Chick Lit Review: You Had Me at Hello by Mhairi McFarlane

Title: You Had Me at Hello

Author: Mhairi McFarlane 

Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: February 25, 2014

Genre(s): Chick Lit (Contemporary)

Source: Edelweiss

Format: eARC

Pages: 436

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What happens when the one that got away comes back?

Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart.

It’s been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.

From the moment they met they’d been a gang of two; partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on. Ben is married. Rachel is definitely not. In fact, the men in her life make her want to take holy orders…

Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she’s never been able to mend.

I requested You Had Me at Hello on a whim off Edelweiss. It looked like such a cute chick lit and I've been craving a change of scenery from the usual YA books I read. I am glad to say that You Had Me at Hello managed to remind me of my love of chick lit books. It was fun, with a great storyline, a fantastic group of friends, and a very attractive (look and personality wise) love interest. I also really liked the writing style and how the story progressed.

This novel is for all the people that have "the one that got away". It is about Rachel and Ben, how they met back in university when they were 18 to 21 and also 10 years later when they're 31. The story is centered during Rachel's 30s but we get a blast from the past every couple of chapters and I LOVED those chapters. You don't really know much about both of them in the beginning, even when they actually 'coincidently' (on Rachel's part) bump into each other. Rachel has been with her boyfriend Rhys for 13 years while we find Ben is actually married 'cue crying sound'. This isn't a novel about infidelity so be at ease. I was worried some cheating would happen and I personally don't know how I would feel about Ben and Rachel if it did happen, but it didn't. 

I think Ben and Rachel's chapters during their university years were my favorite. I liked Rachel as well as her friends in their 30s but there is a ton of talk about journalism. Rachel is a journalist and I personally yawned a bit during the times when she was at work and discussing with her co-workers, etc. I think that would honestly be my only complaint for this book and the reason why I didn't give it higher than four stars. It is a book full of laughs (being british and all) and I love it when my chick lit books are set in england (Sophie Kinsella anyone?) so this one definitely brought back all the reasons why I love chick lit books and how different and sometimes even better, they are compared to YA books. I definitely recommend it to older teens who are fans of contemporary YA or chick lits.