This is everything I expect from a Portia MacIntosh book.
We had witty banter, a will-they-won’t-they situation, and a fun romance. Ethan and Lana always seem to create havoc whenever they get together, and it always ends up being so ridiculous the amount of chaos they cause.

I do feel like we could have had more Ethan and Lana. It felt like we got more of everything else around them and not enough of their romance. It felt like it was over before it even began.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood and the author for allowing me to read this as an ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Portia MacIntosh for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.25⭐️
Lana and Ethan meet while at Lana’s work and hit it off - on Valentines Day. They go on an adventure of saying yes to everything. It leads to sparks and disasters. After nearly burning down a building they agree to part ways since they create chaos together.

Two years later, Lana is desperate for a date to bring to her younger half-sisters wedding since she’s not close with the family and they’re very critical of her. She’s ready to bring the craziness her family assumes she always is. She finds some outrageous options but just in the nick of time Ethan shows back up in the office and offers to join her. Lana realizes he might be just the right kind of chaos she’s looking to bring on this holiday.

Tropes:
Fake dating (sort of)
Forced proximity/only one bed
Closed door

Lana meets Ethan on Valentine's Day 2023 and whilst they do have fun, and they have lots of fun when they are together, unfortunately they cause havoc and disastrous things happen so they decide to break it off. Jump to two years later, and she still needs a date for her sister's wedding in Australia, and she is still living with her Ex who she dated after her and Ethan broke up.

Her toxic family has told her to behave herself at the wedding and now Lana wants to find a date to take to the wedding, so she starts trawling for someone who can disrupt the wedding. And bad date after bad date happens, and she still hasn't found someone to take to Australia. When Ethan, her ex, shows up at her work and a more disastrous time together, Lana realises that Ethan is perfect for her because you don't get mad, You get Ethan. But can they remember their plan, or will they get distracted by each other?

Having read some of the Author's previous books and enjoyed them this one had me laughing at numerous points including the prologue and when Lana went on her various dates to find someone who could cause trouble at the wedding and one poor man tried his best to prove he was someone wild, but circumstances would disprove that in hilarious ways.

And whilst there are parts where things get steamy between Ethan and Lana, but none of that happens in the book we only get hints of sex that has occurred and people who want romance books that like no spice will definitely enjoy reading this book.

Even though I still loved reading the book personally, I think it still lacks something and most other books have a Happy Ending. Where we see a glimpse of their future lives, but this book just stops suddenly. And personally, I would have loved an epilogue to get that happy ending.

Whilst Lana was planning on going to her sister's wedding and cause trouble because of her families' expectation of her and because she thought there was someone else that may have liked her she decided to change her plan and at times fighting what Ethan was trying to do thinking her toxic family would change their views of her with someone from their world but even if she did end up with Beau I still doubt she would of been accepted as one of them and she would always be a commoner.

If you want a funny Romcom and see what Lana gets up to that will have you laughing then you should buy "Wish You Weren't Here" I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I have given it five stars.

And thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Portia MacIntosh for giving me an eARC to review and above are my honest opinions.

I have to say I really enjoyed this. The main character's quest to find just the "perfect" wedding date was funny, her internal struggles were well written, and the pace was just right.

Ok, there are some things that don't make much sense, and some things are oversimplified in the name of comedy, but all in all it was a fun read, and I had a good time. I will definitely keep reading things by this author.

4 stars.

I had never read anything from this author until now, although I’ve been eager to for ages.I'm so happy that this book was my introduction to her work.
'Wish You Weren't Here' was incredibly enjoyable and easy to get into. There's something about British rom-com books that make me love them so much and they always have me laughing out loud!
I’m definitely planning to explore her earlier books in the near future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC Wish You Weren't Here by Portia MacIntosh. I had heard about this author, but this was the first book I had read, and I wanted to love it, but it ended up falling flat.

The beginning of the book started great; the middle section was a bunch of fluff, and the ending was too quick.

Lana has a hard time with her family, and when her sister got engaged, she needed a date to a fully paid-for trip for her and a date to Australia. Lana was tired of following all the family's rules and wanted to cause mischief at her sister's wedding instead.

If you want a quick, easy read, this is cute, but nothing else.

Solid 5 stars for me! When we talk about light romance comedy reads, my go-to books are always from Portia MacIntosh! 💯 I am very happy for having an opportunity to get an advance reading copy of this book. So thank you so much, Netgalley and Boldwood Books!

Talking about Wish You Weren’t Here, this one is so fun and very quick to read! I got hooked easily reading the first chapter. I love how the story flows and the two main characters were likable and fun! Every main characters from MacIntosh always made me swoon and laugh out loud! Her books were always fun, sweet, and NOT BORING! I just have to emphasize that because that’s one thing about Macintosh stories. But the ending feels like it was rushed…I WANT MOOORE!

