Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free ebook of this title in exchange for my review.

Sadly, this was not the book for me. I'm not sure how it ended up on my shelf, because this is not the type of book I typically read. Still, I tried to give it an honest try. Not only am I not the target age group, but I'm not the target audience and in the end, I did not finish reading it. I did try to give it an honest go, but didn't work.

For most of this book, I didn't understand why it already had such a low rating on Goodreads already. The writing was funny, I generally liked most of the characters, and I found myself cheering along most of them on their various journeys. Sure, there's a lot of angst and pining from certain POVs, and a character I greatly disliked hung around a bit too long, but there was enough for me to enjoy that I didn't really find myself minding it too much.

But then I got to the epilogue.

I'm sorry, but what the fuck was that? I don't mind these little slice of life epilogues to see where the characters ended up, especially after an open ending, but this one was just frustrating beyond belief. I understand that I have lived through a pandemic and that it was traumatic in ways I may not have fully unpacked yet, but I do NOT want it in my fiction. I do not want to feel safely lulled into a fictional world only to be slapped in the face, constantly, with miscellaneous pandemic references. This entire epilogue reads as a 'what would your characters do if they were in the pandemic' AU fanfic, and I'm honestly still angry and reeling from it all if I think about it. It's not even a slight reference, but almost like a long list of how it uprooted everyone's plans suddenly and how characters lost people to it, how nothing is the same and how they're now 'cherishing their freedoms' after the ending of a third lockdown. I'm sorry, but no, you don't just suddenly add that in after the book's basically already finished. You can't just throw in character death right at the end for pity points, just for the heck of it, for absolutely no reason! I literally cannot think of a single good reason for the existence of this epilogue, and literally just writing about it in depth makes me want to take another star off just for it.

The rest of the book was also not perfect but it was at least enjoyable, for the most part. The book attempts to tackle a lot, and not all of it is as well done as it could've been, mainly because there's just not enough space for it all. This is especially true for everything at the end, where all the character's individual sudden tragedies almost seem to fight for attention, with a clear winner. And even that winning tragedy doesn't get near enough space to be fully tied up, in a sense. But still, none of this really bothered me all that much, because while this book never would've made a 5 star for me, it was still a strong contender for a 4 star read.

I generally enjoyed my time here, but as always, the endings/epilogues always play a larger role in the final reviews of readers, including myself, just because it's the last thing we read. And if all the joy the book brought is completely overshadowed by the mess of an ending or the frustration an epilogue brought, then that's what we readers will remember. We won't remember the cute moments, the way our hearts broke. And unfortunately that's exactly what happened here, as when I think of this book, my brain will undoubtedly always remember the epilogue. So if you do decide to pick up this book still, I'd recommend just skipping it, just so you're not stuck in the same boat I'm now in with this book.

I loved this book. It was filled with a couple cliches but nothing so overbearing where I had to put the book down for a while. In fact, it was quite the opposite! I couldn't put the book down. It was so frustrating seeing all the unnecessary drama that was caused just because the main characters failed to communicate well, but it had me so intrigued on what would happen next.

This book ended different than how I expected to, but I wasn't upset about it. Although, I think we could've done without the Epilogue. It didn't really add to the story or tie anything up. I think the author set up the ending in a great way for a potential sequel. And if that were to happen, I'll definitely be waiting to get my hands on a copy.

I feel like the author named her book Not Exactly What I Had in Mind because readers would think “this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

Not really, but it definitely is not what I had in mind. I didn’t find it funny OR irresistible like a blurb before the description suggested. It toggled between sounding pretentious to having serious “ewww” factor, almost like the author was trying to balance out the pretentiousness with crudeness thinking it would make her sound less pretentious.

I also wasn’t crazy about all the politics in the story. This is supposed to be funny, romantic, families, and love. I can get behind a political slant if it advances the story. But this book references US elections (Trump vs Clinton), Brexit, climate change, racism, protests, COVID, vaccines. I read to escape real life, not to have it thrown in my face again and again. If I wanted that in a book, I would be choosing different books.

