The premise of this sounded interesting - Laurel "Lo" has an opportunity to see if she made the right decision in her choice of romantic partner - but it just become repetitious and too technical. The first half of the book had me engaged, but the more I read, the more I found myself skimming the text. I wanted more of the romance aspect in this.

So far, I don’t think I’ve been disappointed in any of Jilly Gagnon’s books. Romance with a sense of humor is her forté. Also a little bit of self-reflection and change doesn’t hurt.

Laurel is a type A person. Her recent promotion to VP at her mega-company, Pixel, is evidence of that. Laurel also tends to overthink things. She’s been living with her beau, Ollie, for years now. He’s a musician. She pays the bills (mostly.) So when she foresees his popping the question, she panics.

When her ‘work husband’ offers to get her setup on the company’s super secret project, she jumps in. The project focuses on the possibilities of alternate worlds that we reside in. Laurel sees it as a way to maybe answer some of her questions. Especially the one about her work husband, Drew, as to whether she should have pursued a relationship with him instead of Ollie.

Only the program kinda goes haywire, and suddenly Laurel is finding her life split between two worlds. The one with Ollie or the other one with Drew. It’s a mess that she needs to find a way out of before things get totally out of hand.

Crazy premise. I learned so much about theoretical physics and alternate realities and even a touch of quantum computing thrown in. Laurel needs a good slap every so often, but she’s getting it from the world sliding. Fun book that can be read really quickly. Also, not so deep that you can’t drop it at a whim.

Definitely recommend.



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I truly wish I liked this book more than I did, but I just couldn't get past the subject matter. I love the author, just not this story. The main character drove me nuts, didn't care for her at all, you just can't live life with what ifs, and she wouldn't be happy with either great guy she ended up with. Not to mention, I'm not a quantum physics person, so the sci-fi aspect of the story didn't interest me at all.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book.

Laurel Everett has been with her boyfriend Owen for five years, and she finds herself with a dilemma. She was putting away the laundry when she found a ring in his drawer. She knew he wanted to get married at some point, but now? She’s not ready. Or maybe she just doesn’t want to get married at all. At any rate, she’s thrown. So when they go out to dinner for their anniversary, she picks a fight with Owen so he won’t bring out the ring. She feels bad about that, but she throws herself into her job to try to put it out of her head.

At Pixel, a tech giant, Laurel works in marketing. But her work bestie, Drew, is working on a top secret project with the quantum computer. When Laurel goes to his office to check it out, she finds out that it’s an AI program that offers up alternatives to the users. Drew asks Laurel to set up a profile, because the more profiles the AI has to draw on, the more information it has to draw from.

So Laurel sets up a profile based on one moment in her past where she came up against a crossroads. The program can then take the user through what may have happened in the other timeline. So Laurel chooses as her defining moment the time shortly after she started working at Pixel when Drew had asked her out. But something goes wrong, and the computer won’t let her finish setting up her profile. Drew isn’t sure exactly why it wouldn’t work, but Laurel is fine and heads home to Owen.

The next morning when she wakes up, everything has changed. Laurel is in a different apartment, with a different haircut, and she’s lying in bed next to Drew. Drew has changed also. He’s more confident and better dressed, changing out his t-shirts and hoodies for classier choices. Laurel is thrown for a loop, but she realizes she’s no longer working at Pixel in this timeline. She’s a writer, working on the romance novels she’s always dreamed of writing. But it’s not all fun and games in this timeline, especially as Drew keeps getting called into work. Apparently the quantum computer is not running the AI program the way it’s supposed to.

Over the next several days, Laurel finds herself getting tossed from one timeline to the other. The more she bounces back and forth, the more perspective she gets on what’s going on. The timeline with Drew looks perfect on the surface, but that Drew is controlling and Laurel misses the fun she had with Owen. The timeline with Owen is colorful and artistic, but she has to keep her job in order to pay for their lifestyle. But in both timelines, the computer program is glitching.

