Hannah is happily going about her day in London when she receives a phone call from a number she doesn't recognize. On the other end of the line is, Davey, an American living in Texas who is trying to phone into an interview with an architectural firm in London. Hannah explains he has misdialed her by mistake and so they hang up as anyone would do when a stranger rings a wrong number.

Imagine Hannah's surprise when she receives a text days later from the same number and Davey informs her that he got the job and she finds that she's genuinely happy for him and sends her congratulations.

The calls and texts don't stop there. They seem to have a real connection that neither of them can deny. All they have to do is wait until the new year and then Davey will be in London where they can meet properly and Hannah can finally get that kiss she has so longed for.

Hannah arrives at the airport the day of his arrival, welcome sign in hand, but there is no Davey. She waits and she waits but goes home in shame and defeat. Where is he and why didn't he show?

Elle Cook created two amazing characters with Hannah and Davey. I adored them both so much and I was cheering them on from the start. I actually thought going into this that it was a romantic comedy (I guess a cartoon cover is all it takes for me apparently!) and it is not that at all. This book gets very heavy and it caused me to get emotional on several occasions mostly because what they deal with is something I'm all too familiar with on a personal level and I did have to sit the book down a few times to gather my wits.

*I will spoiler tag the trigger at the end of this review for those that are curious or worried before starting this.

But this book isn't all doom and gloom. There are moments of happiness and joy especially as we near the end. Hannah has wonderful friends and great support. She also has a sexy personal trainer that just might help to keep her mind off her lost love and missed chance.

All in all I thought this was a fantastic book and according to the authors note at the end it is her first foray into the contemporary romance genre. I'm truly impressed and I hope she continues to pursue this as I will continue to read them.

This book can be a little depressing and there were only snippets of swoon worthy moments so if those are deal breakers for you then move along. For other readers still curious I assure you that you'll be rewarded with an emotional and heartwarming story. 4 stars!

Trigger warning: (view spoiler)

Thank you to NetGalley Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for granting my wish to read this.

This wasn't quite what I expected, but I did enjoy the plot anyway. I have some patrons in mind that I think will enjoy it, so we will definitely purchase. Thank you!

I enjoyed this. I liked that it was not predictable like many romance novels are. I liked the main character. The ending was a little contrived but still good.

For those that loved books like Always, in December, the 12 dates of christmas (not for the holiday scenery but for the emotional rollercoaster) and the feels courtesy of Me before you, grab some tissues and enjoy this quick read as Hannah and Davey navigate from their absolutely adorable meet cute to heartbroken strangers to pining from afar to that moment in the poppy field (which 🥰😭🥰😭🥰, happy tears btw).

I loved hannah and davey's venture from random misdialed phone call to more. I hated George mostly because I was waiting for the next hannah/davey moment. I loved the snippets of dual POV. I loved the friends hannah and davey's had in their corners (joan and the coffee rating!!). I loved the reunion, reminiscent of her favorite movie. I wish there had been more of hannah and davey at the end - the post reunion details felt a little rushed, it felt like it needed more of an extended epilogue.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my review!

I think if we go in acknowledging that romance is really a sub-genre of fantasy, you'll be ok here. It's utterly other-wordly that the wrong number Davey called connected him purely by accident to the love of his life, that they kept talking, then accidentally saw each other across a tube station in alllll of London, and that Hannah's best friend's wedding just happens to be at the restaurant in alllll of Italy where Davey spontaneously paused his journey to work in a restaurant.

But within this fantasy-romance-world-of-fated-coincidences, the relationship between the 2 is quite nice, and their back & forth chat is fun, Davey's challenges (unspecified here to prevent my causing spoilers) are described compellingly, and I did like the conceit of them having this strong connection before they ever met. Though we all know where the story is going to end up, it is for the most part enjoyable skimming along to get there (tbh did a fair bit of skimming because a lot of the middle especially the relationship we never reallllly bought into with George felt a bit filler-y).

The ending had a very cinematic setting, but also I dunno, felt a little anticlimactic? And then boom, it was done. I wanted a little more at the end, too.

A sweet, quick read.

This story was definitely a different type of romance.
Hannah and Davey, meet when Davey accidentally calls her phone number, He is in Texas and she is in London. He is about to move to London, for a job and through the phone and plans they make, they fall for each other, but then a tragedy hits and a new reality sets in.
This story follows them and their ever changing lives, through many ups and downs until they finally do meet.
I really enjoy this story, and all that it took to finally connect.
I will definitely read more of this authors books.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for a copy of this book.

This book started off so promising, which didn't surprise me as the premise was also very promising. The meet-cute stemming from a misdialed number reeled me in. I didn't love Hannah from the beginning, but the way she and Davey interacted was so sweet that it made up for my disconnect with her. I read through the first third of the book very quickly before it stopped working for me personally.

The twist is not what put me off of this book, but the aftermath of the twist. I had already found Hannah rather dull and rude if I'm being honest, but then the story takes a turn into this weird and awkward new relationship of hers with someone who lacked character consistency. I pushed on because then, out of nowhere but blessedly, the book becomes dual POV. I enjoyed those portions of the book, but it took up surprisingly little space. It felt to me as if the important parts were rushed and the rest of the book was a bit stale and slow. I never ended up warming up to Hannah.

