Oh this book was a quick and endearing read. It’s a sad romance and that’s my jam, so you know I’m going to be all over it.

Short Synopsis:
Hannah receives a call from an unknown number. Out of curiosity she answers it. Only to find Davey on the other line, who called the wrong number. After short banter they continue to call each other, but on purpose now.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this one. The banter was adorable. Some of the characters choices were questionable but I also understood it given their circumstances. If you’re looking for a slightly heavier, slow-burn romance, than this is an excellent pick.

Read if you like:
🧳 Sad romances
🧳 Slow Burns
🧳 To be angry about people getting in the way of real romance
🧳 Loyal friends/side characters
🧳 Closed-door romances

I absolutely LOVED this! This book is for fans of Sophie Cousens for sure, it gave me the same warm feeling with humor that just works and makes you laugh out loud. Davey was my absolute favorite and my heart hurt for him throughout the story. Hannah and her group of friends were such a delight. I can't tell you how much I related to Hannah from her love of true crime podcasts to her endless hope that things will turn out okay. George was a dull spot in this book and that is intentional. I also wished we got just a bit more of the ending but overall I loved this book so much.

See below for the Goodreads synopsis:
Is it possible to love someone you've never met? A young woman finds out in this sweeping will-they-or-won't-they love story that begins with a chance wrong number dial. . . .

When Hannah picks up a call from an unknown number, she thinks nothing of it--it's just an easygoing American named Davey who misdialed her while calling into a job interview. And when Hannah wishes him luck after clearing up the confusion, she never actually expects to hear from him again.

Then she gets a text saying he got the job and he'll be moving to London, and she can't help but smile. Soon their texts become phone calls that turn into video calls, and their friendship becomes a relationship they can't wait to start in earnest once Davey lands in London in a month's time.

But when Hannah goes to meet him at the airport, Davey isn't there--and the reason why changes both of their lives in an instant. With their future together suddenly so uncertain, they don't know what to do but try to move on from each other.

Though their chance at love seems lost forever, neither is never far from the other's thoughts. Will fate intervene once more to bring the two together, or will Davey always be the man that Hannah never met?

Thank you to Dell for the copy of this ARC!

The Man I Never Met finally broke my romance slump! I absolutely devoured this book - it was just so bingeable and pleasant to read. Yes, there were heavy moments and characters I wanted to just GET OUT OF THE PICTURE ALREADY, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Our main character Hannah was so loveable and I really appreciated her friends (and neighbor!) as well. It was easy to cheer Hannah on and want the best for her. If you’re looking for a good book to just devour in a weekend, The Man I Never Met is a perfect closed door romance candidate.

Hannah answers a misdial to her phone and "meets" Davey. They begin communicating with each other as Davey will be moving from the US to England. Their relationship develops over many phone and video calls. Hannah is set to meet him at the airport but he never arrives. He calls her a couple days later and let's her know what happened to him. Davey feels he must end things because he doesn't want Hannah to go through what's in his future. Hannah ends up with George, a personal trainer from her gym. This relationship was my least favorite part of the story. How did Hannah never go to his place in the all months they dated? I thought the hours that he "worked" were odd too. I have a nephew who went through the same thing as Davey and now I feel like I need to ask questions to know if his experience was like Davey's. I really enjoyed this book.

Such a fun read and a brilliant premise. This novel kept me turning pages and had me rooting for the main characters to get their HEA. Dual POVs were well done, a roller coaster of "will they won't they". Overall a fast paced read and a good time.

I couldn’t put this book down and finished it in a day. The author immediately hooks you and I felt so invested in these characters. The premise felt fresh and the author perfectly captured the feeling of the beginning of a relationship. I can’t wait to see what she does next! Thank you to Netgalley and Dell books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I found this sooooooo boring and contrived, I started loosing interest in it about half way through and just skimmed through the last half.

Overall, I just don’t think this was a book for me as I read it with a group of ladies who very much enjoyed it.

