A great take on a history of a marriage relatable and fun characters with a realistic and charming story. A fun read

This is the story of a couple who have been together for a long time now and somewhere the spark is gone. So, they try to find a way back to each other, overcome the hurt and disappointments along the way. You could say it was the journey of a couple trying to find a new way to be with each other. A quick one time read, this one.

I love romance storylines of married couples, and the idea of retracing a 20-year love intrigued me at first glance. The author wonderfully captured the breadth of emotions of a love relationship, but the plot was slow to progress, and I found myself losing interest amidst the long monologues. I rather enjoyed the sweet ending, and the British humor laced throughout.

It's time for a second chance ROMANCE! This story had some dips into sadness and it really shows how much work it takes in a marriage to get onto the same page. I think Abbie and Matt are relatable to so many people in struggling relationships. The steps it takes to make things work despite issues like infertility will draw you in.

I gave this 3.5 stars

After a couple of disasters, I have realized that women’s fiction is just not for me... with the exception of two authors, Sophie Ranald being one of them. I’m not sure if it’s because the couple in the story have been together for the same number of years as me and my husband, but something really hit home for me with this book, and I just loved it! I think the synopsis makes the book sound like it’s all serious, so I want to reassure you there are lighthearted and funny bits mixed in with the serious moments. I read a fair amount of books from UK authors, but I still learn new terms from time to time, and I can now add “minge” to my vocabulary 😉

I do think that the description of the book should include a content trigger warning for infertility and miscarriage, as these are issues that affect quite a few people and can be upsetting to read about.

Thank you to NetGalley & Bookouture for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review-- thank you!

In conclusion, Second Chance Romance is quickly becoming one of my favorite tropes, and surprisingly so is failed marriage?!
* hopefully that's not a hint as to how my own future marriage will become someday ahahah

But this book follows Abbie and Matt, your average high school sweethearts who became lovers at age 17 when Matt heroically saved Abbie from a pigeon. Now they beat many odds, friends had troubles in their high school sweetheart relationships and have had kids and split up and from the beginning it seemed like Matt and Abbie were the only pair that stood the strong 20 years.
Now it happens to everyone, but the honeymoon stage quickly becomes mundane, routine, boring for Abbie and she begins to have second thoughts about them together, and if they were meant to be together. Undoubtedly a tough situation to be in when she begins questioning the spark that they once had, if they ever had it, or what happened and where it went.

Now to the main plot, Abbie's friends suggest she try to recreate that spark and just remind each other why they fell in love in the first place, so she begins to recreate first dates, important events, and even choosing too revisit some tough times and memories to show why they persevered through it, but when some old concerns and memories come to haunt, things go sideways.

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Now I don't do spoilers in reviews so you will need to read the rest when it comes out, but I thoroughly enjoyed their story. It reminded me of the story 'You Deserve Each Other' by Sarah Hogle in regard to repairing marriage books. May be my newest obsession; eek!!
But such a cute read! It also is written in Past/Present tense to give you some insight as to why she sets up certain dates the way she does, so you aren't left in the dark as to why she's recreating some memories and not others.

Thank you Netgalley and Publishers, I loved this book :)

The story
Abbie and Matt met when she was the new girl at the school, and have been together for the past 20 years, married for 9 of these. But as time has passed and life has happened, their seemingly perfect relationship from the outside has been anything but. The intimacy has disappeared and small things irritate them. But it’s the big things that remain unsaid, secrets not shared that are the real problem. Abbie’s friends suggest revisiting memory lane, and this sometimes helps, but also results in deeper hurt. Can they heal the broken parts of their relationship and forge a new way of being?

My thoughts
This is a deeply honest and poignant look at a close and long relationship between a couple who despite all the positives, are struggling to keep their relationship alive. The strain of lockdown, a spare bedroom being saved for children that don’t arrive and history that remains unspoken lie between them. I felt a heavy sadness for both Abbie and Matt when reading this story, and could appreciate where they are in their lives. At times, I wasn’t sure if they could pull their relationship from the depths, or if they even wanted to. This is beautifully written, honest (the Hollywood wax story 🙈🙈) and very, very real. Well done on an excellent read Sophie Ranald. ❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this uncorrected advance review copy in exchange for an honest review!

2.75⭐️

Would recommend if you like:
✅second chance romance
✅past and present storylines
✅honesty about infertility challenges
✅rescuing and adopting a cute kitten 🐈

I've slowly been getting into a second chance romance trope, but this book missed the mark for me. Abbie and Matt have been struggling in their relationship for awhile and Abbie decided to start Operation Memory Lane to rekindle their love. I thought this idea was really cute but didn't play out as well as Abbie had hoped. I also don't think the characters hate each other, but have fallen out of love and need to find their way back to each other. Going on walks together and reminiscing on first kisses and dates was adorable and some of my favorite moments of this book.

