Four and a half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒
What Might Have Been by Holly Miller is a delightful look at one person’s life as seen through two timelines. It’s heartwarming, emotional, and thought-provoking.

Lucy suddenly loses her job, and as she drowns her sorrows in her beer at the local pub, she meets and starts talking to Caleb. Then, she notices her old boyfriend, Max through the window on the street. She rushes outside to see Max, and this is where the stories divide. Which outcome is best? Meeting up again with Max, and getting back together with the “one that got away”, or forgetting about Max and continuing with the interesting Caleb, who she just met?

I like this romance very much. Throughout the book, I kept wondering which outcome will be best for Lucy, so I enjoyed the bit of mystery that came with the romance. And you get two romances with this book. Lucy and Max and Lucy and Caleb! I love the alternating chapters for the different outcomes, it kept the book fast-moving and so interesting it was difficult to put down. I enjoyed all three of the main characters so much.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves romance and women’s fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Pub date: Jan 18, 2022
Genre: women's fiction with romance elements
In one sentence: Can happy ever after happen twice?

We all wonder "what if?", so why not read a book about this exact scenario? I was excited to see main character Lucy's journey unfold in two parts: one if she decided to stay in her small town and the other if she decided to move to London and pursue a relationship with old flame Max. I liked that the author showed that happiness could be found in both paths.

This book faltered a bit in execution - each chapter covers both the "go" and "stay" timelines, making the narrative long and unwieldy. I wish the timelines had been cut down or been structured into separate narratives - this would have made it easier to follow Lucy's journey. Lucy's suitors also both had major issues - one was still married and one had a history of cheating, so it was hard to root for these love stories.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing story about the consequences of one choice and the outcomes of each decision. Love how the story shows that destiny will happen eventually no matter the decision you make. I love the main character Lucy and and how strong she is with each set of outcomes. THIS story is full of love and LIFE!

Hmm. Tough one. Not my favorite. Complex and often confusing (unnecessarily) timeline and flashbacks, didn't feel anchored in the story or invested in the main character. Sliding doors with some parts that engaged, but more parts that didn't. Good idea, fell short in execution.

I found this book to have a wonderful plot but unfortunately a little drawn out for me. The character was flippant and didn't capture my attention.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Son and #NetGalley for my honest opinion. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Quite enjoyable read, emotions will be all over.

What a thoroughly entertaining novel. I loved the parallels between Lucy’s two choices and how outcomes occurred to events happening to her friends and family. The characters are well thought out and engaging. It is a very worthwhile read and so enjoyable.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lucy is having a bad day. After her quitting her job, she goes the the local bar to drown her sorrows. While talking to the man next to her, she sees her ex boyfriend Max walk by outside. This one choice can change her life forever. Should she run outside to Max? Or spend time getting to know Caleb, the new man at the bar? Told in alternating storylines either staying with Caleb or going with Max, this is an absolutely beautiful story that examines the choices we make and repercussions of those choices.

Growing up with parents who have been together forever and seem to be living a fairytale romance, Lucy is looking for her own Happily Ever After. But maybe life isn't so simple. This book examines just how easy it is for one choice to alter our future, and how maybe one person isn't exactly the only "one". While not making the love story any less special or meaningful, it beautifully shows maybe life isn't mapped out exactly, and maybe sometimes you just have to close your eyes and jump and hope for the best. This book brought me to tears and made me fall in love with both Max and Caleb for different reasons. I couldn't have loved this book more! Publishing date is January 18, 2022.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Holly Miller, and Penguin Group Putnam for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I love dual timelines and this one is no exception - plus it gets a few good heart-wrenching moments in each different reality.

Knowing how things are going in the “alternate timeline” made it easy to be continuously surprised by the one I was currently reading! How many things changed with each small decision, each seemingly insignificant moment. How many things change for us each second?

Lucy is a strong believer in signs. Signs to quit your job and start over. Signs to talk to the cute photographer that strikes up a conversation. Signs to run out into the street to reunite with the One Who Got Away.

So when Lucy reads her horoscope and it tells her that tonight is the night she’ll come across her soulmate, she believes it.

But which man is it?

What follows is a tale in two parts:

If she stays in her seaside hometown, it’s Caleb - a kind and inspiring photographer who helps her gain confidence in her writing and reconnect with herself after departing a job that left her tired and frustrated. As she and Caleb grow closer, Lucy realizes that there’s so much more to this little life near her family that she’s never noticed before - and that the world is open to her as well. But she also wonders what life would be like, had she gone.

If she goes to London and pursues not only an incredible job opportunity but also Max, the college boyfriend she saw a whole future with before he unexpectedly ended things nearly a decade prior. As they fall back in love and her new career takes off, Lucy suspects that things may be too good to be true - but if she and Max are meant to be together, maybe that’s okay.

With two realities, following the same timeline if Lucy had made one decision or the other, this story draws to light the invisible strings that tie some people together no matter what choices they make.

I read this book as if it were a “choose your own path” style and read all the “stay” chapter portions in order first. Then went back and read “go.” Others were confused about the timelines since they didn’t do so, but I liked doing it this way.
Stay – I read this portion of the novel in four hours and loved it. Thank you for not going into detail about Lucy’s assault; I understood what had happened to her without being triggered and reliving my own trauma. I appreciated that so very much.

Go – This part of the novel tore my heart to shreds and made me cry into a cup of tea for comfort. I absolutely loved this story line.

I enjoyed the dichotomy of how our choices in life affect others paths as well and the details that overlapped between “stay” and “go” made me gasp many times.

