I really enjoyed this book. It was a nice, lighthearted read with heartfelt characters and a great storyline.

This was a slow burn romance in which Davey accidentally dials a Hannah when he is calling London looking for a job and they make a connection despite the misdial. They decide to keep communicating, gradually going from quick texts and calls to FaceTime calls to finally making plans to be together when Davey gets ready to move to London for his job. Hannah is afraid to admit her feelings for him but she decides that when she meets him at the airport she’s going to tell him how she feels, but when he doesn’t turn up, everything in their world implodes and they have to rebuild. The main issue with their relationship was communicating. That would have solved most of their issues, but it also would have made for a super short book.
There are several great supporting characters as well-I loved Joan!
Thanks to Random house and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

3.5 stars
I enjoyed this book, but it is difficult to review without giving what I consider to be spoilers. So I will try to elaborate on things already mentioned in the blurb.
Davey misdials Hannah, and they strike up a quick friendship which turns into more of a relationship. They have lots of great phone and then video calls and flirty messages, as he prepares to move to the UK for his new job.
Then she's waiting in the airport, and he doesn't come, and as a reader you feel her crushing disappointment. Finding out why doesn't make it any better.
They do try to move on once it's clear he won't be moving. It's a bit painful reading about what they independently do for the next year-plus. Let's just say heartbreak leads them both to some choices I think they know deep down aren't right, but since they can't be together like they really want, they settle.
I particularly loved the friend side characters - Joan (Hannah's neighbor), Miranda and Paul (her best friends), and Grant (Davey's best friend).
I liked the way the book ended, I just wish Hannah and Davey hadn't spent so much time pining for each other.

This has You’ve Got Mail vibes written all over it. I’m not a fan of that movie and i wasn’t a fan of this book. I found it to be very slow for my liking. I really had to force myself to finish. I usually DNF books but i decided to give this one a try to see if it would turn around and see if i would end up loving it.. wasnt the case

I loved the story of Hannah and Davey. Their “meet cute” couldn’t be any cuter. Hannah is super relatable and Davey sounds dreamy!

Thanks to @netgalley and Dell Publishing for a free copy in return for my honest review!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for allowing/inviting me to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you enjoy reading stories by Josie Silver, you will fall head over heels for Elle Cook's The Man I Never Met.

Hannah receives an unexpected call from a man thousand miles away from her in Texas. What starts as a wrong number dial steadily becomes a sweet romance between Hannah and Davey. When Davey asks Hannah to meet him at the airport an unexpected life changing moment keeps the two apart.

I love, love this book. My eyes were never dry and I adored every bittersweet moment the story has to offer. The writing keeps you on your toes and the dual POV consistently makes you wonder if Hannah and Davey will ever meet. I will definitely be on the look out for more from Elle Cook in the future.

5 stars

The Man I Never Met is an unexpected, wonderfully surprising, engaging story of sight unseen love and the perils which come with it.

Hannah, who lives in England answers her cell phone one day. It’s Davey from America who has a job interview in England and has a question. She tells him he has the wrong number but wishes him good luck before she hangs up.

What she never expected to happen was to get another call from Davey, telling her his good news. He got the job and is moving to England. This starts their sight unseen relationship. They begin texting each other about themselves and their lives. Then the relationship takes a new turn when they send a picture of themselves to each other. As they seem to both like what they see, they spend more time together via FaceTime, watching movies together, falling asleep together, and Hannah showing him England. They finally decide to take this relationship to a new level and with Davey coming in less than thirty days, Hannah begins to apartment hunt for him.

Then the big day arrives, and Hannah is bursting with excitement as she waits at the airport to finally meet the man of her phone dreams. But when everyone has disembarked, there is no Davey. Quite confused, she doesn’t understand what this could mean.

And then she discovers the shocking reason which will change the destiny of both their lives forever.

They try to move on, even though they cannot stop thinking about the other, many times picking their phone up to send a text to the other, but that never happens. Life goes on and yes, they both go on but with a sadness they seem never to be able to let go of.

But sometimes if the love is meant to be, no matter how hard you try to deny it, no matter how long it takes you can possibly one day find a way back to what could have been. Even though Hannah and Davey never fully met, perhaps kismet could possibly intervene, but only if they choose to listen to their feelings.

The Man I Never Met tugs at your heart and with each passing page gives hope to the hopelessness and elation to the despair as they try to find their way back to each other.

Thank you #NetGalley #Dell/RandomHouse #TheManINeverMet #ElleCook/LornaCook for the advanced copy.

