This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

A wrong number, chance, and what-ifs. The Man I Never Met is so much more than a romance, it’s an emotional story filled with heartache, friendships, and not settling for less.

Hannah is a beautiful character and I loved her friendships and fun personality. Davey is charming and warm, filled with laughter and light. Their dynamic blossoms so beautifully and the dual pov gave readers empathy to what Davey was going through and his thought process. This is incredibly slow burning filled with moments of frustration with the missed connections and George, I absolutely loathed him and was surprised the entire side cast of characters weren’t more suspicious of him.

This was an emotionally raw read and with so many heavy topics and life dealings, it made the ending that much sweeter.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced digital copy

I did not know what to expect from The Man I Never Met, but WOW I loved this book!! It was so well written and just what I needed. It was full of witty banter, love and set in London (always a personal fav of mine!) I was ROOTING for Hannah and Davey’s love story so hard. While for the most part this book was light, it did touch on some heavier medical subjects but I think the author did a fantastic job explaining and shedding light on these subjects. I absolutely cannot wait to read more from this author!

Hannah and Davey are two likable people who "meet" in an unlikely way and find a connection that they hope to nurture. When things go astray the story follows them separately as they find their way. Some of the supporting characters are interesting while others are annoying but if you are looking for a good romance you'll enjoy this one.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah, a Brit, receives a wrong number call from Davey, an American, who is applying for a job in London. While their initial contact with each other is accidental, they go on to continue to communicate via text, phone calls and video chat and build what they both feel as a true connection that they intend to pursue when Davey moves to London after he receives a job offer. The day of Davey’s intended arrival in London arrives, but Davey does not. This book goes on to examine the relationship between these two people who have never met in person. While the concept of this novel sounds like it could be a rom-com meet cute, it actually is a deeper book, with both main characters being forced to examine what it is they are really searching for and what makes them happy. The reason Davey does not come to London is quite sobering, and relationships pursued by both main characters with others are very unfulfilling. For the first 12 chapters, this book is told solely from the perspective of Hannah, so when the first chapter from Davey’s perspective occurs it feels very out of place…eventually his chapters start to feel like they flow, but initially the switch in narration was jarring. My other main criticism would be the relationship that Hannah is in…there were so many red flags that I think she or her friends should have pointed out early on, yet the relationship continued for a frustrating amount of time.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend to people who enjoy Beth O’Leary and possibly even Emily Henry…someone looking not necessarily for a romance novel, but for a love story that makes you think.
I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

What a lovely romance!! Elle is a fantastic writer who made this story feel real and believable- no easy feat for a long distance romance. I couldn't put this book down and would absolutely recommend to any friends who are looking for a love story that will pull at all their heartstrings. If you've ever been a Nevermet... you're gonna like this one!

I absolutely loved The Man I Never Met! Every couple should have to spend a lot of time just learning about each other and becoming friends before they become a couple. The delay in their romance was heart breaking. I just wish they could have handled their choices differently. Hannah and Davey will stay in my heart for a long time.

Best book I’ve read! Surprised me with dual POV in the middle of the book, really happy about that. The tears this book made me shed were unacceptable, but I loved it. I was very invested in the story I could not stop reading. Flawless writing, amazing characters, could not have asked for more.

I'm torn on how to rate this book, on the one hand I really enjoyed the premise: two strangers living in different countries connect and become friends through a misdial only to have a health scare tear them apart. For most of the book these two aren't together and are going through their own life and love problems individually. It's only until the very end that they find their way to one another. The story itself I enjoyed a lot, especially the testicular cancer rep but as far as the love story goes I was left wanting more - at least more of them actually being a couple and not pining longingly from afar and apart. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

If you are looking for a book with a light holiday setting, romantic, heartbreaking and heartfelt, this is it! It is emotional and deals with a heavy topic that the author has personal experience with (it is somewhat a spoiler but if you want to know, it is mentioned in many goodreads reviews). It does have a happy ending, which is a must in romance books. I really enjoyed it and could not put the audiobook down over my Thanksgiving break.

😍loved || low steam
🤟authentic, emotional, character growth
📚 Sophie Cousins, Josie Silver
🎶If the World Was Ending by JP Saxe (ft. Julia Michaels)

An unlikely relationship begins with a misdialed phone call between London and Texas. There is a definite connection between Davey and Hannah and you can’t help but hope for a happy ending, especially when you learn of the obstacles in the middle of the story. A romance with a serious subject at its core.

This is a lovely heartwarming novel - it is slow burn romance with witty banter, likable MCs and a nice kind of old fashioned hook with the misdialed number.
Will they - won’t they? I never felt entirely sure until the very end, so unusual for romance novels but well done and not overdrawn.
You can’t help but root for Hannah and Davey - the two MCs, they are great characters. But since the book spans over a long time period - two years - both of them have to take several turns to get it right ! There are obstacles and hardships to overcome - standards to set. It is so interesting how difficult circumstances of the feeling of being left over can make you lower your standards.
It made the long awaited happy ending all the better.

I read this entire book on a six hour flight. It was an incredibly fast, perfect for the plane kind of read. Really easy to digest, and I enjoyed it but a few lingering things that stop me from giving it a higher rating.

I think what it was for me was that I never really bought into the two as a couple. I never truly felt the chemistry and perhaps because of what was so differentiated (the calls v. texts) but I just never really got it. The build up you'd get over seeing their text banter was lost when they switched over to calls and perhaps the author fell short of selling it to me because by the 40% where they're supposedly so into each other and going to meet it fell short.

