3.5 stars rounded up. At times this felt like two different books smashed together (the and then the fake dating/vacation portion of the book), but I loved both books, so who is complaining? Not me. It was funny and clever and very entertaining. Did end a bit abruptly, and sometimes felt it was written as scenes in a movie rather than a book (which made some things hard to catch onto) but also felt unique because of it.

This book was such a fun, quick and easy read!
I really enjoyed the writing style, it’s simple and modern.
Reading this felt like having a real life conversation with someone, the dialogue just felt like how I would talk to my best friends and tell them a story.
I’m not the biggest fan of humour/comedy in my romances as sometimes I find the humour a little corny, but this was just perfect. I highlighted several lines on my Kindle that I just found absolutely hilarious and so witty and clever!
Absolutely would recommend this book to any lovers of a fun and easy romance.

One of my favourite authors. I love all Portias books and this was no exception.
A funny story with lots of com. Usually scattering if easter eggs which i enjoyed.
Would have liked to see a bit more australia for some escapism - it was a lovely setting.
The characters and their exploits were amusing throughout.

thank you to boldwood books and netgalley for this ARC!

this was probably 3.5 out of 5 stars for me. the book was a really fast read, so the characters didn’t feel terribly developed. it was light and funny, even if things weren’t 100% believable. lana and ethan were definitely sweet, i was happy it worked out with them.

This was a cute and quick read! It reminded me a lot of the movie, anyone but you, especially with the Australian wedding setting. My only feedback would be that it took a lot of time and build up to get to the wedding portion and I would have had more emphasis on that part rather than the filler of her job being soul-sucking and trying to find a date for the wedding. Otherwise I think this is a good book to escape to into the colder weather months!

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc. i don't think i'll ever enjoy or understand british humor and slang. it was a cute lil romcom with god writing but i think a different reader would enjoy it more.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Lana has always been treated poorly by her father‘s second family. Now her sister is getting married in Australia on Lana‘s 30th birthday and Lana is instructed not to embarass the family by dressing to sexy or bringing the wrong date. Of course Lana now seeks for the perfect „bad date“ for the wedding in order to stand up to her family. At the last minute she has the opportunity to take Ethan, a man she had a two-night-stand with that could have been more if they hadn‘t caused chaos and destruction whenever they got together - but in this instance chaos could be a good thing…

I liked reading the book but I felt there were some parts missing. We read about the beginning of Lana‘s and Ethan‘s relationship but then suddenly it‘s five years later and we don‘t really learn why it ended. Also the love story did not really convince me as Lana tries to start a relationship with Beau literally hours before she suddely decides the feelings she has for Ethan must be love. I also would have liked to have Lana stand up for herself to her family and not let them keep on treating her this bad. All in all the ending felt a bit rushed and anti-climatic.
Still an entertaining read because the first half where Lana seeks a date for the wedding is completely hilarious at times.

A good, rom-com read; Lana is approaching 30 and has no relationship, a job she's not sure she likes and a family who she's not sure like her. Then one day she meets Ethan and the charge between them is electric, but dangerous.

It's an easy read, a very quick one too. The plot has enough twists and turns to make it interesting and not immediately predictable. The characters are well written and I really enjoyed the story as a whole. I think the ending is a little quick and that's my reason for it not being 5 stars, I feel like there's a little more to be resolved in it! If you like Macintosh's other books, you'll like this!!

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for sending me an advanced reader copy of the book Wish You Weren't Here, in exchange for an honest review of the book.

I wanted to like this book, but it didn't work for me. The writing fell off, the pacing uneven and not well plotted, with extensive amount of "show and tell" style of writing which threw me off-guard. It was hard for me to stay engaged, even though the storyline was entertaining. The dynamic between the main characters, Lana and Ethan's, lacked authenticity which made their connection seemed forced, with bad correspondence to insta-love. The fake-dating trope fell flat without real angst or chemistry.

Lana's own family dynamic too was beyond miserable, and her own discretion to add fuel to the miserableness, led things astray. Even the heroine's characterisation (her outlook on her life and work, a mixture of bratty yet responsible) was promising, but it was underdeveloped.. It tried to be a lot of things, but fell short. Ethan didn't appeal to me, and many chapters felt like fillers, without a connection to the pacing of the story. Sadly, there wasn't a single likeable character, with the plot being scattered.

SIDE NOTE: Please give romance heroines good friends. They need them!

