This was my first Mhairi McFarlane book and I was SO excited to start this book. I have heard nothing but great things about Mhairi McFarlane and was pulled in by the description of this book immediately. A Romcom with fake dating? Sign me up!

Let me preface this review by saying that I read this in the peak of what felt like a horrible reading slump. Cover Story follows Bel and Connor. Bel works for a newspaper in Manchester and goes undercover to investigate a lead on what she's hoping will be a really good story. Connor is a new intern at the newspaper, and accidentally gets caught up in Bel's undercover act. Bel and Connor have to convince people that they're a couple- even though they have a strong distaste for each other. I am a huge fan of the fake dating trope, and I am a big fan of good banter in books. On paper, this book sounded like it would be perfect for me.

I had a hard time getting into Cover Story- it was difficult for me to keep up with different character's perspectives and some of the slang was confusing for me. It felt like there were a lot of plot points to keep up with throughout the book that I wasn't anticipating. McFarlane touches on a variety of topics such as stalking, cheating, depression, and mentions of suicidal ideation. None of this made me want to stop reading the book, it just was not what I pictured to be happening in a book advertised as a Romcom. It felt like it took a long time for the romance to come into play throughout the book. While I enjoyed all of the characters, I don't feel like Bel and Connor had the romance story that I thought they deserved. I wanted more from them, I just didn't feel like I got enough. I did however LOVE the relationship that Bel had with her best friend, Shilpa. All of the characters felt relatable which gave me a reason to follow through and read to find out how this story would finish.

I think that Mhairi McFarlane is an incredible writer, and I will definitely be giving her another chance. Cover Story was not the romance that I thought it was going to be, but it was still an interesting and captivating read nonetheless.

And a huge thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. These are all of my own opinions.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishing, and Mhairi McFarlane for the ARC of Cover Story. While it took me a bit longer to get into than usual, it turned out to be a deeply engaging read after a slow start.

Mhairi McFarlane delivers yet another emotionally rich and intricately layered story that doesn’t shy away from tough topics, handling them with honesty and heart. What really stood out to me was Bel’s emotional journey. She’s a wonderfully complex protagonist—flawed but deeply human—and watching her gradually grow stronger and reclaim her sense of purpose was incredibly satisfying.

The character dynamics, especially the evolving relationships, felt authentic and kept me fully invested. By the end, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye—I would have happily read another ten chapters! If you enjoy character-driven stories with emotional depth, resilience, and just the right amount of slow-burn tension, this one’s worth picking up.

Mhairi is my favorite romance author, miles above the rest. I devour everything she writes and this one was no exception. Top tier banter, sexual tension, great characters, a fake dating trope, and a thoughtful incorporation of mental health and grief. Absolutely loved it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my advanced copy!

Mhairi McFarlane is a favorite of mine, and this did not disappoint! The characters felt real and she somehow pulled off making enemies-to-lovers AND fake-dating feel plausible. I would love to get to meet some of these characters in real life--it seems like we would have great chat. Serial readers of McFarlane will notice her hallmarks: an undeniable beauty (always compared to a film star) gets the actually-good man despite awful-man experiences, all set in Northern England. And of course they're all funny and charming, and live in nice "accommodations" (felt like a British-y way to say apartments, lol). I'm such a sucker for British writing, the phrases and cadence (the works!), that I find myself charmed (I'm no tea-a-boo, I swear!). Excited and grateful to read!

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager!

This is a fun read for fans of the enemies to lovers and forced proximity tropes. There is an almost overwhelming amount of banter and dialogue throughout the book, which is classic MacFarlane. "Cover Story" is a slow burn chock full of vibrant characters and a dash of mystery.

Bel is an investigative journalist, and Connor is a non-traditional intern, having left the finance industry. One day, while undercover trying to befriend the key to breaking a huge story, Connor walks past and almost ruins it all. What ensues is Bel and Connor faking a relationship while working undercover to try to break the story. I thought this was a sweet story. I enjoyed the mystery of whether they would be able to actually break the story or. not, as well as what would happen with all of the players - the family members, co-workers, etc were all intriguing. Recommend this as a quick enjoyable read!

I really was excited for this read, I have read two other books from this author and was looking forward to reading more from her. The story follows Bel,a journalist chasing a major story she comes across, with the help of the new intern Connor they try their best to unveil the story. At times it was difficult to understand the slang they used but overall the story and writing flowed together well.
I loved reading from Connor's POV and you come to care for him but you don't really see a spark between Bel and him until literally the very end.
That being said this was a 2 star book for me, I felt the chemistry between our characters was not there at times. I felt what the book was trying to give but it sadly did not do it for me. I found there was too much miscommunication for me.

Mhairi McFarlane, the woman that you are.

This book is by far McFarlane’s most romance-centric book. It’s fun and the relationships and characters feel intentional. I loved both Bel and Connor individually and together.

There’s lots of good banter and spark between the FMC and MMC, and the fake dating is great without being too trope-y. Our characters both get a lot of screen time to individually learn and grow while also weaving their lives together.

There are some heavier topics in this book, stalking, abuse of power, and cheating being on that list. Despite the themes, the book does not read as heavy-handed in any way.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I’m a newer Mhairi McFarlane fan as this is my second book of hers I’ve read and it did not disappoint. Her story telling pulls you in from the start with likable characters and all the lovely tropes. I loved these characters from Connor and Bel, to the lesser mentioned side characters.

I should first start out by saying I enjoy this authors previous work and her writing style but this book killed me and not in a good way. I originally sent this in as a DNF but I am no quitter.

