted to see how this would all turn out for her.

There are themes of friendship, loyalty, infidelity, and family intolerance mixed in this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC

This had quite the unique concept I think. I've read books where it's a what would happen if I chose this or this, but nothing like this book. I found the execution well done. I wasn't immediately captured by the start, but the story grew on me and I got more and more invested in Riley and her storyline.

I really enjoyed Sarah's previous book, What We Remember; I even gave it five stars, and so I was really looking forward to reading this newest offering. But sadly it did not live up to it.

It was a complete diversion from her previous book. I try not to compare books, especially when they're so different, but I couldn't help it as I loved What We Remember so much. This did take me quite a while to get lost in the story, I needed the fantasy elements to come in earlier.

There's three main characters to focus on:

Firstly, our main female character Riley. She's happy but she is frequently put down by her husband's family just because she's not rich, white, and high-class, and was a former lingerie model. And so I did try to like her because she is so unapologetically herself. Then we have her husband Tristan, who we don't know much about to begin with, but seems like a good guy. And finally we have Milo, Tristan's cousin and Riley's surprise future partner.

Sadly, none of these characters worked, they felt a bit 2D, like cardboard cut-outs, no progression, and I didn't like them enough to really care how it ended. I felt for the most part, Riley didn't really seem fussed by what was happening. To begin with she was confused, but then she quickly just sort of accepted it, which didn't sit completely right with me. Surely, you would find yourself more confused and distressed that you were suddenly dating your husband's cousin 1 year into the future. But she was quickly acting like all this time travel was normal which jarred with me.

It felt very disjointed at times, like Sarah had created this timeslip novel but then wasn't 100% sure how to handle it. So it wasn't the smoothest of reads. It was interesting, but didn't live up to what it promised.

You really have to suspend belief to get through it. I know it's fantasy and sci-fi etc, but I'm fine with that, but even fantasy worlds have to make sense in context, and I struggled here. I agree with some other reviews in that it was an interesting and promising plot, but was let down by less-than-stellar writing. I had to almost make myself get to the end because I wanted to know how it resolved itself but I didn't really want to read the rest of it to get there. And when I did get there, it felt a bit unfinished, like a cop-out.

Overall, this sadly did not live up to my expectations. Her previous book was fabulous but this one just fell short for me. But it won't stop me checking out what she writes next.

3.5 stars ⭐️

This is the latest in a year of Rom-Coms with Magical Realism elements thrown in, but if you can accept that there is no rational explanation for what occurs-you might have fun with this story told in reverse!

Riley wakes up on her one year anniversary to her husband Tristan, with the sight of him delivering coffee and flowers to her in bed, just before the two exchange extravagant gifts. Ah-life is good!

So how can it all implode that same night?

The following morning, Riley awakens and discovers that it is exactly one year later. She isn’t wearing her wedding ring, and her husband’s cousin Milo-a guy she never liked-is lying beside her. Huh?

It turns out that Tristan is now with another woman, and he is a happy new father! None of this is surprising to anyone but Riley. It’s as if she suffered Amnesia after the traumatic break-up and she doesn’t remember how she got to this point.

But, she is starting to remember and she will soon have her answers. As she wakes up each morning, she is moving backward through time to face a year she has already lived.

What will she discover?

I had a rough start with this book and wasn’t sure if I should continue on! In the first chapter, Tristan’s overuse of his pet name for Riley (Miss America) was grating on my nerves. I the second chapter, we meet Riley’s best friend, Poppy, and their conversation was juvenile at best, focusing on materialistic things, sex, with a lot of crass language.

At 15%, Riley wakes up to Milo who is calling her “Sleeping Beauty” repeatedly. Ugh. Can you tell I hate silly pet names?
I really wasn’t sure if I should continue on! But, I wanted to give the story a fair chance so I continued on…

And, I have to admit-I became as curious as Riley was to find out what yesterday would bring.

Poppy never really matures, but she IS a faithful and supportive friend, and the guys seem to like to solve their problems with their fists-but Riley definitely shows character growth, as she lives through having in-laws who don’t think she is “good enough” for her son, and then the pain and humiliation of a divorce.

Too bad we can’t all wake up a year after a traumatic event to see that we are HAPPY and WHOLE again, and then process what happened by living life backwards.

AVAILABLE September 17, 2024

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. These are my candid thoughts!