Examples:

“But, now being a voracious consumer of articles and TED Talks about the moral implication of reproducing in the age of extinction, she eventually found an argument that eased her conscience. This argument stated that since climate change was being driven by corporations and the governments in their thrall, it was neither fair nor realistic to expect individuals to mitigate it, whether through minor lifestyle choices, like recycling, or major ones, like not having children. In fact, encouraging people to forgo having children was a slippery slope that could end in eco-fascism, possibly eco-eugenics. Moreover, it was a distraction from the real problem, which was the plundering of finite natural resources in the pursuit of profit. It was certainly attractive, this idea that one could help fix the mess by opting in to certain behaviors and opting out of others, but ultimately all it did was take the heat off the real culprits.”

“When the coughing fit started he bowed his head and directed it under his T-shirt, his breath moistening the bare skin of his chest. Just as it began to decrescendo, a globule of phlegm shot out of his mouth and landed in the space between his nipples.”

I’ll outline the nuts and bolts of the storylines before I get into the spoilers below.

Hazel and Alfie share a flat in London with Tony, with Alfie having moved in about four months prior. The book opens with Hazel and Alfie having sex. It’s awkward, and Hazel gets the impression that Alfie is a player because he slept with someone else just the previous weekend. Alfie thinks that Hazel isn’t interested because she continues to look for dates on Tinder. Hazel thinks Alfie isn’t interested because he casually mentions his ex, even though he does it trying to convince Hazel that he’s no longer interested in his ex.

Miles is a photographer who Hazel meets on Tinder, since she “can’t” go out with Alfie.

Emily and Daria have just returned to the UK after two years living in Australia. They show up at the flat one day where they had planned to spend the weekend so Hazel can accompany them to look for a rental house. Hazel isn’t home because she switched shifts with someone, so Alfie chats with them until Hazel returns home and the three of them just click. Emily and Daria also are considering having a child through artificial insemination.

***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***

First, I’ll address the Hazel/Alfie/Miles debacle. Because Hazel thinks that Alfie is a player and still hung up on his ex, she starts dating Miles. Despite the fact that he splits everything on their dates 50/50, the sex is “meh,” there’s friction with one of her work friends over his controversial gallery show, and he pushes her to post political cartoons which lose followers, Hazel dates Miles for a very long time…way too long. Why? Because he’s a photographer who might have connections who could help her career and she thinks she can’t have Alfie.

To put it bluntly, Miles is an ass. When he breaks up with Hazel to go back to his ex who returned from the States, he gets angry because she doesn’t want to talk through it properly. After the breakup, Hazel finally starts posting the funny cartoons that she had been drawing throughout their relationship – about their relationship. Even though she never identifies Miles and the cartoons look nothing like him, he anonymously posts in her Instagram comments videos he took secretly of Hazel in his bed for revenge. And he doesn’t even get his comeuppance.

Now Emily and Daria. Emily is desperate to have a child. Daria is terrified of the trauma that Emily will experience having the child. There’s tension because she won’t tell Emily how she feels, but Emily thinks the tension is because Daria thinks it’s irresponsible to bring a child into a world that may not be here down the road because of climate change. But they’re still pursuing the idea of having a child.

When they find out that Daria’s brother Kamran is volunteering for Doctors Without Borders, there’s suddenly a rush to ask him to be their sperm donor because he’s leaving in two weeks and then the baby would be related to Daria as well. They use a home insemination kit (EWWWWWW), and it doesn’t work.

Daria’s brother literally exists in this book, I think, for Emily and Daria to ask Alfie to be their donor. When Kamran comes home married, they agree that Alfie would still be their person even if Kamran hadn’t been married. Kamran serves no other purpose in this book. Although I guess his purpose is better than Tony’s, who serves absolutely no purpose at all. I don’t understand why Hazel and Alfie needed a third roommate. He turns up his music when there’s loud sex in the apartment, and he goes out with all of them once on New Year’s Eve. Oh, and Hazel and Alfie save some pastry for him once.