I don’t know how Elle Cook did it, but she made me believe that it is possible to fall in love with someone you’ve actually never met. All I could keep thinking about while reading The Man I Never Met was how could two people be so perfect for each other when they’ve never actually met and just get each other – all from an accidental misdial? This book truly made me feel for both Hannah and Davey, and to watch their friendship bloom over the telephone via text, phone and video calls and have the hope that something more could flourish between them. Then to have it all come crashing down when Davey ended things abruptly between them (before his big move to London) because as life is known to do it threw him an unexpected curveball. I stayed up way too late into the night reading, because I had to know how this book ended and just needed to know what would happen to Davey and Hannah. While a majority of the book the two characters are apart (boo!), I did enjoy the dual POV, and the growth of the characters throughout the story as they work through Davey’s diagnosis and Hannah learning to love and accept herself. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by Elle Cook.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Elle Cook and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

3.5 - I loved the beginning of this so much!! I felt the instant chemistry between Hannah and Davey and was so excited for them to finally meet. But there are some things that happen and we spend a large chunk of the book following them with other people, and while I understand this was necessary to show their individual growth, I think this really brought the story down on a purely enjoyment level. I just wanted to get back to these two!! Still very cute and very British, which was fun.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for an ARC of The Man I Never Met. I was very much happily surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

Hannah is a woman living in the UK with a life that doesn't seem to be really going anywhere. She seems more so stuck in limbo and while she's not sad with how things are going she doesn't seem very happy either.
One day her phone rings and it's a wrong number. Oddly enough, over time, she keeps talking to this mysterious guy who was actually trying to reach someone else.

The story definitely started off a little slow for me. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect and was worried this was going to be a super quick yet unfulfilling read. I was very very wrong.
It was so amazing yet gut wrenching to watch Hannah grow as a character while dealing with some pretty heavy things. I don't want to go to into detail because I find it very easy to accidentally spoil this book. But I found myself happy, crying, and just overall enjoying it all It was one of those "I really need to go to bed but I can't stop reading until I know what happens" type of books.
I'm very glad I gave it a chance and honestly, it was a refreshing take on a romance story that just made me feel so cozy at the end.
Can't wait to share this story with my romance loving friends.

This was such a beautiful story! It at times drove me crazy because I wasn't sure it would have a happy ending or what was going to happen but that all just made me want to keep reading. The story is about a wrong number call that Hannah, in England, gets one day from Davey, in America. The two strike up an unlikely long distance friendship using calls, texts, and FaceTime to get to know each other. When Davey is supposed to be arriving in England, Hannah waits at the airport for him to never arrive and the reason why will change everything.

The highs and lows of this book are a roller coaster and you'll just want to keep reading. I loved the duel POVs and duel locations. It gave me a Always in December kind of vibe. It was an easy to get sucked into story that I didn't want to put down.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
I was drawn to this by the cover and the premise:
Hannah lives and works in London when she receives a wrong number call from Davey, an architect who lives in Texas. They stay in contact since he's planning on moving to London, and grow quite close. When the time comes for them to meet, he's a no show.

𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙁 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩?

Pining and angst is my jam, so I loved watching them build a friendship and fall in love. We get some dual POV which I love when executed well in a romance, but being honest we didn't get enough of Davey, and at this point, Hannah gets into an abusive relationship with a s͟h͟a͟d͟y͟ personal trainer. She dates this guy for like a year and NEVER:
1. Sees his apartment
2. Meets his friends
3. OR HIS ROOMMATES.
Friends, I could barely read. My vision was CLOUDY with red flags, and I wasn't prepared for this. It also distressed me that no one else in Hannah's life seemed to see that he was an asshat. Considering how drawn out the rest of the book was, the ending wasn't satisfactory.
Overall, I couldn't help but think that I've read similar enough tropes executed better.
3/5 stars
🌟 🌟 🌟

The Man I Never Met is a rom com...with a significant dose of seriousness. It is a cross-cultural love story, with a precious meet-cute and it seems very predictable and enchanting until, it isn't. I was heartbroken by the challenges that these characters faced, personally and in their relationship, but the overall track of their lives and growth was positive so the book worked for me.

I must note that the description of the book skips a huge part of the plot - sickness and cancer, as well as depression and lack of motivation to change. I did not see the twist coming and there were parts of the story that seemed unrealistic to me. Also, I spent chapters of this book wanting to yell at Hannah or Davey (or both of them) for their actions and attitudes. Ugh. However, all in all this was a cute book and would be a good book to read over the holiday season as the descriptions of Christmas in London just make me want to celebrate the season!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley, Elle Cook and Dell Publishing for the ARC!

I wasn't sure what to make of this about halfway through. I had so many feelings! Can you truly fall for someone you've never actually met? Emotional connection is an intense thing! I believe Elle portrayed it really well. When you know, you know. Regardless of the circumstances of how. Just wish there would've been a trigger warning of the huge twist in the beginning with Davey. Overall, I enjoyed it!

“Nowhere. Everywhere. I know I’m going to sound like a dick if I say I went to go find myself especially when it didn’t work. I didn’t find myself. And so I went to go find you, without finding you.” This line. This fucking line BROKE me. Every single tear I was holding in throughout this book was unleashed.

This book is short is utterly beautiful. I thought this was going to be a fun rom com type book about someone never being able to meet up with Mr. Right but I was so wrong but in the best way. Honestly one of the most well constructed right person wrong time books ive ever had the privilege to read. I am a fast reader but I read this entire book within two hours because of how invested I was in Hannah and Davey’s relationship. I felt like I was going on every ride at Six Flags throughout those two hours.

Like I mentioned I thought this was going to be a silly little book, but I was wrong. This book got into the nitty gritty aspect of being in a long distance relationship and not being able to help the person like you truly want. Especially when it pertains to their declining health like in Davey’s case. This book brought me to the brink of tears describing the yearn they both had for each other during them not talking and the struggle of trying to move on but still being hung up on the past. But it wasn’t until when they were finally so close to each and always missing each other that I lost it. I cried for a solid thirty minutes, just rereading them together after all this time. It was truly beautiful.

Hannah lives in England and she gets a call from the USA from Davey shall we say a misdial. They decide to continue with texting and then it involves video calling. They bond quickly and Davey let’s her know he is moving to London for a job as an architect. Hannah is beside herself and can’t wait to meet him in person.
Joan is her neighbor and landlord and they have coffee once a week and they rate their coffee favors and chit chat. She has told Joan who is a older and she confides in her. Joan has started dating Geoff and they now are having adult sleepovers. Miranda is Hannah’s best friend and she is with Paul. Miranda, Paul and Hannah hang out every Saturday night together and they definitely have heard all about Davey.
Davey is heading out for his flight but never shows up at the airport that Hannah is waiting at? We go through weddings, not terrific relationships, great friendships, family ties and the will to live.

This book was emotional throughout the entirety of it but I just kept wanting the best for Hannah and Davey. The author really grew the characters and made you want to keep reading to find out the story. Couldn’t put this book down plus some information about a certain topic.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was such a beautiful tale of the connection made instantly between two strangers, both on opposite sides of the world. When Davey dials the wrong number for a job interview and Hannah just happens to pick up, a truly memorable friendship is immediately sparked. I loved watching their friendship grow into something so special, something so much more while never having actually met in real life.

I was a little put off on Davey through parts of the book because his give up attitude and stupid decisions were so annoying sometimes! And Hannah also had her moments as she basically seemed to take a backseat to her life and just stay stuck in her rut. But no matter the frustration, I was still rooting for them to work out and finally be able to meet in person, so obviously the writer knew what she was doing!

Overall this book gave me a ton of feels, and I absolutely loved all of them. Without giving too much away, know that there are some triggers involving cancer and sickness, but the storyline overall deals more with friendship, love, and self discovery.

5/5 stars and thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the digital book for my honest review.

This was heavy but beautiful. Hannah and Davey (horrible name for a grown man) spark a relationship after a wrong number call. Their connection is sweet and has so much potential. Things go wrong and sad and the timing is so off. I don't want to give anything away because this story will really squeeze your heart. There's lots to reflect on with this book. Mr. Right Now isn't always the best path; go with your gut; don't settle; fight for others and yourself. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

I absolutely loved the concept of this book. Elle (Lorna) Cook usually writes a different genre, but I think she found herself a new one! I became emotionally invested in Hannah and Davey very quickly. I had to keep reading so I could know what was going to happen between them. There were times I wanted to yell things to Hannah, that’s when you know it’s good – like yelling at a sports game on TV! At first, the book is told through Hannah’s point of view, but then it switched and gave us both Hannah’s and Davey’s point of view. I really enjoyed this progression because it felt like I was getting to know what exactly was going on in Davey’s head. This book was so cute, and now I want to know more. I want a sequel for this book! I would highly recommend this book.

THE MAN I NEVER MET - ELLE COOK
4⭐
The plot was so intriguing..the connection, friendship and banter before their supposed meet was superb.
The cause for him not turning up wasn't typical and it was actually quite deep (check T/W).
There was heartbreak, sadness and grief.
I loved Hannahs journey , her character development was fantastic.
I only wish we had a little more of them when they actually do meet.
Overall thoroughly enjoyed this one.