Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alexis Hall consistently builds worlds I want to live in, with characters that I want to be friends with. Although this isn't fantastical or magical, like Mortal Follies, and 10 Things That Never Happened takes place in current day UK, I fell in love with Sam and Jonathan. The audiobook version of this book is especially fantastic! The narrators that are chosen for Alexis Hall titles are always phenomenal and if you're an audiobook lover, I highly recommend reading them that way.

The fake amnesia trope can be hit or miss but Hall is hilarious in their prose and this was a huge hit for me! I can't wait to read what comes next!

I really enjoyed this one! It was witty, real and emotional. The characters were great, real people with real issues and their chemistry was good. The story line has been done before, but it still seemed fresh because it was funny! I look forward to catching up on Hall's previous books!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
10 Things That Never Happened
By: Alexis Hall
Publisher:Sourcebooks
Pub Date: 10/17/23

Sam Becker is the manager of a small bed and bath retailer in a small town outside of London. When the big boss Jonathan calls for him to come down to London to discuss firing employees he panics. He feels responsible to try to save their jobs. While trying to help Jonathan land a sale at the head office a large shower display falls on to Sam. Jonathan, worried about a lawsuit, quickly steps into action. While visiting the emergency room, the doctor asked Sam if he remembers what happened he quickly comes up with the plan. He says no he doesn’t remember. Jonathan immediately decides he has Amnesia and Sam goes along with it. Jonathan insists on Sam staying with him so that he can help take care of him while he recovers. Sam is using the amnesia to try to save jobs at his store while Jonathan and Sam cohabitate; they both start to learn more about the other, and as they get closer, Sam begins to panic. Somehow he is going to reveal he doesn’t have amnesia and still save his relationship with Jonathan.
The woody banter in this book is absolutely superb. Each character has their own little quirk, which I really enjoyed. Thanks to NetGalley, and Source books for the ARC of this book.

3.5⭐️ very grateful for receiving an arc for this book!! It was a very nice story! I just felt like one of the mlc was a little too annoying sometimes. Still enjoyed reading it though :))

I'm not sure why this novel took me forever to read, especially since I had that ARC since forever, maybe it was my overwhelming list of books on my TBR. I randomly decided that I needed to read this book and boy do I wish I could go back in time and smack myself because this book was amazing! I loved it so much that I even went out and bought the physical copy!

This book follows Sam Becker, a box store manager, but when his manager calls him to come and see him in the London branch. Sam can't help but think that his boss Jonathan will fire him. He does fire him but he also threatens to fire his whole crew of workers at his store, Sam tries to argue back but ends up falling and hitting his head. When he wakes up, Jonathan assumes he has amnesia and Sam goes along with it. Because Sam doesn't have any family nearby, Jonathan is forced to take in Sam. But Sam realizes that Johnthan is more than the cold boss that he once was.

I can't say enough about how much I adore this novel and how much I wanna go back in time and scream at myself for not reading it sooner. I'm not usually a fan of cold characters but there was something about Jonathan that I connected with. Maybe it was him saying the wrong thing at the wrong time or having a very loud and overbearing family. The thing is as a reader at first I thought Jonathan was a prick and was cold for no reason but through character development, I was able to understand a different side of Jonthan. Even though Jonathan can be negative towards his family it's only because he's working so hard to help them. Even though they don't care about the money they just want him to be happy.

I loved Jonathan and Sam's chemistry, from their bickering to Sam finally warming up to Jonathan. I feel like you can slowly see Jonathan thinking that Sam is just annoying but slowly he opens up to him and it's just ugh so cute. On top of that, I adore how Sam legit becomes a stay-at-home husband by making dinners and taking care of the house.

Another thing I enjoyed was the fact that this book was unapologetic and true to itself. It wasn't fluffy but it gave the characters a realistic feeling to them that I truly enjoyed. There was also this feeling of grief that was written throughout the book, that is something I didn't expect but something that I truly enjoyed. I loved this book especially the cat who let's be honest stole the spotlight.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebook Casablanca for the opportunity to review this book, even though it was very late!

I feel very conflicted about 10 Things That Never Happened. It's pitched as grumpy/sunshine romcom, which should have been right up on my alley. Except, the story wasn't really romantic and to me, it wasn't funny at all.