And let’s talk about Alfie. He has a natural chemistry with Emily and Daria, he and Hazel get along, and they all agree that Alfie would be considered Uncle Alfie for a child. But then Alfie and Hazel decide that they shouldn’t pursue their attraction, which they talk about after she and Miles split up, because it would be awkward for Emily and Daria’s child. So let me get this straight. If he’s not with Hazel, he’ll be called Uncle Alfie. If he’s with Hazel, he’ll be called Uncle Alfie. Seriously, make it make sense.

At the end of the book, Alfie and Hazel sleep together one more time, and the next morning, Hazel proposes that they put things on hold for two years because Alfie is going to be Emily and Daria’s donor. After that, they would touch base to see if they still like each other.

The next time we see them together is in the Epilogue, post-pandemic quarantine. Emily and Daria have six-month-old twins, courtesy of Alfie’s “continued contributions.” Hazel is considering going back to school, and Alfie has been helping out more with the twins. He has not yet met anyone whose company he enjoys as much as Hazel’s. The book really ends with them looking forward to a walk the next morning when Alfie takes the train home, but I think we’re just supposed to assume they get together.

There are so many things in this book that made me shake my head, roll my eyes, seriously want to toss my cookies. This was Kate Brook’s debut novel, and for me, there will not be another one.

In reading Not Exactly What I had in Mind by Kate Brook, I realized that this book was just that: "Not Exactly What I had in Mind". The synopsis describes the book as "warm, clever, and devastatingly relatable", and a "by turns funny, heartbreaking, and a painfully true-to-life story about family, friends, and everything in between." I was looking for a funny rom com. The cartoony cover implied light hearted book. Don't let the cover fool you. This books deals with different types of relationships in all of life's messiness that comes along with fallible people, and was basically just a look into a group of people’s lives. There's a diverse cast, in several representative ways. From struggles in a new relationship to struggles in a long term one, it was a look into a realistic portrayals of today's younger generation. There were many heavy topics such as same sex marriages/relationships, donor insemination, revenge porn and environmental issues that were all tackled with tact and sensitivity, This was a good book, and well written, fast paced and easy to read, and while not quite the escapism hit I had in mind, I really enjoyed spending time with this group of friends. Highly recommended for younger adults, but older people will either love it or hate it.

Not Exactly What I Had in Mind starts off with a bang (ha!) and the general pacing and diversity of characters did keep my attention. I appreciate the way diversity was handled in this book and some more serious topics that aren't touched a lot in romance books were handled in a very tactful manner, which is especially impressive from a debut author. I don't see this book becoming a personal favorite but I did enjoy it overall, 3.5 stars!

Not exactly what I had in mind when I picked up this book, but it turned out to be a warm, charming story of families and how they interact through adversity, excitement and pure joy. Alfie and Hazel are roommates, but they are physically attracted to each other. They know this could spell trouble and their one encounter leads Hazel down a Tinder path. Meanwhile Hazel's sister Emily and her wife Daria need a sperm donor and they look to Alfie, complicating matters even more. A stellar debut novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc. This was a quick read for me, but I didn’t love it because the characters just were not nice and it made it less enjoyable.

I received an ARC of, Not Exactly What I Had in ind, by Kate Brook. I did not care for this book at all. The characters were not nice at all.

This is a book of and for our time. Still, it's not exactly what I had in mind. Be aware, that it has some of the funniest graphic sex scenes I've ever read. As a matter of fact, it starts off with one even though it will be a long while before these two protagonists appear together again in a bed.

The situation is a familiar one, in case you've read "Flatshare", Hazel has two male roommates, Alfie and Tony, a lesbian sister trying to become pregnant, and a job as a barista, while she posts cartoons on Instagram. But the resemblance to "Flatshare" ends there. Not Exactly is so contemporary in its references to current events like the election of Donald Trump, global warming, Covid-19, protests and Vegan diets. Besides, it's very funny.

