I enjoyed this one! It’s my first one by Mhairi McFarlane and I’m convinced to check out her backlist!

Bel and Connor have an instant enemies-to-lovers connection, but manage to start working together on a big story Bel wants to break about the mayor. When they end up creating a fake dating relationship as part of their cover, there’s definitely not instant chemistry. I found Connor and Bel to be complex, flawed, relatable characters with real issues to work past, both individually and together. If you love tropes like fake dating, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and only one bed, this book may be right up your alley (especially if you’re a fan of a true slow-burn romance)!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the early reader copy of this book!

Even though I'm not a fan of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith nor the book The Hating game. I did enjoy this one, as it was enough out of my wheel house to keep me turning pages to find out what happened.

cover Story is everything I love in a book. Shilpa was one of the best best friends I've read in a while. I was a little bit obsessed with her.I really did adore this book and sped through it

Cover Story
Mhairi McFarlane

Bel and Connor

Bel used to host a podcast, but a personal issue took that away, and her to Manchester.
Bel is a journalist in Manchester and Connor comes in as an intern to help her. They are doing an undercover assignment which has them “fake dating”.
Mishaps and misunderstandings seem to always stand in their way.
I liked it was not an insta-love book. It was a slow building burning love. A part that made me think was a turning point was the situation with Tim at the wedding. Connor stepped up to help Bel. Plus Connor lets something slip at the wedding and Bel doesn’t find that out until close to the end of the book.
It was a good book. I liked the characters and overall feel of the story. It was not predictable.
A book you will not be disappointed with.

Mhairi McFarlane, you've done it again!
how completely excited I was to be able to read this ARC because I love Just Last Night and Mad About You!
Such a great little rom-com!
I love duel pov's and enemies to lovers more than anything!
I really enjoyed this book, and will definitely be reading more books from Mhairi. I definitely recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

This book was so enjoyable to read, even though it didn't totally stick the landing. Two journalists who start out antagonistic towards each other find themselves going undercover as a couple for the sake of a potentially explosive Me-Too story lead. As always, McFarlane's characters are sharp, witty, and complex, and their banter is a real highlight here.

set against the high stakes of a journalists fighting the clock to break a me too scandal, cover story will read as surprisingly tender if you're someone that wasn't familiar with mcfarlane's work beforehand. however, if you're like me and have read almost her entire backlist, this shouldn't come as a surprise with mcfarlane's characterization of the main couple as a highlight. she writes about people who have strong moral compasses, but are just idiotic with each other sometimes and that is just refreshing; bel and connor are the type of people i hope to meet in my lifetime over and over again.

I love Mhairi McFarlane. She tells a great story and it happens to be an interesting saga combined with a really sweet love story. She’s a must-buy for me. I loved This one!

Okay this was cute! This was my first time reading Mhairi McFarlane, and I enjoyed her unique writing style. I was a big fan of our FMC Bel; a strong, independent career-driven woman.

Read if you enjoy:
*** Enemies to lovers
*** Workplace romance
*** Fake dating
*** Slowwwww burn
*** Dual POV

I wouldn’t say that the romance was front and center in this novel; but I enjoyed the brief detour into women’s lit.
The topics discussed were entertaining and compelling.

I would absolutely read the author’s other novels.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

Bel has a successful podcast, but after making a bad personal choice, she finds herself fleeing to Manchester, where she takes a job at a local newspaper. There, she meets her new desk mates—Aaron, a snarky, smarmy journalist, and Connor, an intern navigating a late-in-life career change. Naturally, she and Connor become instant enemies, but an investigative assignment in Manchester forces them to work together.

I’ve read several of Mhairi McFarlane’s books, and they NEVER disappoint! Her writing style is fantastic, the dialogue is sharp and authentic, and the banter—whether between colleagues or romantic leads—is both hilarious and relatable. I loved how this story unfolds, from the intrigue of the assignment to the satisfying vengeance over bad behavior, all wrapped in an extremely slow-burn romance between Bel and Connor. The dual point-of-view narrative works perfectly, and while the level of miscommunication is OFF THE CHARTS, somehow, it absolutely fits this story.

I adored this book and can’t wait to read more from McFarlane—I’ll always pick up anything she writes!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I've read every single Mhairi McFarlane book and I was ecstatic to see that she had a new book out this year. I was lucky enough to get an ARC and I devoured it in one sitting.

Bel and Connor are journalists who are forced to work together on an undercover story and end up having to fake date in order to sell it. Hence, 'Cover Story'. Connor, a new journalist sent up North to Manchester to work with Bel for 3 months, immediately rubs her the wrong way, but they are forced to tolerate each other for the greater good. Bel also hasn't been in Manchester long, and we find out that she left her last paper in York after a bad breakup and moved to Manchester to be closer to her best friend.

