A famous actor navigates a complex relationship with his ghostwriter-turned-girlfriend. I didn't realise at first that it was a sequel - I definitely missed reading the first book. For some reason, this book took me months to read through. I enjoyed the second half better than the first. However, the banters were too much for me and I didn't get the context in most cases. Thank you, Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Thanks to Avon and netgalley for this advanced copy!

This is a sequel to Who's That Girl, a book I liked by an author that I have been loving. But this didn't do much more for me than the first book. Edie and Elliot are meant to be but they seem to constantly fight about the things they don't tell each other. I never got a sense of what ties them together. I don't know that this story needed a second book, but if you loved the first one I bet you'll love the second.

This book is a captivating and immersive read that hooks you from the first page. The writing is beautifully crafted, with vivid descriptions and strong character development that makes the story come alive. The plot is well-paced, balancing moments of tension with quieter, reflective scenes that allow the characters to grow. The themes explored are deep and thought-provoking, resonating long after the final page. Whether it's the emotional depth, the twists and turns of the plot, or the unforgettable characters, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys rich, engaging stories. Highly recommended for fans of fantasy.

I am a big Mhairi McFarlane fan, and I loved Who's That Girl! While there was room to expand on the ending of Who's That Girl, it did not need a whole book. Maybe if it had been a short novella it would have been better? This book didn't feel like something that truly needed to exist, which makes it hard to love. It was wonderful seeing Edie and Elliot happy together, but so many of the same issues kept popping up that I thought they dealt with in the first book.
I will continue to love Mhairi McFarlane books and her writing and I look forward to her next book. However, this was no the book for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for this review copy.

I started this one and it has not caught my attention enough to finish it. I haven’t thought about going back to it, and it doesn’t call to me to read it. I just found it a little boring.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read.
It was really nice to see Edie/Elliot again, and it was incredibly funny. McFarlane is always funny, but this was particularly so. That being said...I'm sitting here unsure why this exists.
I thought we hit on all of these plot points in the first book and now just seem to be revisiting over and over again in a way that isn't enjoyable. The media twisting photos felt really strange and unnecessary. Like a few other reviews I saw, I found myself NOT rooting for them in the end, just because I was so annoyed by how repetitive everything was.
I just wish we got a bonus epilogue and not more content. This is one of the few times revisiting characters doesn't make me feel better.

I went from being totally entranced to achingly bored out of my mind that I wanted to throw my Kindle across the room.
 
At first I really, really liked this, but after getting further into it, I didn’t care for the plot. I feel like the blurb didn’t specify enough what this book was about, and it disappointed me a lot.
 
Edie was really annoying throughout most of the book; honestly, I could hardly stand her. Elliot, however, I adore that man. He had every single quality you want in a book boyfriend! He was charming, passionate, and utterly devoted to Edie.
 
Edie, on the other hand, seemed very uncertain about Elliot, and it was like she only tolerated him the entire time, making the relationship feel extremely one-sided.
 
Now about the writing… It felt very amateur a lot of the time, to the point I could barely make sense of what was going on. The Gen Z slang gave me the biggest ick.
 
I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy this book, because I did, but not as much as I wished I would have. Elliot was the best part about this book. #justiceforelliot
 
Tropes/micro tropes
Second chance
He fell first and hard
He brings her flowers
Cinnamon roll hero
Love triangle

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.
 
3.3 ★

At the end of “Who’s That Girl?,” Edie found true love with Elliot, a charming Hollywood star, but their relationship is soon complicated by the intense public scrutiny that comes with his fame. Flirtatious co-stars and jealousy-fueled rumors threaten to tear them apart, causing Edie to struggle to trust those around her. Torn between love and the pressures of fame, Edie must decide if their fairy tale romance can survive or if she’s not meant for the world of the rich and famous.

I reread the previous book in the series shortly before this one, which may have been a mistake. While the first one sparkled, calling back to the Bridget Jones heyday of Chick Lit with its witty jokes and sarcastic tone, this one simply fizzled. Edie and Elliot kept rehashing the same argument over and over with no conclusion, and the entire book felt almost like a remake of the first with the whole coworker storyline. I missed Edie’s friends and family providing some comical levity, and found myself wondering, how at 36 years old, Edie could still be so naive.

is an engaging contemporary romance that combines the allure of Hollywood glamour with the challenges of navigating love in the public eye. Edie Thompson, an ordinary woman with a taste for simplicity, finds herself thrust into an extraordinary relationship with Elliot Owen, a charming and charismatic movie star. As their whirlwind romance develops, Edie must learn to cope with the overwhelming pressures of fame, the media’s incessant scrutiny, and the emotional complexities that come with being involved with someone whose life is already a public spectacle.

The book excels in portraying the contrast between Edie’s grounded, modest life and Elliot’s dazzling world of celebrity. The chemistry between the two characters is undeniable, and their connection feels genuine, which makes their relationship captivating to follow. However, Keep Him doesn’t shy away from the darker side of fame—exploring themes like jealousy, betrayal, and insecurity that threaten to unravel their bond. The media’s invasive presence, along with the constant gossip and rumors, creates an undercurrent of tension that keeps readers hooked.

You Belong With Me is the sequel to Who's That Girl and while that book ended with a small cliffhanger, I'm not sure this book was entirely needed. Or it could have been a novella.