Drew and his team are trying in both timelines to fix it (not that they know about the dual timelines), but nothing seems to be working. As a last resort, they’re talking about shutting down the program completely. But if they do that, where will Laurel end up? Since she’s the only one who knows what’s going on with the computer, she feels like it’s up to her to find the solution, so that she can end up in the timeline she wants, or any timeline at all.

What If It’s You? is a clever dual-timeline rom com that asks what would happen if you could go back in time and make a different choice. While it starts out looking at the main choice of which person you want to have in your life, it goes deeper to ask about the other choices that round out our lives. As Laurel tries to figure out how to get home, going so far as to talk to an MIT professor for help with quantum computing, it was fascinating to see her wake up to her life after rolling along on autopilot for a while. This book has a lot of sweet moments, and I loved every page.

Egalleys for What If It’s You? were provided by Dell through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.

What If It’s You? by Jilly Gagnon is such a fun twist on your classic rom-com. It follows Laurel, who’s freaking out after finding a ring in her boyfriend’s drawer—and not in a good way. Then, thanks to a tech project at work, she gets a glimpse into an alternate version of her life where she made a totally different choice.

It’s got just the right mix of romance, humor, and a little bit of sci-fi. I loved how it made me think about the small decisions that can totally change everything. If you’re into love stories with a unique twist, this one’s worth checking out!

I thought this was a very interesting premise and couldn’t wait to jump into this book! I was invested in Laurel’s journey and was anxiously anticipating the end of her story. The technical jargon got a bit confusing at times, but overall this was a very enjoyable read!

Big fan of science fiction meets rom com world! I liked this, I feel like everyone has wondered "What if"? when it comes to passed relationships and fears of commitment. I liked that this character was able to see via an alternate world what her life could have been like if she had made another choice. It might at times have been too much science for me to follow and not enough romance, which might have made the characters not as developed as I would normally have loved. All in all a solid 3.5 stars!. Thank you Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and Netgalley for this ARC.

As a chronic blurb non-reader, this book really threw me for a loop. The quantum physics element of this book gave it a scifi element akin to a Black Mirror episode. Anything similar to AltR needs to stay far away from me! I liked this new spin on a romance book. The romance was definitely integral to the plot, but there was also such heavy personal development with Laurel. For a good chunk of the book, I almost hoped Laurel would end up with no one! That never happens to me. It was a messy tangle of self-reflection that I definitely recommend reading.

DNF: 57%

I know, I made it more than halfway through before stopping. Why didn't I just finish it?

It was at this point, and not a moment sooner, that Laurel thought she should talk to Ollie more seriously about her reservations regarding marriage and kids. We make it to <b>57%</b> before she considers that option.

Like I found with <i>Love You, Mean It</i>, the synopsis is interesting but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

Laurel is not a very likable character. I don't need every character to be likable, but I do need to care about them. Laurel is privileged and self-centered and boring. Since this is told exclusively from Laurel's PoV, it's a lot of waffly monologues mixed with too much description. If she would just talk to Ollie and get a lot of therapy, we wouldn't need this story.

The pacing is better here but it doesn't make up for all the other areas where it's lacking. I liked the science-y bits and didn't think they were too hard to follow. They were the single bright spot in all this.

It could be good with work. There are some great themes to explore. The pacing is solid. The AltR premise is very interesting. But as it stands now, I don't care to see how this story ends.

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, Dell, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and read it in one day. I loved the characters and the storyline. I thought the characters had great growth. I would definitely recommend this book.

I loved the concept of this book, the multiverse is always a theme I enjoy. I was iffy at first because I’m not the biggest fan of seconds thoughts and what ifs especially when it comes to romance but you know, that’s life, it’s realistic. Granted in the end I was very satisfied but overall it was a fun read.

I love science mixed with romance, so this was right up my alley. Unlike some other reviewers, I enjoyed the concept of the alternate reality via quantum computer as it was a little Black Mirror-esque. Like other reviewers, though, I also did not like Laurel.
Sometimes we just need something shocking to see what is in front of us, but Laurel seemed ungrateful for her life and failed to consider how she impacted other people. It was a cute story in the end and I did love how it all panned out, but other stories have played out the what-if? timelines in better ways with more likable characters. I still had fun, I just wished Laurel was a tad more relatable.

