Oh my goodness I was not expecting to feel so much while reading this! I found myself sobbing at points and laughing at others. This was a first book for me with this author and I would definitely check them out again!

"This is what I never knew about loss- it's also about what you gain. You carry a weight that you never had before. It's never behind you. It's alongside you."
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I've never read a Mhairi McFarlane book I don't like and 'Just Last Night' is no exception. This was so compulsively readable and I binged it one sitting. Mhairi (pronounced "Vah-ree") McFarlane is so good at writing seemingly light stories that have so much more going on under the surface.
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'Just Last Night' initially seems to be a story of unrequited love but it's really a tale of grief and how one learns to navigate it, sprinkled with McFarlane's trademark humorous realism.
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Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have been friends since they were teens. We meet them now in their 30s and they all seem to be as tight as ever. The only problem is that Eve has been in love with Ed for 16 years but he's engaged to a woman they all hate. One night a tragic event changes them all forever and Eve is forced to question everything she thought she knew.
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It would have been so easy for grief to hang over the story like a spectre and even though this is darker than McFarlane's usual fare, there are many satisfying moments and real growth of the characters that makes it all worthwhile.
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I'm knocking off a star because the romance is incorporated into the story much later than I'd like and it would have benefited from a little more development. Regardless, I heartily recommend this book. A ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me

I love Mhairi McFarlane books for the laugh factor. There's something about the way she writes that actually makes me laugh out loud when intended, which isn't always the case for a rom-com. Just Last Night, however, made me cry. That's right. I sobbed at this story at friendship and ugly truths and intense grief. Dang it, Mhairi. This is gutwrenching and heartstring tugging, and McFarlane's singular voice shines through. SO GOOD.

Oh my heart. This was a tough one to get through.

In fact, I started reading Just Last Night two previous times and just couldn’t get into it. The characters, the pacing, nothing was pulling me in. But then I came across the audiobook and gave it a chance while mopping floors and vacuuming carpet in my house. It took about 10 chapters, but I finally did get into the story of four life-long friends in their mid 30s. I was then able to pick up the book when my chores were done for the day and finish the rest of the tale.

Mostly, this is a story about Eve and her grief after she tragically loses her best friend. As Eve mourns Susie, she also has to accept the fact that things she knew about their tight knit group may not be exactly what she thought they were. When she’s forced to reframe the relationships she thought she knew so well, she has to decide if she’s going to live in the past or move forward.

This was a heartbreaking story. Eve’s sorrow is often palpable and overwhelming. Yet it was heartwarming to see how the remaining three friends bonded together to help each other navigate their profound loss. After an extremely slow start, things ended well. Really well.

But here’s the thing: this book is presented as a romance. There’s a couple on the cover. Whether you should judge a book by its cover is beside the point. When you go into a book thinking you’re going to get one kind of story and you get another, it can be a recipe for either a pleasant surprise…or an unpleasant disappointment. This time - for me - it landed on the side of disappointment.

Nevertheless, Just Last Night was brilliantly written and there isn’t a single cliched thing about the story - not the characters, not the storylines. I’m glad I was able to get through enough of the story where I finally cared about the characters and their stories (not that I necessarily liked them). But I also wanted far more of the romance than what we got.

* thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This is a content warning - this book deals with the sudden death of a friend involving a car.

when I requested this book - I saw McFarlane's name and the fun and bright cover and thought that I would be receiving a romantic comedy of sorts and that is not what happened at all.

This could be therapeutic for some - but could be very hard for others to read. The characters in this one are a little older and more in my age group, so that was a nice change.

Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have been friends since they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, the four are as close as ever, Thursday night bar trivia is sacred, and Eve is still secretly in love with Ed. Maybe she should have moved on by now, but she can’t stop thinking about what could have been. And she knows Ed still thinks about it, too.

But then, in an instant, their lives are changed forever.

In the aftermath, Eve’s world is upended. As stunning secrets are revealed, she begins to wonder if she really knew her friends as well as she thought. And when someone from the past comes back into her life, Eve’s future veers in a surprising new direction...

They say every love story starts with a single moment. What if it was just last night?