I loved how they met. How so many people can probably relate to both of their stories. I loved the beginning when they played the “yes game” because it was so goofy and had me giggling. I would have loved for her family/boss/coworkers to have gotten told off when it comes to the disrespect. But love that Ethan didn’t care about her family being so rich, and did what he would do like a normal human. The ending was so cute. So many “girl what are you doing?!” moments! Thank you NetGalley and Publishers for allowing me to read the arch in exchange for my honest review!!

Thank you, Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In the name of being honest, I really disliked this book. Nearly every character was unbearable, and none of them were relatable. The dialogue and interactions were very unbelievable.

A lot of this book kind of gave the vibe that the author is disconnected with the every day reader. I don't want to be too harsh, so I'll keep it short, but this book really missed for me.

I could not get behind any of it. I really wish I had been able to. The author needs to work on polishing her works and making the characters more relatable (or likeable, even.)

I had a wonderful time reading this book! I enjoyed getting to know Lana and Ethan and their will they/won't they story. Lana's family are certainly interesting and I could not help but get frustrated on Lana's behalf.
The plot moves quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly at times but it was pacy, entertaining and humorous. As always with MacIntosh's books this is a feel good read that had me laughing out loud. This is simply a great read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advance copy.

Great premise but the transitions were very abrupt. I liked the story and the characters but the flow was off for me.

Another classic humorous romance by Portia Macintosh. She really is the queen of creating funny but relatable female lead characters, I found the first part of the story intriguing where Lana meets mysterious Ethan in unusual circumstances. Their connection was exciting and as their similar sense of humour drew them together. I felt that in the second part of the book I found it hard to connect the Ethan in Australia for the wedding with the original. Everything is slightly over the top with big characters that makes for a fun easy, light hearted romance.

This is one of the easiest 5 stars I have given. It was full of classic British humour which I love, I was in hysterics! I loved both character’s equally, Ethan was so genuine and sweet and Lana’s humour was brilliantly dry. I love a supportive MMC, he had Lana’s back throughout.

I’m not going to take any points off for this but I did feel like the book was over too soon - surely that’s a good thing right!

I think I’ve found a new favourite author

I really loved this book, I found it super light hearted and fun. Perhaps it could have had a bit more depth? And I kinda accidentally really like Beau 🙈 thank you netgalley!

Another novel from the Prolific Portia Macintosh.
Always an enjoyable read, this novel ends up in Australia which warmed me up in a chilly week. I actually found this raunchier than most of her novels, there were some amusing segments such as the ground floor room hotel blinds opening, but humour is what I love about this author and I found that to be slightly diluted.
I also didn’t particularly warm to any of the characters, my favourite was flat mate Steve who made me laugh.
Still a quick, worthwhile read and I look forward to this author’s next offering.
Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

This was very readable and highly enjoyable. Lana was immediately a likeable character and every single one of her family immediately annoyed me- they were so rude to her!
I enjoyed the premise of her hunting for an unsavoury man and the chemistry she had with Ethan was brilliant.
Their time in Australia was amusing, Beau was an interesting addition as well and it was just a great paced, engaging romantic comedy- thanks!

I read this via a NetGalley so thank you to the publisher for granting me an arc! So this was my first time trying a book from this author and I was in the mood for a quick contemporary romance and this was one of those books you can read in one sitting. So our 2 love interests Lana and Ethan who are ex boy friend and girlfriend, Lana’s sister is getting married in Australia on Lana’s birthday and she needs a date for the wedding so she ends up going on several dates with different guys and then ends up meeting Ethan again and he agrees to go with her to the wedding and it goes from there.

So overall I liked Lana how she was an older character in her 30’s which related to me as I have just turned 30 and I am finding I am enjoying romances when the characters are older rather than younger. Ethan I thought he was an ok love interest he did have a sense of humour but he didn’t shine for me.

Lana’s sister I would have liked her developed a little bit more and you can tell that she has had an easier life than Lana as she is getting the big expensive wedding and I would have liked more of the sister relationship developed a bit more. I kind of felt we spent to much in the various dates with the different guys and I kind of wanted it wrapped up a bit quicker and I kind of predicted they would get back together again early on.

The ending was ok did wrap up a bit to quickly for me but I did read it in one sitting which is always positive for me and if you want a quick summer romance with second chance romance I think you would enjoy. 3 stars not a bad rating at all ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was so much fun and I really enjoy Lana's humor. The banter was fantastic and man, Ethan was perfect from the first page. The only reason I gave this 4 stars is because there was no epilogue and I want to see what happened after. Anyway, I really did love this book.