I wanted to love this book because I enjoyed Jilly's last release, however, I had a hard time getting into this one. I love the writing style from this author, but this one just wasn't for me. While I didn't enjoy this book as much as I expected, I would still suggest this author, maybe even the book itself, as I feel it was just not a theme that caught my attention.

What If It’s You starts with the fundamental idea that all adults question their choices and what they see on their future road ahead. When Laurel finds out that her boyfriend is planning to propose to her, she triggers a time jump. I’m not gonna get into the whole physics of it. I’m a big believer in suspension of disbelief while reading. Although I do like a time jump rope. Needless to say Laurel get a chance to see what her other potential future might be and hijinks ensue. No spoiler on who Laurel chooses, but I really enjoyed this book!

Thank you #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Laurel has been with Olllie for a while now, and when she discovers a ring in his underwear drawer, she freaks out and starts to wonder if they are meant to be. Drew is the genius coworker who has held a candle for her for years. His new project, alternate reality or AltR, gives Laurel the ability to see what her life with Drew would be like five years down the road...however, there are glitches, and she must come to terms with what happiness and real life really are.

I love a romantic time jump story, but when Quantum Physics is introduced, my eyes start to cross. Don't get me wrong, I love sci-fi story lines, but the explanations were too much for me in this trope. While Laurel may be a typical "can't decide on which guy" type of girl, she was not very well rounded as a character and was found to be hard to like. Getting lost in the code of the alternate reality was a bit much over the top. Now that AI is on the rise, I can see a lot more storylines following the "what ifs" that could happen, but give me a Sliding Doors or the Time Traveler's Wife any day over confusing ideas and whiny main characters.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

First and foremost, thank you to the publisher and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved this story and it was definitely worth the read!

I love this idea of someone having doubts about what is the right choice for them and then having access to truly seeing what another outcome might be. I think this is a unique book, utilizing technology that, who knows, one day might become a reality. I enjoyed Laurel’s character and her having the chance to really walk through what it meant to be with Ollie and what their relationship really is. So many people have cold feet and doubts, and I think this was a unique way of having a character work through those issues.
Thank you to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

The concept of this book was interesting, I'm always drawn to stories of magical realism. Some readers crave explanations while I'm happy to just go along with the story. This book delves into the how's and why's that went right over my head. I like that it wasn't just a love story, but more self reflective. However, her relationship with her mother is mentioned frequently and would've expected her directly confronting that relationship. Perhaps I missed a critical detail in the beginning. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the "extra" scene in the epilogue.

A topical multiverse romance that might be a bit too heavy on physics and AI for some. Laurel has just found a ring she thinks Ollie will use to propose to her but she's also woken up next to Drew. Yikes. But, these scenarios are separated by time and space (the aforementioned multiverse) that sees Laurel rethink her life and choices, and not just the ones about men. It's hard to explain but easy to like even if you, like me, skip reading the technical parts and focus only on the people. No spoilers on who Laurel chooses. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Won't for for everyone but it's a good read.

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Don’t be fooled by the cover, this is as much sci-fi as it is romance. I’ve never really gone into the sci-fi world, but this one was interesting!

The book begins with Laurel finding a ring in her boyfriend’s drawer and she starts to panic about being engaged. It leads her to all these “what if” questions. She works at a tech company, and there she has a good friend Drew that she’s always wondered what if she said yes to their date. It turns out she can get the answer because they have a prototype of a quantum machine that can lead to alternate universes. What unfolds next is Laurel seeing alternative timelines.

It was a very interesting premise. I do wish the book would have focused more on the romance than the physics. The technical jargon about quantum physics made it sometimes difficult to follow. I had to reread some of those parts to understand. Overall, interesting concept that surprised me. I also truly loved the epilogue, different than what I normally see.

If you want a more sci-fi type of romance or just love science- give this one a try!