I am excited for the release day of this book and I couldn’t recommend this highly enough! ❤️

I wish I Weren't HAving to Read this book!
It was over the top silliness and complete chaos.
I loved the idea behind "Wish You Weren't Here" A girl wants to find a date to her sister's wedding that they will absolutely HATE. I was envisioning some major banter and tons of cunning eye glares at one another, But nooooooooooooooo
We spend the first bit entangled in a hot steamy romance only to turn the page and with no explanation the next chapter begins and the couple has broken up and are main female character is on the hunt for a scum of a date. The guys she seeks out are like I said, utter fools and too silly. It literally falls just short of a fart joke away from me giving up on this book. I kept holding on because of what I was promised in the blurb.....I kept waiting. And Waiting. Finally when she select her date (former flame)to be her date, Portia totally fumbled the ball. No execution what so ever. She dragged out the book, and I could not handle the elementary writing.
Maybe her target audience is 7th grade girls? I don't know, but whoever it is I am NOT her audience.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this advanced copy read of Wish You Weren't Here . I was not influenced or paid in exchange for this honest review.

I love Portia Macintosh books so was very excited to receive this. The story was great with the whole posh family and ‘Cinderella’ angle and the dual setting of Leeds and Sydney really worked. I really really liked Ethan. I thought he was cute but also thoughtful and the chemistry between him and Lana was hot but …..I wasn’t overly keen on Lana. For all her complaints about her family being self centred and selfish I thought that’s exactly what she was. She had an obvious disregard for Ethan and his feelings. I really struggled to get past it and her constant going on about Beau being an Earl showed she was just as status focused as the family she despised. Overall I’d give it 3.5 purely because of my disengagement with the heroine.

The start of the book was great, super cute and everything Portia normally gives us. However the middle of the story was just fluff. It felt like the author was on a time crunch to have the book turned in and gave us random scenes to try to connect the start and the end. It felt like we got the 1st or 2nd draft, not a polished final draft. The MMC doesn't exist for 50% of the book. This is definitely my least favorite book from this author. The premise was brilliant but the pacing was so off.

While the beginning of the book showed promise, I found myself underwhelmed by the time I finished it.

Ethan and Lana start with stellar chemistry, but too much of the book is spent on the interim period between their first interaction and their running back into each other two years later. It’s a shame because their back-and-forth chaotic energy had so much potential. The eventual evolution of the relationship into something deeper lacked tension and felt rushed. The ending was abrupt. Plus there was a love triangle element that felt unnecessary.

Lana, whether it be by design or poor writing, seems not to know herself at all. She is all over the place with what she wants. I’m also not a fan of characters continually restating their motivations. I’d much rather the author weave those motivations into the plot and/or trust the reader to remember them.

On one level, I enjoyed this book. It was a breezy, quick read that kept me engaged. However, I saw all the ways in which it easily could have been better, which is why it’s only getting three stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood for providing an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Generally, I liked the book. The book started out great; with Lana pretending to be her boss when she meets hunk Ethan. They go out and although they have lots of sex they feel there’s a special connection, that they understand each other on a deeper level. So when Lana’s coworker asks her out she’s happy to answer that she’s seeing someone. She had never felt so alive… Then it got a bit confusing: suddenly the story jumps fast forward almost two years later, and Lana is single?! Her co-worker Steve is her ex boyfriend and also her roommate… I didn’t expect that. I expected the book summary; Lana needing a fake chaos boyfriend for the upscale wedding of her posh half-sister. This storyline starts out a bit slow, since it takes twelve chapters to get to the part where Lana needs a date for her half sisters’ wedding, and not before chapter twenty that she meets Ethan again. When they finally travel to Australia for the wedding Lana meets another hunk; an actual earl named Beau. She’s immediately taken with him, so who will she end up with: Beau or Ethan?
The story was nice but it lacked a bit of pace and I missed the chemistry between the main characters. The ending was sudden. Any intimate scenes beyond the bedroom door is left to the reader’s imagination, which I think is a classy thing to do. But I would have liked more character development; the characters, although likable, remained relatively one-dimensional. The addition of Beau was a good move but Lana quite abruptly decided he wasn’t the one for her. All of the characters, although likable, remained relatively one-dimensional.
I received and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and I am grateful for this opportunity. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a joy to read. Lana, the FMC was a good character, trying to keep her life on track, while trying to prove to her "posh" family that she can be whoever she wants to be.

Ethan was an adorable MMC, I fell in love with him right at the start when he started recreating Yes Man on the first date.

Their energy was electric, and kept me coming back for more. I've enjoyed everything I've read by Portia Macintosh, but this is definitely a firm favourite.