The Man I never Met is the love affair we need for the holidays. Hannah, who lives near London, answers a call from the states only to realize its a misdial and then same guy proceeds to make the same mistake again. They strike-up a conversation after he finally reaches the correct person for a job he's interviewing for in the city.

Davey relocated to Texas when he was young lad with his family, and now he wishes to come back to country he was born to work as an adult. Hannah finds herself his virtual tour guide as he packs-up his life to move across the ocean. Their What'sAPP messaging goes from texting, to voice calls to video calls - what they discover is that they just "click."

Together, they count down the days until Davey arrives after the holiday. Can you find love with someone you have never met?

Thank you Random House Publishing Group for the complimentary copy.

“Do you remember where you were and what you were doing the moment your life changed forever?” The book opens with this line and immediately had me intrigued. I expected to go into a lighthearted “will they or won’t they” romance, but it ended up quite heavy with grief at times.

Hannah receives a wrong number phone call from Davey, which sets the course of their lives on a different path. Davey is trying to call to London for a phone interview but accidentally dials hannah twice, and ends up texting her later to tell her he got the job. A relationship starts to form between the two, and as they make plans for a future, Hannah goes to pick him up from the airport and he never arrives. The story takes off over a 2 year journey of love, heartbreak, grief and fate over why Davey never arrives.

The characters in this story were so well developed and beautifully written. I loved the main characters, their friends were people I’d want in my own life, and it was just such a beautiful journey to read through. My ONLY complaint is the ending. I wanted so much more from it, and I feel like it was cut short in a quick chapter explanation. Also, read the authors note! It was such an important insight into the story and added even more meaning to it for me. I give this a 4.5 out of 5 just because of the ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for my ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback!

This was one powerful story. A misdial that connects two people who become friends and it is slowly leading to more, when suddenly everything stops. She understands why he breaks it off, but doesn't agree.

Then she thinks she sees him in different places and doesn't think it is really him. I think the story was moving, heartbreaking at times and full of hope at others. I really liked the characters in the story (even George) but he really didn't have a chance with Hannah. I think even though she hadn't seen Davey in person, she was bonded with him.

I got this story from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This was an entertaining well-written book. It was sweet, fun and held my interest. I wanted to find out how things would turn out. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

The Man I Never Met was one of the best books I’ve read all year. What a unique meet cute - I was hooked into this story immediately. The twists and turns were expected, but still surprising and enjoyable.

This story kept my attention, and it was hard to put down the book. I’m excited for more people to read it upon release!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishes for the advanced copy of this book.

“I’ve never had anything like this with anyone: this complete openness, friends who might be something else, forced into a slowness that I like because we physically can’t be anything else. Because now this feels like it might be something else; something amazing. And it is turning into something with possibilities, and it’s moving there so incredibly slowly that I’m not sure I even noticed when it happened.”

Gosh, I could just not put this down!! I loved the premise — a misdial turns into texting, phone calls and video chats. Even though Davey and Hannah don’t meet in person their chemistry is instant and their connection is undeniable. I could truly feel the longing between them and as Hannah anticipated finally meeting Davey in person, the anticipation was palpable. And I STILL felt that way knowing that something wasn’t going to go right. I couldn’t have prepared for what kept Davey from meeting Hannah nor what unfolded after that. Ughhh, again the longing and heartbreak.

Hannah and Davey both went through the ringer and took me with them. It’s so hard to truly convey how this made me feel without giving important things away. I will say there is A LOT of character growth and it involves other people. I felt so many emotions reading this — angst, anger, giddiness, joy, frustration, confusion, longing and so many more. There were times I wanted to shake and scream at Davey and Hannah and other times I just wanted to wrap them up in big hugs. Truly, this is such an emotional read, but it comes full circle in the most beautiful way. I had tears in my eyes by the end. I really hope there’s a bonus epilogue at some point!!

CW: some language throughout, open-doorish (more like a peek and then fade to black, PG-13)

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy. My thoughts are my own.

2.5-2.75
the amount of times she mentioned the "a room with a view" movie.. !! it’s making me want to read the book even more but also making me a tad annoyed. and then the references to the book, like, no way. her thinking the book would be underwhelming in comparison. come on, now. there's no way that movie is THAT good. i didn't expect this book to go down the route it did since the early-ish mark too ? i wasn't really into the characters that much, and, i don't know, this just took me way too long to read. i literally started on october 2nd and ended today on november 22nd. i didn't even want to pick it up, besides for the fact that i just wanted to see what would end up happening. - and, once again, i'm reading a very british book with very british slang. but, i also love grant so much <33 that's all. very random, but he was a very, very sweet character.
+ i feel like the ending was a little rushed and this was primarily hannah’s pov until we randomly got davey’s ? it didn’t fee like it was properly places or evened out. the entire book felt like a build up to their relationship that we barely got much of.

