this is the first book I've read by mhairi mcfarlane, and I really enjoyed it! connor and bel were amazing together, and I loved the whole concept of them being journalists and working together. I do wish we had gotten to see more of them in a relationship, though! I also really loved connor's sweet personality. I'm usually not the biggest fan of books written in third person, but I really didn't even notice it with this one!

Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane was def on my TBR.

The book was ok. I wasn't blown away! It was entertaining but I just couldn't connect the characters and couldn't find the chemistry between them. It could have been because my expectations were too high going in but I did enjoy the read i just wanted more connection and chemistry.

Thanks to Netgalley for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.25  out of 5. This was a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand it does have a sweet romance with some great characters, that are complex and funny. Connor is amazing. On the other hand you have a bonkers premise and an absurd setting. I laughed but it does take the fake dating/working i don't even know how to categorize this trope a bit to the crazy side. The writing is stellar though.

I’m not sure why but u really didn’t click with the characters in this one. I tried so hard to like it but I don’t know why I just didn’t connect.

Once again, Mhairi McFarlane delivers, This book had me laughing out loud while also being so genuine. My only complaint was that there wasn’t enough time with Bel and Connor as a couple or romantically involved.

I love reading McFarlanes books and feeling that British Rom vibe. I really enjoy how she gives us a feel for the place and the setting. I like her quirky characters and how the romance and the story are both prevalent. This one took me some time to sink into and I fought with it for a while. It's not my favorite of hers but I will keep coming back for more.

If there’s one thing about me…it’s that I’m gonna read a Mhairi McFarlane book. And I’m gonna love it.

COVER STORY is the story of podcaster journalist Bel who has to inadvertently team up with the new intern Connor (who she can’t stand) to uncover a salacious political scandal for their newspaper. Their fake dating turns into real feelings in the slowest of slow burns that is smart and funny and swoony.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story — classic romance tropes plus a little bit of intrigue in a dual POV — and love getting to dive into a new book from Mhairi. The only, very minor complaint I have is that the slow burns is reallllly slow-burning. We don’t get any real action between the two main characters until about 90% of the way through the book. Now I LOVE a slow burn, but the book is over before we really get too much of the romance between the two. If the book could’ve had an extra epilogue to give us a slice of life of the HEA, it would have been even more satisfying. When the romance hit, it hit! I just wanted MORE.

But overall, adored this book and can’t wait to get a physical copy. Will read anything from this author!

Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. COVER STORY is out 10/7 in the US.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Avon for this arc!!
Wow! This was SOMETHING ELSE I tell you. Consider the bar raised. This is my first Mhairi McFarlane book and it certainly won't be my last!! First of all: these characters? Wonderful. Hilarious. Charming--you name it. I'm obsessed with Connor and I just adore Bel. Second: this plot?? So great. The investigative-going under cover was such a fun plot-line This book was the slowest slow burn to ever slow burn. And I'm still not sure if I loved or hated that. But nonetheless, the journey getting there was magnificent. MAGNIFICENT. The thoughtfulness and intent behind McFarlane's prose is so beautiful. As a writer myself, I'm just in awe at what a brilliant masterpiece this is. 10/10 would recommend!! This is officially added to my list of favorite reads of 2025!

This author is a 'must-read' one for me, and I enjoyed this latest novel with some of my favorite tropes, like the opposites attract, antagonists to lovers vibe of main characters Bel and Connor, two journalists who quickly misjudge each other but eventually discover their mistake and form a friendship. Following a tip from a local man, they are drawn into a scheme to uncover evidence that a popular political figure is actually a serial abuser of young women. They are united in their determination to expose the truth in the paper they both work for, and end up 'fake dating' each other as they infiltrate the man's social circle. Both main characters, and their relationship, which gradually deepens into love (the real thing), develop believably, and the storyline has tension and suspense as they race to gather evidence before their true identities can be exposed. The pacing is great; the novel is immediately engaging, and McFarlane's trademark dry wit adds humor to the love story and the suspense. As always with her novels, this contemporary rom com is just a lot of fun to read!

A charming read! Took me a long time to get into it, but once it captured me i was all in. Loved the mystery and romance elements, as well as the enemies to lovers. Banter was top tier!

Mhairi McFarlane has a style of writing that really allows you to understand and connect with her characters. She writes great banter and character interactions that feel so real. Her stories include deep topics but with such a funny and at times, laugh-out-loud, way of writing.