I’m a big fan of Portia MacIntosh. This wasn’t my favorite as I didn’t like how Lana kept talking about how things always were cursed with Ethan. It seemed redundant and not that many terrible things had happened. It was cute, and I like how her family came around. The situation with Beau seemed sort of random and then fizzled quickly.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc!

I’d have to rate this a 2.5. This didn’t really do it for me. There was some Witt and funny bits which I liked but on the other hand….For a book on the shorter side it felt kind of jarring. I didn’t like the FMC she’s pretty much childish, chaotic and irritating for some reason I just really didn’t like her. Ethan (MMC) was a lil lovely, but he also was abit irritating in certain situations in my opinion lol.
I didn’t like the whole outlandish family situation. And the fact that Lana just wasn’t really into Ethan yet they’re together? I don’t know I just felt like this book lacked quite abit and probably could’ve been better if the execution was better.

I’d definitely try this author again maybe this was just a one off.

Lana’s sister is getting married in Australia. This happens on her 30th birthday. Lana is also invited to a lunch which is actually an intervention for her to behave during the wedding. So as revenge, Lana plans to misbehave, cause chaos and take a date that her family won’t approve of.

Lana goes out on several dates, looking for a horrible date for the wedding. All her dates end in disaster and she has no one to go with her to the wedding. Then she sees Ethan at work again.

Ethan and Lana met at work a few years ago and went out on a date. All their dates ended in chaos and disaster. They decided that they weren’t good for each other.
But Ethan was the perfect date to take to the wedding. So Lana decided to take Ethan to the wedding. The plan was to misbehave and cause chaos but she quickly changes her plans after meeting a handsome earl.

What will Lana do and who will she choose? Will Lana go for the boring and stable earl? Or will she go for the chaotic and fun Ethan?

I never read anything from this author but I was very intrigued. This book was a funny and cute romance. I loved the reference to TikTok and memes. I also loved the jokes.
In the beginning I didn’t really like Lana but as she kept growing in the book I started to like her more and more. Her character development was great.
I wish there was more chemistry between the two main characters. I also wish they were together earlier in this book. I thought the love triangle at the end was a bit much and I feel like it would be better if it was left out.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the beginning where Ethan & Lana met and their relationship dynamics really sounded unique but everything went downhill after the two year time skip. <spoiler> Lana & Ethan broke up because apparently whenever they were together, something catastrophic happened. Then Lana immediately jumped into dating her co-worker and broke up with him too. But he "seemed genuine enough" so when she was in need of a place to stay, she went to live with the douche ex and even after knowing that he only did that because he was hoping to get back together with her, she still stays with him. As if all this wasn't enough, her family is extremely toxic and the way her dad, step mum and sister spoke to her and constantly demeaned her, I was expecting that she would somehow stand up for herself but that also did not happen. She just kept on taking their insults and did not once berate them. On top of that, I went in thinking that Ethan is going to be the highlight during the wedding, but it felt like he was a side character in the second half, while Lana was off flirting with a shady Earl she just met. Honestly, her pov was very confusing and she was so flighty (her going on multiple dates and discarding Ethan in a second when she saw someone attractive just didn't sit well with me). I just couldn't understand her at all and the way she pushed Ethan away in the end was so frustrating. It felt like she used him and he definitely deserved so much better than her. I just really disliked Lana and there were so many times that I wanted to DNF the book but I wanted to see if she finally gives it back to her family but it unfortunately did not happen and all of a sudden, everyone that was awful to her was being nice, which was so shocking. </spoiler> The entire part after the first few chapters was just off putting and I feel like I wasted my time on this book. I've enjoyed some of the author's previous books so I was expecting something good, but this book was definitely not my cup of tea.

<i> I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review</i>

Laugh out loud funny and a quick, cute read which is something I have found of all of Portia's books. They are always worth picking up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the advanced reader copy. This is set to be published January 8th.

This is my 3rd Portia MacIntosh arc that I've received, and this is very similar to her others.
The first that I read is still my favorite (That Suite Life), but this is definitely a cute quick read.
Wish You Weren't Here is about Lana. Her half sister is having a destination wedding… and has set the date for Lana's 30th birthday.
After her family sits down to give her some rules on dress code and expected behaviour Lana sets out to find an embarassing wedding date to prove her family right.

All of her books have a similar vibe and I will describe her as an old school Sophie Kinsella vibe.
Quirky characters, light and fast read, funny and a touch of romance.
I will go back to this author as a pallet cleanser after reading something heavier.

3.75 stars from me.

This is a new author for me, and I will definitely be reading more. This was a fun, quick read and filled with lots of British humour. I really liked both Lana and Ethan, though I feel like Ethan's storyline was mysterious for most of the book then summarized in a chapter, and I wanted more. Honestly, I wanted more from a couple of the storylines - I don't know if that's because I liked the writing that much, or if they were underdeveloped, but I'm going to go with the first on this and round up my 3.5 stars to a 4.