It’s Not Me, It’s You by Mhairi McFarlane
Published by HarperCollins
(First published November 6, 2014)
Publish Date: May 19, 2015
Source: Publisher
Find It: Goodreads / Amazon
From Newcastle to London and back again, with dodgy jobs, eccentric bosses and annoyingly handsome journalists thrown in, Delia must find out where her old self went – and if she can ever get her back.
My Thoughts: I was expecting to love this book, I was. I usually do well with books that Hannah loves and she rated this one very high on Goodreads. What I wasn’t expecting was to begin laughing on the first page (love that!) and to completely, totally engaged from page one until the very end. This is a great beginning for me with Author Mhairi McFarlane’s books and I am so very happy about this development.
So Delia Moss has just proposed to her boyfriend of ten years, TEN YEARS, when she finds out that he’s been cheating on her. She’s devastated, naturally, so she packs up and moves from Newcastle to London for a change of scenery and start a whole new life for herself. Delia moves in with her dear friend and gets a job and BOOM! new life…complete with adventures and shenanigans and new people to boot.
SO, these new people – some are a little on the questionable side and some are positively wonderful. It’s hilarious reading Delia’s adventures as she tries to wade through which ones are the good guys vs. which ones are the bad guys, and what she does with this information because much of this adventure is related to a work-related series of scandals that Delia is tied to whether she wants to be or not. Delia also digs her heels in and starts a creative venture that she never really had the courage to begin when she really should have, fresh out of college. And she finds herself again after her heart has been crushed and broken.
Being in London is a big step for Delia. It changes her life and gives her great opportunities and reading about all of this IS A JOY, let me tell you.
This happens to me every now-and-then, I’m just telling you guys the truth.
Also, Delia gets herself into a few situations that had me shaking my head and chuckling for her. Her characterization is so great and entertaining. But underneath her ability to entertain me with her shenanigans, there is this girl that has been through a traumatic, humiliating break-up, and she just wants to start over. I found myself proud of Delia for picking up and just doing that. How scary would that be, to just go somewhere else, somewhere really large like London? And she did it, and she became bolder for it. So much respect to her.
Delia also showed a very real side and that is the wavering that comes along with that past love that is hard to get over. She believed that Paul was The One, so when he cheated it really mixed-up her life plan. When she moved to London, it wasn’t as if she snapped her fingers and ALRIGHTY! OVER HIM! No, Delia struggled with how to move on from her one true love, with how to begin dating again at her age, with that sort of thing. It didn’t really help her move on at all when Paul began wooing her very sweetly from afar with these great romantic gestures because he genuinely wanted her back. Which brings me to the romance…
Yes, there is a love triangle. Obviously, there is ex-boyfriend Paul, who still loves Delia and claims that his mistake was a one-time deal. Delia goes back-and-forth over whether or not to forgive-and-forget and believe him – he represents comfort and the life she planned and a future that is attainable and low-risk. But there is this one other friend of hers that stands out as a possibility to her and then, WHOA, he really is an option for the future! Delia suddenly has a choice where she previously found it hard to believe anyone at all would ever find her attractive again. Oh, it is hard to read Delia’s thoughts and interactions go back and forth between Paul and this other guy because I could tell she was struggling so much with her decision and I JUST DIDN’T KNOW who she would choose. I know where my heart was, OKAY? But I didn’t know until the very end where Delia’s heart would end up and I almost bit off my fingernails over it!
Swoons, though!
These side characters were great and the support that they gave Delia both as friends and in making the story fantastic drove me to keep reading and to pick the book back up and flip through it again. Is this the norm for this author’s books? Because sign me up. I’ve purchased another already because I want more. I love the setting, I love the secondary characters, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the main character Delia, and I really enjoyed giggling so much while I was reading. I’m excited about my first read from Mhairi McFarlane and love that I’ve found another book to recommend to folks!
I recommend It’s Not Me, It’s You by Mhairi McFarlane to readers that enjoy humorous, fun stories with a great heroine and also readers that enjoy books set in England.
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Great Setting(s): Newcastle & London
Thanks to the generosity of HarperCollins
and Author Mhairi McFarlane, I am able to offer one copy of
IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU to a lucky reader!
(US Only) * (Ends June 20)
About Asheley
Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.
You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.
Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!
I'm not heard of this book before, but it sounds like a good read!
Sounds cute! I really enjoyed her other books.
What a fabulous way to start out, with laughs on the first page!
Thanks for being a part of the tour.
Sounds like a great read. It's on my TBR list 🙂