This one particularly captured miscommunication in a way that was realistic for newly-realized romantic feelings. While this may be annoying for some, I think the realness of it is what makes it so interesting, and I enjoyed navigating this from both Bel and Connor's perspectives.

I also really enjoyed the journalism aspect and Bel and Connor's top secret mission. This plot line was just fun to follow, and I was engaged with the book from the very first page.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the early copy in exchange for a review!

I really liked the way that we got an insight to investigative reporting in this book, and what it takes. I did see some of the twists coming, but it doesn't matter, because this book was super entertaining. I loved the character growth!

I'm surprised it took me so long to pinpoint exactly what it is I love so much about Mhairi McFarlane books (besides her more Softboi™-coded male leads) but with Cover Story, it finally clicked. McFarlane has a talent for breathing life into her main leads, characters who are detailed with such thoughtfulness that they make the world around them vividly real. It's hard not to be seated for the journey - whatever the journey may be - for characters whose interior lives you've been so lovingly enveloped in.

Perhaps the revelation came to mind due to the plot necessitating a distinction between the characters' real personalities vs their fake ones. Successfully establishing a character's core traits and conveying deviations from those traits really lends itself to appreciation for the character feeling fully fleshed as a living, breathing human. Romance novels often dabble in unrealistic scenarios, but when the characters feel grounded, the improbable situations or over-the-top reactions still feel organic. Do I think everything that happened in Cover Story could believably happen in real life? Nope. Do I think these characters responded to their environment in a believable way? Absolutely.

In the end, I don't think Cover Story was a perfect book, but I was invested in the characters to the point where it didn't matter. If I had to list the book's faults though, it would boil down to the below:
1. The book ended too soon, and I wish we had more time with the couple in an authentic relationship. In general, I'd prefer for a book to not end so soon into a couple's relationship, but the main reason I feel I was left wanting was actually
2. Too much miscommunication and lack of communication between the couple throughout the book.

To the author's credit, bad communication is one of my biggest pet peeves, so it speaks to how well McFarlane portrayed Bel and Connor that I didn't get overly frustrated with them. What probably kept me from tearing out my hair was seeing both characters show desire to break through to the truth. Bel and Connor did also end up promising to be more honest with each other as well, so that also helped.

More important to note is the fact that the characters' communication issues did not extend to the actual writing - the reader was privy to the couple's thoughts and feelings, even when they themselves were not. At the point where a kiss was suggested, I actually had to put my book down until I'd removed myself from surrounding distractions so that I'd be able to fully bask in the reality of the situation.

Ultimately, Cover Story's goal was to take the reporter's approach of "the search for truth" to the concept of people's authentic selves vs the masks they put on. My conclusion is that the mask does not simply obscure a person's identity - a cover story also reveals truths of its own, unearthing parts of the self that have been unknowingly buried within the story. If you pour yourself into a character enough, there is life to be discovered there. And if I'm lucky, it's a life that will cause me to kick my feet in glee when I read about it.

Side note: I very much appreciated seeing Connor's POV in this book, because I love seeing a man pine over a woman.

My thanks to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for granting my request to read this e-ARC and provide my honest opinions.

Bel can’t stand Connor… so of course she bumps into him while working undercover on the biggest scoop of her career. And of course, she has to improvise — pretending they’re a couple.

The undercover storyline was my favorite part — I enjoyed it, though the mystery/intrigue could’ve been sharper. This was pitched as enemies-to-lovers, but honestly, Bel and Connor didn’t feel like enemies at all.

The romance had chemistry, yes, but it felt underdeveloped. I came for the romance, but I ended up staying for the undercover plot. What really stood out was how the book wove in mental health: the MMC quitting a high-paying job to intern for his well-being, plus his depression and medication being handled naturally in the story. That deserves recognition.

Overall, not the strongest romance, but a solid undercover plot with meaningful mental health representation.

Thank you once again for the e-ARC.

Okay this was seriously cute! 4.5 ⭐️! An investigative journalism storyline, a stalker ex, funny banter, and a slooooow burn - this one has it all! Definitely my favorite Mhairi McFarlane book yet.