Elliot and Edie have some of the same insecurities from the first book (jealousies, issues with fame and the media, etc.). I loved how the book started out and how happy they made each other but as the same issues kept popping up, I wondered if maybe the predictableness of the plot made them just seem... boring?

I love Mhairi McFarlane books but I think the book is mostly for the die-hard fans of the first book. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for this eARC. You Belong with Me is out now.

Mhairi McFarlane has the unique ability to intertwine romance, a little comedy, and real life issues. I can never quite guess where her stories are going but I’m always happy with her endings. They leave me thinking about my own relationships and how I can be a better person within them.

I hadn't read any of the other books in this series, but You Belong with Me was a great read! It's a little cyclical at times, with many of the same issues cropping up again and again but I feel that overall it works well.

#YouBelongwithMe #NetGalley

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to receive this ARC, as I always I am with book by Mhairi McFarlane!! I enjoyed reading this highly anticipated sequel to "Who's that girl"! That being said if you haven't read the first book, you can still enjoy this one as a standalone since there are just about enough references to the first one for readers to catch up! I read the first one at least 5 years ago and needed a refresher. I devoured this in a couple of sittings. The author's practical but astute portrayal of the MMC and FMC's psyches was delightful as usual!

I did feel the ending was a bit abrupt/unexpected for the following reason. The main concern which Edie has about spending the rest of her life with Eliott is that - will she able to adjust to his celebrity lifestyle. This felt unresolved at the end. It was clear by the end that they both were facing different realities and in fact, I felt that they won't end up together after all. I was expecting a bittersweet ending. However, I think I won't be giving away any spoilers (since it's obviously a Happily Ever After kind of a story!) by saying that they do get together at the end. However, questions linger. At least that's what it felt like to me - that they weren't completely addressed/resolved. The ending almost felt like "love trumps all" but what happens after the euphoria settles? Will they still be together? Will it be easy for Edie as well as Elliott to navigate the obviously huge differences in their lifestyles? Will Edie be finally able to put her insecurities (some of the insecurities she had seemed excessive and repetitive) to rest? It felt like, maybe the author is potentially planning a third book in the series to explore all of this? Not sure! Perhaps this one was better off without a sequel, since it has opened up a Pandora's box instead of giving us closure.

All this is to say, although this was not my favorite of McFarlane's, I am, of course, excited to read her next!

I enjoyed this story a lot and thought it was very cute! Although there were a few grammar errors throughout the book.

Highly endorsed by emily Henry so i had to check it and boy oh boy am i glad i did!! perfect for romance lovers of eh, ali hazelwood, and abby jiminez!! this book was full of wonders and lovely surprises. had an amazing time reading this!!

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Mhairi McFarlane seemingly does not believe in gentle romances. Every one of her books, of which I’ve read nearly all is an emotional bloodbath. And yet I keep coming back for more. I must be some kind of masochist.

Actually, You Belong With Me is more of a return to form. I’m on the record as having been disappointed by her previous effort, Between Us. You Belong With Me is a sequel to Who’s That Girl?, which I didn’t realize when I picked it up, but quickly discovered that the characters felt familiar enough for me to go back through her catalog to figure out where I met them before. And then I remembered: Who’s That Girl? ends with a banger of a cliffhanger. You Belong With Me picks up right at that same moment and in fact, it is Elliott standing on Edie’s doorstep. By definition, a sequel to a romance pretty much guarantees a couple you love is going to go through it in a big way and in that, McFarlane definitely does not disappoint. All the reasons these two struggled in the first book are still present: Elliott’s star is on the rise; Edie does not want to give up her Nottingham life. But love, as they say, is worth the pain.

So, in a sense, this book is less a romance, and more a deeply romantic novel of two people grappling with being on opposite sides of the divide of fame. Elliot could not be more down-to-earth and lovely about the privileges of his superstardome, but Edie is naturally deeply insecure about their differential. What I love so much about them as a couple is that Elliott never feeds Edie’s insecurities unnecessarily. That’s not to say he’s perfect, but the conflict is driven by circumstance more than it is by two idiots in love. It’s clear,circumstance aside, these two are well suited for one another, which makes their struggles all the more affecting. Though I badly wanted the two to spend more time together, the separation makes the angst believable.

McFarlane fills her prose with her usual Irish patter, nigh unintelligible to this Yank, but so effortless and funny that it buoys the reader along even as the story takes a turn for the dramatic.

If I have any complaint, it’s that the ending felt a bit rushed, and the ultimate tensions of the relationship, not resolved to my satisfaction. A perhaps that’s just life you decide to make it go of it with the person you love, even if it’s not perfect, and especially if it’s hard and you take the challenges as they come.

In McFarlane‘s capable hands, a romance isn’t a fairytale, even when the hero is practically a fairytale prince sprung from the page. It’s just life, in all the best ways.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The beginning of this book was super confusing for me-I didn't realize it was part of a series and I haven't read the first book. But, that being said, once I caught on to what was going on, I really enjoyed this read. The controversy in the book seemed a little contrived, but the romance was top-notch.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This book started out slowly and I didn't really bond with the characters. I was hoping for more character development.

You Belong with Me by Mhairi McFarlane was my first book read by the author. This is a romance novel that feels real world while also hitting on serious topics. This book has hilarious and interactive banter that keeps you engaged through the whole book. The characters were well developed and over all you couldn’t ask for a better romance novel. Will continue to read from this author!

this book should have been better as a novella or bonus epilogue--the pacing & plot aren't working as a full novel.