This book started off so slow it took me a month to read. The third person point of view became so confusing at times I didn't know who was who. I enjoyed Bel and Connor but didn't feel any chemistry with them. I wanted Shilpa to have her own HEA but it never happened. We waited until 90% of the book in for them to finally acknowledge each other and then it just ends. It needs an Epilogue.

2.5/5 for me. The ending was cute.


Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC of this book.

One of my favorite books of the year so far!!!

A really well done enemies to lovers, lots of banter, super fun. Lots of learning and growing for the main characters and side characters. A win for the women and survirioes of SA, grooming, etc. very empowering on that front.

Loved the writing style, it just felt so natural and fun. It felt like chatting with my best friend. I also loved seeing both Bel’s POV and Connor’s POV. It made the dance between them so fun.

I do however wish we got more of a resolution from the Amber side plot. That’s my only big critique. It felt like she just fell off and never got a resolution. It feels unfair to her and makes Bel seem like she really was just using her.

I live in the US but studied abroad in Leeds, and having the setting up in Manchester/York was so fun for me. Very nostalgic and loved getting little memories of UK tidbits, places, and phrases.

I wanted to give up on this one so badly, but today decided I would push through and finish it. I love Mhairi McFarlane, but this book missed the mark for me. On a positive note, Bel and Connor were fun main characters. There was also a consistently sweet female friendship theme, and I enjoyed the journalism aspect of the story. On another note, this is the slowest slow burn, and while I love some tension-building, this took way too long, in my opinion. The pacing felt poorly planned. I skimmed a decent amount of the middle chapters because it felt like they were dragging. Overall, not my favorite Mhairi McFarlane read, but would recommend if you’re looking for a women’s fiction vibe that is less romance-focused.

I'm grateful to NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishing, and author Mhairi McFarlane for providing me an ARC of this book. I'm not typically one for the fake dating trope, however the description of this book hooked me and I was excited to read. For me, the pacing was a little off and I found myself having a hard time with some of the dialogue. I went into the book expecting more of a rom-com vibe, and was caught a bit off guard by some of the heavier topics (though, shout out for having a MMC talking about his struggles with mental health almost from the get go!). Overall it's not a bad read at all, I just think readers should go in with a more realistic expectation of what the book will ultimately deliver.

I love anything with fake dating but the workplace rivals to lovers aspect was such a good addition. Bel and Conner had such good banter and were both so witty I loved anytime they interacted. The investigative journalism story was top notch and I loved the twists anytime we learned about why Bel moved to Manchester. Mhairi is always gonna deliver!

I enjoyed this book, but it was a hard one for me to get into. I struggled with the dialect at first because there was a phrase or word on almost every page that I had to look up or use context clues to understand. It also seemed like the book dragged on at some points. Overall I enjoyed the story line. The romance didn’t quite do it for me, but it was very believable.

While I've enjoyed some of Mhairi McFarlane's other books more than others, this one was a miss for me. The beginning of the book felt really slow to pickup, and that made it a bit of a slog to want to pick up over other things on my shelf. Third person narration isn't my favorite, and that narration combined with various issues that trigger me personally (infidelity, divorce, mental health issues) made it tough to continue when the story was feeling slow.

I found the beginning to be paced kinda slow and then towards the end as the story was reaching the climax I couldn’t read it fast enough, but was definitely more invested in the plot than the characters so rushed through to find out the conclusion. Felt like a lot of tropes were put in there: forced proximity, fake dating, enemies to lovers and none of them were outstanding. Overall a pleasant read, but not jumping to the top of the list for me by any means.

I went into Cover Story completely blind, and unfortunately, that didn’t work in my favor. The story starts off in a disjointed way, and I found the third-person narrative difficult to connect with. It took a while to figure out what was happening, and by then, I felt detached from the characters and the plot.

The writing style just never clicked for me, which made it hard to stay engaged. I appreciate unique formats and slow-burn suspense, but this one didn’t quite land. While the concept had potential, the execution left me more confused than intrigued.

That said, I know this book works well for some readers—it just wasn’t a good match for me.

This book has so much emotional depth, I was not prepared! There are some darker aspects but I also laughed though at least 30% of this book, it was such a surprise. I loved the characters and their development throughout. The overal idea of how public perception can be powerful and influential was a strong plot too!

This is my first book by this author, and I was excited to receive this ARC given that I’ve heard praise from friends about her previous books. Not to mention, the first line in the description for this book on Goodreads describes the author as “the Queen of Romcoms,” so I fully anticipated this book to have that feel. Sadly, it did not, and I think that’s one of my biggest issues—feeling as though this story is not accurately advertised. Because of this, my expectations going into reading did not match the reality of the story.

Cover Story attempts to tackle many things at once (a stalker ex, a cheating ex, a MC who cheated, a MC battling depression, a divorced friend, jilted exes, breaking a big news story about a shitty mayor by going undercover), and in doing so, made the story feel scattered. Also, in trying to develop and sort through so much, the romance gets placed on the back burner. It’s not even really addressed until the last 8% of the story and, even then, the conclusion left me unsatisfied. I especially loathe a miscommunication/misunderstanding trope. The romance ultimately felt like it got thrown in at the end after realizing it had been forgotten.

While I wholeheartedly enjoy, and often seek out, romantic stories that explore sensitive themes and shed light on tough topics, as this one does, that seemed to be the primary focus here. I did appreciate the way in which the topic at the forefront of the undercover investigation was addressed, the outcome of which was ultimately satisfying, but I got neither “rom” nor “com” vibes as a result.

There were parts of this story I enjoyed while others felt rushed and/or underdeveloped, and I think implying it is a “romcom” does it a disservice, especially since the central focus is not comedic in the slightest.

** Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. **