Bel is chasing a huge lead undercover, when the new and totally standoffish 30 something intern from her office stumbles upon her in the act. Thinking quickly, she introduces him as her boyfriend and he is roped into the investigation. If they can’t convince everyone they are in love, their cover will be blown for sure but I think we all know what happens when you fake date someone 😉

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC! Bel and Connor are new to the local paper, each trying to find their place at the office and stay as far away as possible from each other. When they run into each other while Bel is undercover, fake dating is the only solution to keep her identity safe. This dragged on for a good portion of the book for me but I did learn about investigative journalism.

Mhairi McFarlane is the absolute QUEEN of the slow burn! I don’t think there’s another author out there who can keep me on the hook, completely invested, and totally captivated when the couple doesn’t even KISS much less ADMIT FEELINGS until the last 5% of the book. But please, do not let that deter you from reading because the slow burn is so worth it and the journey she takes you on is anything but boring! The writing is so funny, sharp, smart, and witty and every time I get to the end of one of her books I’m actually squealing and kicking my feet. I loved Bel and Connor and could not get enough of their banter, the rivalry, and their little under cover mission. It was so fun and I feel like I know them in real life. As with all the McFarlane novels I’ve read, she manages to take totally common and overdone tropes (in this case fake dating and only one bed) and make them completely unique and relatable. I will devour anything she writes!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is the 5th Mhairi McFarlane book that I've read and as with the others, I have two primary thoughts:

1) I cannot listen to McFarlane books; they must be read. The language difference between UK English and American English is too big for my little brain, and reading her books takes time to process what is being said.
2) They are always worth every second spent reading them. This one took me over a month to read (I listened to a lot of audiobooks in the meantime), but I would re-read it again in a heartbeat.

Mhairi McFarlane writes some real gems. If you want to read something romantic with wit so biting it hurts, pick up a McFarlane book. As mentioned, I have to read her books slowly to comprehend the meaning, but it never feels like a slog. You know how sometimes you read a book that's just ok and you sort of skim parts? But then sometimes you read a book thats so good that you hang on every word, savoring it? McFarlane books are the second kind.

This is probably my favorite work of hers **that I've read- she has quite a library** so far. The delightful relationship that develops between Connor and Bel as they work on sleuthing out a scandal together is the perfect slow-burn. While Connor is a finance-bro on the surface, you learn a lot about his depths through his relationships with his brother Shaun and girlfriend Jen. Bel is the manic pixie dreamgirl who you wish you were friends with, but is not without some baggage, including a stalker. Throw in the suspense of not only fake-dating but also fake-personas in order to get the scoop on a local politician who uses and blackmails women, this book left me wanting to return to it even when I was so tired that I fell asleep after a few pages. I woke up many mornings with my phone screen still lit up on the last page I had read- always mid-chapter. However, the thought of putting it in my DNF pile never occurred to me... I had to know the outcome!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyage and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc.

isten, I have read Mhairi McFarlane's back catalog and there are no duds. She writes solid slow burn British characters that are female centric and always evoke a reverence for the hero's journey our FMC endeavors.

Cover Story is a bit different. The wit, humor and lol juxtapositions are present, but this reader feels like we see character growth and development in BOTH the MMC and FMC. And, I loved it.

It is a slow burn, no spice, but BEAUTIFUL character and plot development and slowly ebbs and flows over 400+ pages. If you need a book to be plot driven and propulsive, this is not your author. If you enjoy meandering with new friends and discovering more about them, McFarlane is for you.

Bel is a journalist working undercover when 30 something Conner (an intern retraining after burning out in finance) discovers her. Bel has to bring Connor into her sting operation and calamity ensues. The book tackles mismatched family expectations, suicide, burnout, infidelity, gaslighting and sexual assault. But, it delivers it in a way that is both respectful and open. The two main characters beautifully develop independently and together.

This is a wonderful example of a romance with traumatic elements that is done well without voyerism or exploitation of emotions.

Cover Story releases Oct 7, 2025!

4.25 stars. I am a Mhairi McFarlane fan and this is a very Mhairi McFarlane book — Women’s Fiction, solid romance subplot, terrible exes, fighting the patriarchy, etc. I loved Bel, I loved Connor. Their undercover shenanigans were highly enjoyable and the story had a great payoff. The ending was very cute and sweet. I wanted a little more time with the characters to see how everything worked out, so this is very much a HFN vs. a HEA. Overall, a worthwhile read.

Thanks so much to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!!