Overall I didn't really love this book because it felt like I was reading about a married couple that lived down the street from me. The few mentions of current pop-culture trends (ie: the Tik Tok dance trend the renegade) was funny but felt a little cringey. I was looking for a read that would transport out of current-day but felt like I was reading about a couple who were barely trying to save their marriage. I wanted more love, passion, and excitement. Instead I ended up feeling sad about long-term relationships and not as hopeful for love.

Matt and Abbie have been together since J.Lo and Coldplay were topping the charts. After twenty years together, two years of working at the same kitchen table in lockdown, and not talking about their empty room upstairs, Abbie worries that the magic has gone and the two of them set out to rekindle their old flame. I love Sophie Ranald's pacey, unpretentious romances and this is no exception. I particularly loved:

- Abbie's bickering bosses and her copywriting gig for a sex toy brand called 'Quim'
- Abbie and Matt's quest to adopt an abandoned cat, Shrimp
- A bunch of middle-class parents going wild at a Wireless-type festival ('snogging by the Negroni stand')

Also no spoilers, but I was worried that their story would end with the usual miracle and was pleased when it did not - it doesn't happen for everybody and I was happy (for these fictional characters)! that they could move on and still have fulfilling lives. Ranald has her finger on the pulse - just like the sex-toy manufacturers!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars!

I don't usually go for books that delve into marital troubles. But the cover and the blurb just made me go for it and I wasn't let down.
Matt and Abs have been together for 20 years...let that sink in. They've known each other since high school (in all its '00s glory with low waisted everything) and ever since they first laid eyes on each other, that was it.
But after 20 years, things get a bit...irritating. So, why not take a teip down memory lane and give their story one more shot?
This book managed to show love through different stages of a relationship in beautiful ways and I'm happy I went on this journey.

An enjoyable read, I finished this book in one sitting, I would definitely recommend this if you are looking for something to take your mind off the world as it stands right now. I give it five stars

This was my first book I've read by Sophie Ranald and it didn't disapoint.

The story is told by Abbi's pov and it goes between the present and the past. I loved how they took trips down memory lane, recreating dates to try and re kindle the spark.

As we all know marriage doesn't just happen and we all have good and bad days, there is a serious topic of fertility in there which I think many can relate to. That being said it was light hearted and it was really funny in places.

It was a easy read that I read over a few days, I just couldn't put it down! I really enjoyed it

I aThis was my first book I've read by Sophie Ranald and it didn't disapoint.

The story is told by Abbi's pov and it goes between the present and the past. I loved how they took trips down memory lane, recreating dates to try and re kindle the spark.

As we all know marriage doesn't just happen and we all have good and bad days, there is a serious topic of fertility in there which I think many can relate to. That being said it was light hearted and it was really funny in places.

It was a easy read that I read over a few days, I just couldn't put it down! I am however slightly confused over the title 🤔

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.

Blurb: Matt and Abbie have been together for 20 years. Now they’re both 37 years old, living together & fighting over the most inconsequential things. Abbie will try “Operation Memory Lane”, to remind her husband - and herself - about all the times she loved him and rescue her marriage.

I ate this book up in one sitting. I loved it, it was perfect. Witty, funny, and heartfelt, exactly what I’d expect from a romance like this. There were very emotional scenes and from those as well as other daily & domestic little things that span throughout the course of 20 years, we get to see in a real light what a relationship is all about.

The author did a wonderful job with the main characters, their quirks & memories, their chemistry and love. This was so genuine, I felt like my heart was in my hand the whole time.

This second change at romance book is perfect for fans of You Deserve Each Other, Relight my Fire, Landline & People We Meet on Vacation

It’s typically hard for me to really get into stories about struggling marriages. I’m not married, and thinking about people who were once desperately in love and now aren’t just depresses me, usually. That being said, I am in a seven-year relationship (a long time for any 24-year-old). Though they were married 20 years, Abbie and Matt’s struggles were ones I could certainly relate to.

Ranald does an incredible job of showing what it takes, in my opinion, to make a relationship work. Abbie takes advice from friends to recreate some of her and Matt’s past thinking she can spark a connection. I absolutely love that this is not the solution Abbie thinks it will be. This novel was really a display of how putting work into your relationship is necessary for it to thrive, and Ranald is so smart for the way she portrays this.

I loved how normal Matt and Abbie are. So many novels will try to give you characters who proclaim themselves to be special or just different from anyone else in that world. Abbie and Matt are not those people—they could be anyone which makes them that more relatable.