I loved this book! I was such a fun read of will they or won't they. The premise is so great, too. I cannot wait to read more from this author in the future. I highly recommend.

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳."

Oh... I just have... SO MANY feelings right now. Good feelings.

First and foremost, *SPOILER ALERT* I do feel I should share that there is a very central plot point of cancer (testicular cancer specifically), so if you're at all triggered by that or the chemo process, please wade carefully. 💙

That being said, I felt like I was holding my breath through this entire "will they, won't they" experience.

I have done the long distance thing before. I know those feelings of staring at your phone, willing it to ring, and I've also known the constant watching, seeing if they're online, when it's all over.

This story is so incredibly well written. You love these people, you get frustrated when they're not together or end up with people who are CLEARLY not good for them, and get exasperated with their near misses/crossing of paths.

Until you can finally breathe again in the end. ❤

Thank you Elle, @penguinrandomhouse and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for a review!
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I’ve just finished this book and now I have a case of the warm fuzzies! This was such a cute story and I enjoyed every bit of it from beginning to end, despite the fact that it has plenty of more serious moments thrown in with the cute. The first post I made about this book came when I was only a tiny way through the book and little did I know what was coming. All I’m saying is Elle Cook (which I discovered is actually a pseudonym) knows how to hit you right in the feels.

This was a clever, endearing, raw story with equal parts romcom and drama. I felt myself following in Hannah’s footsteps as she meets and gets to know Davey but never actually MEETS him, in the physical, in person, not behind a phone screen sense. I loved the instant connection between the two of them, and respected seeing the stark contrast between their relationship and that of Hannah and George. And that is the only nice thing I have to say about George. 😒

I’m a sucker for romance stories with happy endings, and this is definitely one of them. Will you be stressed and possibly screaming and crying at your book, asking WHY these characters insist on torturing you AND themselves? Yeah. But you’ll love it all the same.

Bonus points go to some great supporting characters and phenomenal scenery (poppy fields in Tuscany and the rocky shores of England, to name a couple).

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the advance opportunity to read this ebook.

I had a hard time with this novel, but I think my issues stemmed from not caring for the writing style more than not liking the story itself. I thought the plot was quite engaging. I loved the premise of this meet-cute (huge Sleepless in Seattle vibes which is always a-okay by me). I thought the chemistry between the MC and her love interest(s) was strong. And I also enjoyed that a good chunk of this was set at Christmas time because who doesn’t love a good holiday romance?

The other part that I really loved about this story is how it didn’t shy away from serious issues. I don’t want to get into spoiler territory, but this book contains a very realistic portrayal of someone dealing with a major hardship and I found it really well done (feel free to DM for any trigger warnings).

I just didn’t like the writing style. There were large sections that were either way over explained, or conversely where long time periods of action were condensed and happened “off screen,” and it just didn’t work for me.

That being said, this was a cute, quick romance with some depth and the ending did get me all swoony, so if it sounds up your alley, check it out!

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for my gifted e-arc!

What a unique romance story! I’ve not quite read anything like it before, and I devoured it! Mainly because I HAD to know if they ever met!!

I went in blind (and recommend you do too), and got quite the shock 😳. This book will bring the emotions. I got sad. I got angry. I got happy, and I got upset.

At times I wish the two main characters were stronger and didn’t choose the easy way out, but it was probably more realistic this way. There is one character that is sketchy as hell that you just love to hate.

It’s a slow burn romance which is usually not my thing, but it worked so well with this story!

In the recent trail of stories of almost meet-ups and near miss love findings that have passed through my reading stack (imaginary stack at my bedside table because I love digital books!), The Man I Never Met is far and beyond the sweetest romance mishap meeting of them all. Hannah is in London and Davey is in Texas (thanks for the nod to my home state). Davey is trying to call an architecture firm in London for an interview when he dials Hannah by mistake. They embark on a series of sleep over calls, flat viewings, and are eager to meet up in person right after New Year's. But when Hannah waits for him to come through the doors at the airport...and waits...and waits. When he does not show, she's left to wonder was any of it real.

Elle Cook wonderfully pulls every emotion into this tale. You are laughing; you are crying; you are cursing one of the characters, "How could you!!??" and "What are you doing??" I found myself jumping into this read at every chance I could get because I just had to know how it would all come together.

It is marvelous to be able to get lost in make believe and have a happy ending. Thank you for the great escape I needed. Truly, I hope that the author will continue contemporary romance, because she is fantastically good at it!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Ballentine and NetGalley for the digital ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.