Honestly, at one point I forgot it was a romance and for a second thought it would be a thriller or murder mystery because since they're meeting so early in the book you just know something bad was going to happen. But the punch was lost when you then had to read the rest of the book and they're both completely off in their own spirals. I felt bad for George and Charlotte tbh. And I would've read/was more invested in Grant than Davey. It was cute mostly but droned on for a bit longer without any real substance.

I received an ARC of THE MAN I NEVER MET by Elle Cook from NetGalley and Random House in exchange for my honest opinion.

Genre: Romance
Heat Level: Low-Med. (the bedroom door is cracked open)
Language: Medium (about every word in there but not on every page)

Elle Cook is a new author for me. I wondered how on earth this would work as a romance when the main character has only talked to this man, who misdialed her number.

Surprise! It worked.

Hannah has terrible luck with men and continues to be the third wheel for her best friend and her boyfriend. Davey is across the ocean in America—and apparently can't dial a number correctly when nervous for a phone interview. He's quite nice, and Hannah thinks nothing more of it.

AND then. . . he calls back to say he got the job.

So they start chatting and eventually FaceTime each other. In fact, it's the best part of Hannah's day. She might even have romantic feelings for Davey—but how when she's never met him in person?

And since things are going so well, everything blows up!

It had to or I would have complained about being bored. But still. Did the author really need to break my heartstrings? Apparently so.

I keep seeing Hannah and Davey making tough choices, and I'm reeling from it. And I kept wondering if this is really going to be a romance or should I have filed it under women's fiction? I thought there were surprising choices. And after reading the back matter, I understand even more about why the author decided to do things the way she did. But I was definitely surprised but also satisfied by the ending.

I would recommend this book.

DNF @ 29% - I’m sorry to do this to an ARC but I got to THE chapter when he’s telling her he didn’t come to london because he has cancer and she’s making it about her. I’m sorry I just can’t.

Highly recommend this super sweet book for fans of British romances like Sophie Cousens, Emily Stone, and Josie Silver. This is a very Hallmark movie type book that is so charming and will put a smile on your face, but also has some hard moments. This was very binegable and I flew through this desperate to know when/if these two would ever meet. This is highly predictable but just a feel good type of book! I loved Hannah's neighbor, Joan and their coffee rating scale, and Davey's friend Grant, who deserves a spin off story of his own. I couldn't wait for a different character to exit the book who lingered on too long.

There is also a fantastic author's note at the end about her experience and how she dealt with something a character goes through. I loved how the author was able to tell both POVs so emphatically.

I had mixed feelings about this book. It started out very cute. I was delighted to see the international relationship via phone and text develop. I had a good idea that he wouldn't actually make it to London because of the title, or he'd arrived and ghost her and really be someone else. I was not happy that the twist was cancer, and I feel like there should have been a trigger warning. As a disabled person myself I didn't like how the breakup was handled so early on. Davey was of course allowed to feel however he wanted about his diagnosis, but a lot of the thoughts about him being a burden or in the way of her living her life we're never untangled or handled with nuance. And that's the part that bothered me. There should have been more of that so that the reader could also learn that people who get sick are not burdens and it's not their fault. It felt like the narrative only celebrated them being together once he was healthy again . As an aside, I liked the discussions with George about not wearing condoms, and that she didn't cave into his selfish demands. The author did a good job of showing that that relationship wasn't good for her.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book, which I waited too long to start and then finished in a day because I could not put it down. This is SUCH a phenomenal book. I knew very little of the plot going in, which I actually appreciated as I think it made the emotional journey that much more emotional for me as a reader. So I won’t give a plot overview here, but I will say that in addition to the wonderful writing, fantastic storyline, and genuine characters, there are a few things I think the author did here that made this book a standout in the genre and one of the best books I’ve read this year. Other than the surprising turn the story takes and the personal nature of the subject matter—which I only found out about by reading the author’s note after I finished the book (yes, I read those, and you should too!)—I really appreciated that for the first part of this book, we only got one perspective. I think bringing in the second perspective when she did was a genius move, because it served a purpose for the rest of the story, without ever feeling unnecessary or repetitive. We were always along for the ride with Hannah, the MC, and we got the second character’s POV only when we needed it. We were firmly established within the story before a second POV was brought in, which felt right. And the POV shifts becoming more frequent at the story’s climax was perfectly done. This book has all the makings of a classic romcom novel — a couple to root for, a pairing that’s so clearly not right but only you as the reader can fully see it, and even a destination wedding. But it’s so much more than that, too. In many books like this I’ve read recently, the female protagonist is so oblivious as to become unlikeable, which really affects the book. While Hannah is not a perfect person, she is for the most part self-aware and, for lack of a better phrase, not an annoying main character. I was able to root for her and (most) of her decisions throughout the book, and she definitely grew and changed over the course of the story, but in a way that was really believable and subtle. I didn’t feel hit over the head at all during the book. The story took a few unexpected turns in the best way. I don’t think I’ve ever written a review this long, and I am rambling, but WOW I loved this book. I cannot wait for Elle Cook’s next one!

Can one misdialed call change your life and can you fall in love with someone you’ve never met? Those are the questions that Hannah and Davey are faced with in Elle Cook’s The Man I Never Met, a completely unique romance. The setup is cute and I felt fairly certain how things would go until Cook throws our would be couple a massive gut punch of a curveball. The story definitely addresses more serious issues than your average romantic comedy, but it’s quite a touching story. I’d like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review an eARC of The Man I Never Met.

https://www.amazon.com/review/RSHXI58RZXCHS/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Wow!
Such a heartbreaking yet heartbreaking read.
I went into reading this thinking it was going to be a light read. It did have some lighter moments but not many.
A story about friends, love and taking second chances.
Well thought out characters helped move the story along.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.