I also really appreciate how Ranald handles the topic of infertility. Not everyone who goes through IVF will end up pregnant, and I think it is really great to have that representation for couples struggling with infertility.

I personally prefer romances with a little more tension between the two characters, but this this is a really solid romance with lots of emotion and value.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the concept of this book. A romance that was more or less told in reverse about a couple who'd been together since their high school years (or rather, since this is in England, since secondary school) and who now found themselves at a bit of an impasse, emotionally speaking.

Abbie and Matt are the perfect couple, at least from the outside. All their friends, singles or couples, think so. Abbie knows this. Her friends tell her as much. So when she realizes one morning that if she has to put the teaspoon her husband left out on the counter yet again int into the dishwasher herself, she is going to scream, or poke his eye out with it, she knows something has to change. With her friends' advice, she sets off trying to relive their significant moments--first date, special vacation, fancy drinks night out at the Ritz. But until she and Matt are honest about the one thing that she believes is holding them back, nothing works.

The structure of the novel is intriguing. It's a back and forth between present day (which works in the fact of the pandemic in ways that are spot-on without ever once mentioning the actual pandemic) and the past, telling Matt and Abbie's story from the end, as well as from the beginning. There are several fun side characters (I, for one, want Marc and Bastian's story) and the bits where Abbie attempts to be creative about her marketing firm's new sex toy client while struggling to reestablish the lust in her own marriage are great.

My favorite things about P.S. I Hate You: the British humor and slang. There is a lot of it. I caught 99% of the references. but I credit my two and a half years living in England for that.
The main thing I enjoyed was the lack of sappy or obvious resolution. It would have been easy to have Abbie get all dolled up in the sexy lingerie from the sample box she gets and resolve all their problems with One Special Night. But the realism of her attempts, Matt's honesty about them, and the way they finally do figure themselves out made this a wholly satisfying read.

The only thing I found jarring in any way were a few minor plot holes but they in no way affected my enjoyment of this well told, honest romance novel about a marriage at a crossroads.
4.5 stars

CW: Infertility, Miscarriage

Abbie and Matt were high school sweethearts. They've now been married for 10 years and as many couples do, they've experienced their fair share of ups and downs and just... life in general. Abbie is worried their relationship has reached it's peak and questions whether she's still in love with Matt. There is not infidelity, just the gradual decline of two people who have grown comfortable with one another. Abbie embarks on "project memory lane" to try to rekindle the flame. She and Matt set out on various dates and adventures reminiscent of the start of their relationship.

This book started out kind of slow for me and I considered shelving it as DNF, but I forged on and followed the course of Matt and Abbie's relationship. I didn't particularly love any of the characters or feel drawn into their lives. The whole book was just kind of... meh.... for me. I didn't love it, didn't hate it. It just... was. I could relate to the nuances of marriage and the ups and downs the couple faced, but I was definitely ready for a resolution one way or another by the end. There were a lot of elements that were touched on, but not explored. Everything felt very surface for me. And I still have no idea why the title is P.S. I Hate You ?!?!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I finished PS I Hate You with a big fat smile on my face. Abbie and Matt have been together for over 10 years, and the spark appears to be gone. Still in love with her husband, Abbie decides she'll do whatever she can to rekindle her relationship with her husband. Relying on her friends guidance and advice, Abbie decides to go down memory lane with her husband. However, years have passed since the couple initially experienced the world together, and the experiences aren't quite the same all these years later. Revisiting their old homes, their old restaurants, and so much more we see Abbie and Matt's relationship develop over the past ten years and the present. Secrets are shared, trusts are broken, and love seems to be missing.

Written in two timeframes, PS I Hate You is the perfect book for fans of contemporary romance. Though the book isn't spicy, it's very much a feel something romance. It might not always be a feel good romance - but it's real. A real, fiction, romance. I'd definitely suggest checking out Sophie Ranald's PS I Hate You!

This book did not disappoint. As someone who has read a couple of Ranald's other books and a fan of her writing style, I think its safe to say that I enjoyed this book. The progression through the characters relationships was interesting and definitely one of the parts I preferred more. Sophie Ranald is an amazing author and continues to deliver amazing stories.

Let me start of by saying… I did not dislike this book, it just wasn’t for me. I kind of went in semi-blind to this and the plot line and the vibe of the book just isn’t what I usually go for. I tend to like a little more angst and tension and it just fell a little flat on that aspect of it. It was a super cute read and I know plenty of people who would love this book! I just didn’t vibe with the plot line and the characters.

That being said, I did read this book super fast and it’s a great read to get you out of a reading slump!