I struggled for the first 70% of the book. The premise was that Sam has been summoned to London to meet his boss, Jonathan, because the Sheffield branch that Sam managed, had issues with budget and meeting targets. And honestly, the reason for that was Sam's lack of proper management and his inability to let go of an employee who destroyed more stock than he sold it. So when Sam faked amnesia in order to save their jobs, I didn't feel any sympathy for Sam or his co-workers. Jonathan was a prick and bossy, yes, but Sam (and Claire and Tiff) weren't much better as they were rude and deceitful. So I struggled to find anything likable about any of the characters.

It got somewhat more bearable once Jonathan's family came into the story. They were a funny bunch and brought some much needed humanity. Also, the last 30% of the story got much better. It started to feel somewhat romantic and had its good moments. Revelations about Sam's past helped to explain some of his behaviour and I appreciated that it was acknowledged that he's as much a prick as Jonathan. It all just happened too late for me to fell in love with the story. I liked the ending and honestly, I might have fallen in love with Sam and Jonathan's story if it had started where it ended in the book.

I'll round up my rating to three stars. The last part of the book saved it from a much worse rating.

This book was just “meh” for me. I felt like I was reading it because I had to finish it instead of reading it because I wanted to finish it. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was.

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall is a contemporary romance. Sam Becker loves—or, okay, likes—his job. Sure, managing a bed and bath retailer isn't exactly glamorous, but it's good work and he gets on well with the band of misfits who keep the store running. He could see himself being content here for the long haul. Too bad, then, that the owner is an infuriating git. Jonathan Forest should never have hired Sam. It was a sentimental decision, and Jonathan didn't get where he is by following his heart. Determined to set things right, Jonathan orders Sam down to London for a difficult talk…only for a panicking Sam to trip, bump his head, and maybe accidentally imply he doesn't remember anything? Faking amnesia seemed like a good idea when Sam was afraid he was getting sacked, but now he has to deal with the reality of Jonathan's guilt—as well as the unsettling fact that his surly boss might have a softer side to him. There's an unexpected freedom in getting a second shot at a first impression…but as Sam and Jonathan grow closer, can Sam really bring himself to tell the truth, or will their future be built entirely on one impulsive lie?

10 Things That Never Happened is another solid romance from Hall. I liked the interplay wit the characters and the way readers got to know their personalities. I did wish that I got a little of Jonathan's thoughts, and some more back story for Sam. We get it in very broad strokes, but it was lacking emotion or depth for me. Oddly, we get much more emotion and connection with the past from Jonathan, the much more stoic of the two characters. I just wanted to connect with both of them a little more. However, I thought the give and take between them was well done, and I thought the secondary characters were great. I liked both the crew from Sam's store and Jonathan's family. There were definitely moments when I liked the interactions with secondary characters more than Sam's inner dialogue.

Alexis Hall is an auto-buy author for me, so I was incredibly excited to receive this ARC. The characters were so lovable and the plot so absurd, but I devoured every page. The story was both hilariously witty and full of heart, though very messy at times. Grumpy x sunshine is one of my favorite tropes and it made an appearance in this story.

✨Book review✨
📚 10 things that never happened - alexis hall
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 / 5

Sam Becker, a manager at a bed and bath store, loves his job; however, he does not love his boss. Jonathan Forest, is a sassy man with a stick up his butt. When Sam goes down to have a talk with Jonathan, Sam has an accident in the store that causes him to "lose" his memory. While faking amnesia, Sam tries to show Jonathan how to treat people better and has an incentive to help the people he works with not lose their jobs.

Oh my gosh, if you are looking for a book to read around valentines day (even though it happens around christmas time), this is the book for you! Jonathan is the perfect amout of grumpy and sexy! Sam sort of reminds me of a puppy dog, but in the best type of way. This grumpy sunshine book exceeded my expectations!

Honestly though, what really made me love this book so much was Jonathan's family. They were crazy with a lot of issues, but they had me laughing all throughout the book!

I haven't had a book in a lot time that made my heart this happy.

Everyone run and get this book. You have to add it to your vday tbrs!!

Thank you so much netgalley, Alexis Hall, and sourcebooks casablanca for this book! This is 100% my honest review. 💜 I can't wait to read more of Alexis Hall's books.

This was my first Alexis Hall book and I have to sadly say it wasn't a winner. I am dnfing at 14%. I'm just not a fan of the characters or even the premise of the story. And don't even get me started on the romance. There is zero chemistry between Sam and Jonathan and I just don't see how that ends up translating into a happy relationship. It's also too unrealistic for me. I know it's fiction, but I don't allow as many liberties with a romance in the real world than I would for fantasy. I'm a very kind person, but if a grown adult is messing up THAT much at a pretty easy job that it is going to cost your job..... can't handle that. The irritation I experienced just reading about Biran was too much.