If you are of a different generation (as I am), you may feel you are getting a very contemporary look into modern romance and career-finding. And what it's like to use dating sites to look for love. The novel does follow the romcom pattern of throwing roadblocks into what should obviously be a love connection between Hazel and Alfe. But strangely, it doesn't end the way I expected.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC copy of this novel to review.

If you are in the market for a book that will provide a delightful escape for a few hours, that will take you out of the horrible front page news you just read, this one will be exactly what you had in mind.

don’t normally have spoilers in my reviews but feel it necessary this time since I received this from the publisher and this book is listed as a rom-com which I wouldn’t have said it was. I enjoyed the book very much except the very end (left hanging). This book is about world views, dangerous men involving revenge porn, miscarriages, alternate lifestyles, personal loss, etc. It’s a heavy read even though it’s funny at times and there is happiness and love too. Many triggers in this book that could affect so many people on many different levels without having a clue when the book is started. I learned from this book and even cried. I would recommend it but definitely would explain the book beforehand while being cautious as to reads it depending on their life circumstances.

This book's title is perfect since the book definitely went in directions that I didn't expect. I enjoyed the character development and the story. I found Hazel to be very real and could see myself in her. Not your typical boy meets girl story.

I gave this story 4.5 out of 5 stars. What a treat. I gobbled this story up. It was exactly as the title describes: not exactly what I had in mind. Every page was a turn that I could not expect. I fell in love with each character except for Miles. Yuck. Alfie, in particular, was a character I felt such a strong kinship with. Kate Brook’s descriptions of panic and hypochondria were a little too real and relatable. The tie in of COVID at the end felt so out of place at first but, as with the rest of the story, it was realistic. Rounding up to five stars on here!

This book definitely lived up to its name. It kept me guessing the entire time as to how things were going to play out. There were four main characters in this book. Hazel works at a coffee shop but would rather pursue her cartoons that she draws. Since she is not getting paid a lot she shares a flat with a guy named Alfie. Alfie is a school teacher who has recently gotten out of a long term relationship. He and Hazel hook up but then are worried that things will get awkward so they both try to hide their feelings. Emily, Hazel's sister, is in a relationship with Daria. They are married and want to pursue the possibility of having kids. However this situation is complicated as Daria is not sure about how she feels about this and they will need to find a donor. The story dives into their complicated relationships and how their choices affect their lives.

I wasn't sure at first how I was going to feel about this book because I really thought I knew how things would turn out. I was completely wrong. I wanted to keep reading because the characters were so likable. I really felt for them and what they were going through. This was definitely not your typical 20 something romance. I found it very heart felt and it made me reflect on my own choices in life.

Thank you to Penguin Book Group Dutton for this advance copy.

The premise seems like it would be a fun and classic romcom book, but alas the book’s narrative jumps around a bit too much and seems muddled and a bit hard to follow. Had to give up five chapters in.

I don’t normally have spoilers in my reviews but feel it necessary this time since I received this from the publisher and this book is listed as a rom-com which I wouldn’t have said it was. I enjoyed the book very much except the very end (left hanging). This book is about world views, dangerous men involving revenge porn, miscarriages, alternate lifestyles, personal loss, etc. It’s a heavy read even though it’s funny at times and there is happiness and love too. Many triggers in this book that could affect so many people on many different levels without having a clue when the book is started. I learned from this book and even cried. I would recommend it but definitely would explain the book beforehand while being cautious as to reads it depending on their life circumstances.

Loved the queer representation in this book! It was definitely a fun read!! Thanks to netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book will make you laugh and make you cry. Such a beautifully written, unique story. My first book to read by Kate Brook but definitely not my last! Highly recommend this one!!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Fun, witty, entertaining story about family, friendship and life.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC of Not Exactly What I Had in Mind and the choice to share a review.

This is the complicated story of family, friendships and relationships. I was intrigued by the synopsis but I had a hard time connecting to the characters and the writing style was not for me.

The dialogue was strong and the characters were well developed for the most part. I found there was a bit too much going on for me, including the dialogue of each character constantly switching.