I'm pretty sure that this is the first Mhairi McFarlane book I've read with a dual pov and I liked it! It was nice to get inside Connor's head and it made me feel so much empathy for his reasons for switching to journalism as a career and why he came across as cold sometimes. Seeing him gradually open up as he and Bel form a friendship was very rewarding, and I felt as though the conclusion was well-earned.

However, I'm saving my highest praise for Bel. It was refreshing to have a main female character who has done something pretty terrible and is grappling with the after-effects. I think that all too often, the FMC has to be "perfect" in order to elicit sympathy from the reader and I loved that Bel felt like a real person with flaws, who was just trying to do her best. She may have done something bad, but she's not a bad person.

The realism and sharp banter of her characters have always been Mhairi McFarlane's strong points, and I am happy to report that all is present here. I also enjoyed her side characters more than usual and I didn't feel like they were too prominent as I have done in the past.

I'm taking away a star because I would have liked to see more time dedicated to the romance and it felt a little rushed at the end. I also think that we perhaps had one side plot too many. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I highly recommend it.

Hold the presses: major book hangover alert.

How the fuck does Mhairi McFarlane do it? Every book just gets better and better (and I know sound like a fawning cliche saying this). Cover Story is like the smoothest cocktail that carefully balances all the flavours. The next thing you know you've woken up with a major hangover and can't read another book. The only cure was to re-read my fave bits and look at tickets to Manchester (seriously, Manchester tourist office should give her commission).

This book is sharp, witty, well-paced and astute, blending social commentary, a bit of a mystery (I'd kill for a series with Bel and Connor investigating crimes) and a swoony, very slow-burn romance. It also continues a recurring theme from her previous books, namely the varying ways men wield their power via The Nice Guy in the Room act (who, past McFarlane hero Finn advises we should beware of) to inoculate themselves against scrutiny for abusing women.

I adored Bel, she's resourceful and daring but a bit battered after a toxic dalliance. Connor was also her perfect foil, a man wears his heart on his sleeve. Shilpa and Shaun were also perfect, with Shaun giving Fraser a run for his money as my fave McFarlane brother. To reduce the romance to 'enemies to lovers' ‘fake dating’ tropes is to do a disservice; it's far more layered. Instead of immature pranks and insta-lust with a romance going zero to 100 out of nowhere, it's a gradual slow-burn. Bel and Connor constantly wrong-foot and misunderstand each other every step of the way. I love that we witness both points of view as their feelings sneak up on them.

I was bereft when it ended. A gazillion stars.

Massive thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC.

Cover Story is a masterclass in the kind of storytelling that makes Mhairi McFarlane special -- she's done it again! It's sweet and romantic, with the right amount of angst, an interesting plot external to the relationship, and laugh out loud witty banter. The main characters Bel and Connor are (mostly) likeable and clever, and felt like real people. The side characters were also well-developed and served the plot. McFarlane does really well at avoiding cliches and predictability, even when the book deals in some classic romance tropes.

COVER STORY is an absolute delight to read fill with the author's classic wit and grounded, real characters. I loved the premise of two colleagues -who couldn't rub each other the wrong way anymore even if they tried - finding themselves being in a fake relationship while going undercover. And then a fun take on the one bed trope - like I said, an absolute delight! How long can they keep their cover for? How long until their dislike for one another turns to fondness? Then how long until they will actually admit these feelings they are in denial of?

I loved both Bel and Connor's personalities and their dynamic together. They are both incredibly sweet human beings and even their insecurities are somehow sweet! Fun banter, wholesome love.... what more could one ask for?!?

Many thanks to Avon Harper and Voyager and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I had such a fun time with this. Mhairi McFarlane never disappoints. Bel and Connor were so cute, I loved their dynamic! I’m really glad that Alan was just a regular annoying coworker that’s only a bit inappropriate and not a total creep, as three very creepy men in one romance would have been too much for me.

This is truly Mhairi in top form. This was a delightful story, on top of delightful characters, a delightful fake-dating set up, delightful chemistry, etc etc.
What she does especially well is dialogue. The banter is TOP NOTCH. It’s so natural while being absolutely hilarious. I laughed out loud multiple times and was grinning for most of the book.
Admittedly I know nothing about the ethics of journalism, so can’t say everything that happens is above board, but I can say it was absolutely entertaining as hell to read.
There’s also just this through line of hope and heart throughout it that mixed in with the humor and the romance made this absolutely amazing.
If you haven’t read Mhairi before, this is a great place to start. And then clear your schedule because you’ll immediately want to read everything she’s written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.