Also, lying about an injury like that will guarantee some pretty bad karma points. Truly do not like any of these characters at all and don't care to see what happens to them.

This was a very middle of the road romance for me, I wanted to love it but it didn't do much for me overall.

Alexis Hall does it again. This time its in a furniture store and we are following Samwise as he tries to navigate being a manager and accidently falling in love with someone whom he really shouldn't. While this book starts off slow, I implore readers to continue to read it. And if nothing else, listen to the audiobook, as the narrator does a great job with his portrayals of the characters.

There are time is which, the plot of the book becomes monotonous. After a while, I became quite annoyed with Samwise and the constant repetition of the 8m sliding glass door enclosure. Its been a few weeks and I still remember that this was mentioned the most. The first few times it was funny, then it lost its luster.

I would not change anything about this book, even with the continuous sliding glass door enclosure. The forced-closeness type of books are the most fun to read in my opinion. It makes both characters develop faster and the plot gets a major boost in craziness that makes it more exciting to read.

YES! Loved this so much, this felt just like the first book, didn't have that awkward second book syndrom.

Hall delivers an expectedly enjoyable read with well flushed out characters and trademark prose. While not my favourite of their work, the narrative of the book becomes a little stale half way through, and if this weren’t a book by an author I thoroughly enjoy, it would have likely been a DNF for me.

This was my first Alexis Hall book and most likely won't be my last. 10 Things That Never Happened was an enjoyable read full of witty banter and self discovery that led to romance. The two MC's are total opposites and I enjoyed (what felt like) a very brief romance. I was honestly more interested in the family dynamic between Jonathan and his family because his family is a hoot. The idea of faking amnesia to prevent getting fired was fresh and it was fun to see Sam get closer to Jonathan without giving away his secret.
I wish there was more romance between these two (it felt like it took a long time to get there and then felt rushes) but what was there was quite beautiful to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this title in exchange for my honest review.

This book was actually really enjoyable, it’s told from Sam’s point of view and he was so funny that I found myself laughing out loud multiple times.

The only thing I had a bit of problem with was the romance. I do think they had chemistry, but there was so much back and forth that toward the end it made me feel like maybe they really weren’t suited for each other. I was still rooting for them but not as much as in the beginning, there was just so much hostility and lies in their relationship.

Also the fact that there was a side character that was so oblivious and incompetent, felt too similar to Boyfriend Material.

I would have loved to know more about Sam’s family, it was kind of a big deal because it finally showed us why Sam is the way he is, yet it felt like it was brushed off.

Overall i did really enjoy this book and I liked the ending a lot. The found family was great, I just wish some things could’ve been different.

Thank you to NetGally and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Alexis Hall rom coms. They are so incredibly funny with lots of snarky British banter and quirky side characters, but they also always have a lot of warmth and heart. This is a fake amnesia, grumpy/sunshine romance set around the holidays with a sprinkling of A Christmas Carol for Good measure. It can definitely be read any time of year, however. I am looking forward to more books in this series!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me an advanced reader copy of this book for review.

This was my first Alexis Hall romance, and I’ve heard so many great things about their work, so I really wanted to love it! The plot was fun, the side characters were fantastic, but the romance fell incredibly flat for me.

Sam is about to be fired by his boss, Jonathan. When a freak accident leads to him falling and hitting his head, he fakes amnesia to save the day. While this sounds ridiculous, I was impressed with how quickly Sam thought on his feet and how well he held to his story over the next few weeks. In an effort to not be sued for a workplace accident, Jonathan takes Sam into his house to care for him while he recovers from his injury.

This entire story takes place in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Jonathan’s family is around often, trying to convince him to host a Christmas dinner this year. I was laughing out loud at their family dynamics!

Jonathan is the definition of the grumpy character. Honestly, there were times that I was yelling at him through my kindle “stop being such a dick!” I had a difficult time seeing where Sam fell for him, and as a result wasn’t truly rooting for their relationship.
Sam reminded me of a younger Michael Scott, especially in the beginning with his store management skills. He is a goof that means well, who cares for his employees deeply. His character is why I enjoyed this story as much as I did.

Overall, this was a fun novel and while I didn’t love the romance, all the other story elements were fantastic. I’ll definitely be reading more Alexis Hall stories in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I never know what will happen when I read a new Alexis Hall's story as it can be a miss, very few, or a hit, a lot.
This is a hit, very funny and compeling.
Read it and have fun
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine