Lackluster.
This was the first McFarlane book I've read that I didn't wholeheartedly enjoy. 'Who's That Girl?' ranks high on my list of favorite books, and I expected similar love for this book, but sadly, it just drug on far too long.

The story started out strong, and the first few chapters had me so happy to be reading another McFarlane novel. (I binge-read her other books last year after stumbling across one at the library)
The comedy was spot on, and had me laughing out loud many times throughout the story.
From there, I just found myself bored through most of the book, and slightly annoyed by the fact that they kept having the same dilemma/argument over and over again.

Had the book been 2/3 the length, with the same plot lines and less grind it probably would have been 4 stars from me.

McFarlane is a delight yet again!

I did not read “Who’s That Girl” but for the most part it was easy to get caught up. I had one moment of confusion but overall there was enough there for me to understand what happened in the first book.

I thought this story was a beautiful balance of humor and heartfelt moments. The characters’ growth felt genuine due to the tough convos. The witty dialogue helped to balance out the trials and tribulations the characters go through when figuring out how to date as a famous actor and “regular” citizen.

I struggled putting this book down in the end because I just needed to know what happened with these characters! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read another one by this author!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC.

4.25 stars

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon books for the ARC of this book. When I first got this book I was super excited to read it. I did read the first book, and loved it so I came back and read the second book and it was pretty good! I loved the tropes, and would definitely recommend reading this book!

I wasn't able to get into the premise of this book. Maybe for other readers, but not for me. A little disappointed bc I normally really enjoy Mhairi.

I've been a long time fan of Mhairi McFarlane so was excited to receive an early copy of this book -- without realizing it was a sequel. I think it is important to read "Who's That Girl" first -- although I liked this one quite a lot more.

This book picks up exactly where the first one ended. Edie and Elliot have been broken up for several months when Elliot decides to pursue Edie again. I liked that this book really focused more on the romance between them -- the first book had a lot of side plots that felt distracting.

Elliot is a swoony love interest and really pretty perfect. Any conflict or argument they have, he has a pretty perfect response and is so sweet and thoughtful.

I loved the supporting characters as well, especially Declan - I would definitely read a spin-off book about Declan!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I overall enjoyed this book as a continuation of our time with Edie and Elliott as they found their way back to each other. This one, though mostly enjoyable, did feel like a bit of a re-hashing of the first book and didn’t introduce much new conflict to the plot. I think for those who really loved the first book, this is a decent sequel.

I got You Belong With Me as an arc before realizing it was a sequel. I started it and was very confused and then figured out my mistake and checked out the first one so that this one would make sense.

I think had I read the first before requesting, I would not have wanted to read the second. That being said, the second book was much better in my opinion. There were less side plots distracting from the main story and it didn’t try to tackle as many big issues. I felt myself much more invested in the love story and the characters in general.

I do think both books would have worked better if Edie was a younger character. I had a hard time believing she was 36 in both stories.

I think if you read the first, this one is worth picking up. If you haven’t, it’s not worth having to read the first installment of the story.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

3.5 rounded down

I LOVED this book!! Mhairi McFarland does such a great job weaving an intriguing story that readers will fall in love with like I did!! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves romance books!!

I did not enjoy this book and couldn’t finish it. The pace was slow, it felt too heavy of a repeating scenario over and over between the two main characters. I believe the book was well written, and if you resonate well with this author previous works or looking for a story full of emotional discourse, you would enjoy this one. It just wasn’t for me and that’s ok! Excited for my next read by this author.

Almost a Cinderella story? I don't know what to call it. I do suggest you read this one and see what you think yourself.

This book was not for me. Slow with unlikable characters. I do not love books ripping off Taylor Swift titles too often. Now that she’s blown up again it’s happening more and more.

By far McFarlane's most humorous and engaging book, but overall the book itself didn't feel like a necessary continuation of the storyline, and needed more to truly satisfy fans of McFarlane.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Edie and Elliot. Elliot is an actor. Edie and Elliot start dating, when they realize how much they want to be together. It Eliot has lots of traveling in his future and Edie has to learn about being away from Elliot. Edie has to figure out about the press too, because they can print false stories. They both have issues but together they figure them out and fall in love.

✨DNF✨

I tried really hard to find something compelling about this book. Elliot and Edie were fine, but boring. The prologue happens right before chapter 1, so that felt weird… like, just start the book?

The idea of the book seems sweet, and I really wish I could’ve powered through. Buuuuut I just couldn’t do it.

I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read from Mhairi McFarlane, so it pains me to say I just didn’t like this book very much. Edie & Elliot were likable enough (albeit a little boring and somewhat smug, respectively), but the story dragged on and on for me. It took me forever to finish because I wasn’t invested until the 80% mark, so I kept putting it aside and reading other books. I also felt that the ending was not the way it should have been.
Even though this was a miss for me, I’m still a McFarlane fan and will definitely check out her next book.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this advanced reader's edition. Unfortunately, I will not be able to give it the time required to write a thorough review and will be unable to read it for this purpose.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Look, this is totally fine. Edie and Elliot are great. I would be friends with Declan and all of Edie's other friends. But there is absolutely no reason why there should be two novels about this relationship, and the "who's jealous now" and "what about all the money" and "yes it is easy to be insecure in a long distance relationship when one of you is famous" gets a little old. Hence why it took me forever to finish this, and not just because I didn't realize there was a first one until I started reading the second one.

I received a free ARC from Netgalley.

3.5/5 ⭐️

I accidentally read this before knowing that it was a part of a series. This book can be a stand alone but now I am hoping to go back and read the first book.

I loved and hated Edie and Elliot’s relationship. I was so nervous throughout the entire book and wanted them to have a HEA. Unless Edie had a good reason to start dating someone else. There is so much that is added to her plate with their relationship getting out to the public when dating an actor. With a possible triangle in the making, I didn’t think I would enjoy the book as much as I did.

Fingers crossed I love the first book even more.

Okay I actually didn’t realize this is a sequel so I guess that’s on me, but I did feel like the parts of the story that I was most interested in was the relationship development that happened in the first book. I felt a bit like it relied too heavily on that and not enough on making this chapter of their relationship feel fully developed.