I was recced this book by a friend who told it me contained messy characters (those are my favorite). I was really getting in to this book but then was surprised by a death via an incident with a car. This is a thing I am at times very sensitive to. So unfortunately I was not able to finish it. I would recommend a content warning for this book. As the events were very realistic and other readers may have the same issue that I did.

I want to preface and say that I love Mhairi McFarlane's writing and her storytelling. I picked this book up because I loved her past book. Unfortunately, this book did not work for me because of the content! This book deals with grief and the sudden death of a friend. When I was reading this, it felt very triggering, so I decided to dnf. I believe that this book is super heavy, so I would caution you to read the content warnings before reading. From what I read, it leaned towards more the women's fiction side with a romance!

I always appreciate Mhairi's writing. She's real, authentic, and never cookie-cutter. I absolutely loved the complexity and dynamics in the relationships within Just Last Night. She will always be an always-read for me, and I absolutely recommend this book.

Such a cute and fun romance between likeable characters. I had so much fun with this book and I highly recommend it for an uplifting read.

Hooked on this author and her books. What can I say. I liked this book. Must read. Do it. If you do anything else. Read this book today. Great read and enjoyable.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory

Ok, a long overdue RAVE review. You’ve seen me raving in stories. You’ve seen me forcing other people to read it. You’ve been warned and told not to be deceived by the bright yellow cover - YOU NEED TISSUES.

I got this eARC from @netgalley but ended up grabbing the audio from my library because *surprise, surprise* I didn’t get to it before pub day. I thought… oh fun! A light women’s fiction/romcom for my heart. I pressed play and it only took a half hour for me to be in tears.

This is a beautiful beautiful meaningful story about grief and friendship and misconceptions. It was almost therapeutic for me. The characters were so well developed and made deeply mature insights. And there were lessons I took from this book that will stay with me for awhile.

It made my heart feel so full. Full of meaningful insights and it was my favorite from Mhairi McFarlane so far!

Hug your friends and love your people. I won’t say too much more because there was some beauty in diving in headfirst without much expectations but, you know… keep tissues handy.

TW: death, Alzheimer’s, abuse

Mhairi McFarlane never misses. This book was alternately heartwarming and heartwrenching. It takes a lot for a book to make me cry, but this had me teary on several occasions...and it also had me texting my best friend more. It's a romance, but it's first and foremost a beautiful book about friendship.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Although I read this a few months ago, I keep coming back to it. The characters and the lives they led were well nuanced and by the end, you felt part of the friend group.

I am excited to see what Ms. McFarlane tackles next.

I loved that these characters were in their 30s. They seemed super relatable and I loved every minute of it!

This was definitely not the romance book I was expecting it to be but it was very captivating. It ended up being about loss and grief when Eve, our narrator, loses her best friend Susie unexpectedly. It then follows her journey coping with the loss alongside her other two friends, Justin and Ed. Eve experiences some unrequited love with Ed and I think that’s where some of the “romance” starts but it takes an unexpected turn. Like I mentioned earlier, this wasn’t the romance story I was expecting. It’s sad and deep and I don’t think the cover conveys those themes, I know it fooled me a bit. I think if it had been marketed a little differently, I would have into it more prepared for what to expect. Even though it was an unexpected story, I did enjoy what I read. Eve’s feelings of loss are raw and real. I can only imagine how hard it must be to what to tell your best friend something that happened to you and then stopping because you realize they’ll never get the message. If you’re in the mood for some deep reading and pinch of romance, this would be a good choice.

I was expecting something a little more romancey based on McFarlane's previous novels, but this was more of what I think of as women's fiction. Even though I like romances more and was expecting one, I still really loved this book. It was a great story that I couldn't put down. I highly recommend McFarlane's books.

Super cute story with a tight knit group of friends. Over night the group of Ed, Eve, Susie and Justin receive shocking news. There are a few triggers in this book so if you are sensitive to infidelity and abuse, this may not be a good fit I am.a huge fan of the author!

This is one of the best romance novels I've read all year. It put me in a serious headspace, it was a good reminder that nothing is promised and youth doesn't guarantee a long life. The slow burn here felt so real and all of the emotional reveals felt completely earned.