I absolutely devoured this book. I love books that have a plot with second chances, or what ifs, romance, etc. so this entire synopsis of Lucy choosing to Go or Stay was intriguing. At first, I found the two narratives somewhat confusing but quickly around 30% in or so, I was hooked and could not stop. I loved the deep contrast in the two men and the life that she ended up with, the idea that our choices could lead to so many different scenarios and loves. I was TRULY not rooting for her to get back with her ex but as that story line unfolded, it was hard for me not to agree that we all make mistakes and aren't perfect. And then with the Stay storyline I truly was enjoying how Lucy was chasing her dream and trying to finally life a live on her own terms, while create a meaningful relationship with a man unlike any other. The ending was absolutely perfect and gutted me. I was crying but also rejoicing. I was a big fan of Miller's other book, The Sight of You, and this did not disappoint. This is one for the shelf, to pick up often and reread, and to remind ourselves of how we are all human and making choices, hopefully those choices lead to a life that most reflects our truest of selves, in happiness and love.

This had a good premise but didn’t work out for me. Lucy was annoying in both iterations of her life. The relationships just seemed off for me all around.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This book was "interesting' and I had a hard time with it. I truly didn't like the different paths Lucy could have taken. I felt it was challenging to keep track of her two separate lives. I would like to read more by this author as her writing style was very easy to read but this story just didn't hold my interest.

Thank you for my early review copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I believe this book will be a huge bestseller.

As a devoted fan of What if formats inspired by Sliding Doors movie, a combination of Two lives of Lydia Bird meets This Time Next Year concept is always picks my interest!

But even though this concept is quite intriguing and smart, the most important factor to create a memorable novel connected with how the author executed the idea and how she gave life to her characters!

At this book: two things disappointed me : the entire execution which is way too much complicated with multi timelines and way too much confusing flashbacks and unfortunately Lucy is not so attachable character. I wished she grew a backbone. I couldn’t connect with her way of thinking, her actions or her choices. Actually each way she chooses seem like a big fail.

There are two time lines she can choose to live and two life changing choices: she can move to London to land on brand new job at Supernova which is a prestigious company that can open her doors to improve her skills. And she can also face with her ex lover Max who dumbed her for chasing his career dreams in the past. Maybe they have a chance to overcome their obstacles to take their second chance romance.

Her second choice is staying at her small hometown, working at a hobby shop during the daytime and pursuing her writing dreams at night time. By the way she has a chance to flirt with a charming photographer Caleb but I have to add: Caleb recently divorced and he still carries emotional baggage.

So this is about choosing between financially full filled life and chasing the love of her life : I think both of the choices don’t offer real happiness and in my opinion both of the men she is attracted are also bad choices: one man dumped her years ago so she doesn’t need to chase a man who broke her heart and chose his career over her. And the other one is emotionally exhausted after his breakup. Well, at least I didn’t care much because I didn’t like Lucy enough to worry about her problems.

Overall: this is a novel with interesting concept that badly executed with fair character development. I appreciate the author’s effort to construct a complex format efficiently. So I’m giving solid three stars: which means neither I loved nor I hated this novel but it could be much better.

I’m still interested to read next works of the author.

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam , G. P. Putnam’s Sons for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Oh boy.

What Might Have Been has an intriguing storytelling concept - concurrent timelines following the heroine's decision to either move to London to reunite with her ex, whom she dubbed "the one" even after he unexpectedly dumped her, and pursue a prestigious career in lieu of her real passion or stay in her small town, date a local charming photographer she just met and work at a small hobby shop during the day while pursuing her dreams of becoming a novelist at night. That's already a ton to unpack in one sentence and it's exactly what this book feels like - it's a lot.

The concept is the basis for all the issues I have with this - the dual timelines are complicated to execute because it inherently gets in its own way. It caused a disorienting reading experience that, honestly, I was relieved was over when I finished. It was like a wall between the story and the reader/overall reading experience, it made it difficult to connect to the story. It felt more plot/concept-driven than character driven, almost like the most interesting part of this book is its unconventional storytelling and not the actual story itself.

Another frustrating layer were the frequent (and almost unnecessary) flashbacks. So it's basically three? four? separate timelines to keep track of. It bogged down the pace quite a bit and prolonged the effect of important cliffhangers to the point where I either skimmed through a timeline just to get to it or got lost in the other timeline and forgot to anticipate a plot point altogether.

The only intriguing thing about the heroine was her decision to choose between following her heart or following financial security on top of choosing between two giant, flaming red flags - re-kindle a relationship with an ex who dumped her (never a good idea) or a man who was recently separated from his wife months ago and is yet to be actually divorced (umm, run!!) She's a fairly bland lead otherwise. I didn't find her engaging or likeable because it didn't seem like she had any personality.

I hesitate to recommend this as a one or two sitting read, or even a book to read sporadically. Each chapter is so over stuffed with information that I had to take a long break to digest everything and clear my mind, then ended up forgetting what's happening or mixing up details in each timeline when I'd read again.

It's also weirdly forgettable - as soon as I turned off my Kindle, whatever I read just went out of my head and I never found myself thinking about this book when I wasn't reading it. I'm literally sitting here trying to think about which scene or moment was the most memorable, but I'm drawing a blank. Whatever message or story the book was trying to accomplish got lost in its storytelling mechanism.

I'm divided on how I feel about this. Again, the concept is fun, coinciding plot points are woven in quite smoothly, the author does a good job of giving subtle reminders of new developments in each timeline and, contrary to what my review makes it seem, it's fairly well written. But over time, it felt like a total drag to read and I felt indifferent about it as I kept reading.

tl;dr Intriguing concept that ended up getting in its own way and making this a disorienting, largely forgettable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5, rounded up to 3 / 5