I think this book had a lot of potential at the start and it seems to be garnering a lot of great reviews so perhaps I was just not the right reader for this story. I don't think this was a bad book at all, but I didn't think it was a good book.

Thanks so much to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine as well as NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts

This book had me in TEARS! What a beautiful Story. WE don’t find love, it funds US. Without giving too much away, I understand why Davey did what he did with Hannah. In the end, she saved him! I will be buting this book once it’s released. Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read/review this book!

A sweet story with lovable, engaging characters. This will be a must-read for fans of contemporary romance. The story is well written, if a little slow at times. I did not care for the ending - it felt rushed and should have been fleshed out.

If I could have given 1/2 stars this would have been a 3.5. I loved the storyline, the characters were likable and relatable but I was extremely disappointed in the ending. It seemed rushed and really did not fit the rest of the book. I would have been satisfied if they just left off the last chapter. It's the first book I've read from Elle Cook, but I look forward to her more from her.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book

I was loving this book till 30%. But there were two major things that I disliked.

1. The sad, heartbreaking twist that came unexpected, early on in the book. I was realy looking forward to a comfort, cozy romance, but I didn't get what I thought I'd signed up for.
2. Hannah and Davey as a collective don't get even 50% of the spotlight.

I wouldn't say that I completely detesed the turns in the book, because I found parts of the relationship very relatable to a personal one. This is a completely subjective opinion, but I wasn't too keen on digging up some of those painful emotions. The better parts of the relationship were more beautiful though, and made me keep reading.

I found the ending pretty rushed and out of place. As mentioned earlier, there are a bit too many side plots that made the story drag on.

I received a free e-ARC of 'The Man I Never Met' courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

This book begins with a meet cute but it just didn't hold my attention. DNF


***************I received an ARC for my honest opinion from NetGalley.*********************

Make it a movie, a fun romatic rom-com with interesting narrative and characters. Rooting for them the whole time and desperately holding and hoping for the happy ending. I loved this story so much and cant wait to give it as a gift to girlfiends, would make a fun book club pick and totally see Hello Sunshine picking this up.

4 STARS

Very solid rom-com! I really liked the unique concept of how they met and I thought it was a great story overall! The ending was a bit of a letdown and felt a bit rushed. In my opinion, the last few sentences could have been drawn out a bit more but overall I really liked this!

The meet cute in this book can be in some of the top 10 meet cutes i’ve seen. It’s a great idea. Should we start answering unknown numbers now? could this be a thing? No, its always annoying telemarketers or bankers, but good for Hannah that it turned out ok for her. Although some of Hannah’s decisions were questionable and infuriating, all in this is a super sweet book and definitely pushing the fate concept to extremes! An unexpected great read and one I would highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House and Elle Cook for the opportunity to read my first ARC!
I loved this story. It felt more than just a romance, focusing on other concepts such as life/death, and becoming a better version of yourself. I thought this would be a lighthearted story with Hannah and Davey meeting in London and everything falling into place. But when something happened, I realized it was not going to be like that at all. I didn’t like a tangent the story went on with an unlikeable character (but i think it was the point of it) making the story feel so long. I liked how we started to get Davey’s POV in the story later on, even though i wish we got it for certain scenes too. I loved how things came together at the end of the story in general, but i wasn’t a fan of the last few pages and where the story literally ended. it felt unfinished and left me wanting more!!! but overall i really liked this story and made me reflect on my own life at times.

The Man I Never Met by Elle Cook is based on a cute premise, but as I read I didn't connect with any of the characters. After a while my interest waned and it was a DNF for me. Other people have loved this book, so perhaps it just wasn't a good match for my tastes.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for my review.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was amazing! It follows Hannah, a British woman who works in marketing. One day, she receives a call from an American number and decided to answer it. That’s how she meets Davey, a man from Texas trying to get a job in England.

The two begin a long distance friendship. They talk and text all the time. They also decide to meet up in a few weeks when Davey officially moves to England. But he never shows at the airport.

I did not expect the reasoning and I was blown away by how the story progressed. The story was dual POV, which I always enjoy because I need to know what the hero thinks of the heroine, although it did focus primarily on Hannah’s POV.

My only critique was the pacing. The beginning was good but there were slow moments in the middle. However, the ending was amazing and I absolutely loved when they finally met. (I almost said reunion but they hadn’t met at that point).

I loved this book and I recommend getting yourself a copy. I recommend going in blind but there are potential trigger warnings, so please be careful.

I’m a sucker for a tragic romance, throw in it taking almost the entire book for them to get together, and set it in England and I’m sold 😅 dropping a half star because I really wanted Hannah to take some agency in her life!

This book started out so good. I loved how their relationship started with a wrong number phone call. Once Davey didn’t make it to England, the story started to drag on. It was frustrating. The ending felt a little too rushed in my opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.