Mad About You: A Novel

Wasn’t fully what I expected. It’s a romance but the romance is a small part of the book. The story itself was great. Loved the female characters a lot. I’ve never read a book written by a Scottish author and I had to infer a lot of meanings of phrasings but ultimately really loved it!

It’s been a minute since I’ve read one of Mhairi’s books and it’s always too long. I really have enjoyed all of her books. I’m not sure if that’s in spite of or because I end up having 80’s hits in my head every time I look at the cover.Harriet is dating the perfect guy named Jon. Who she’s just not that into. So when he proposes in front of his horrid family, she knows it’s time to leave. Especially after she’s told him repeatedly throughout their relationship that she doesn’t want to get married.As always, Mhairi highlights the importance of great girlfriends. Harriet’s BFF Lorna reminds me a lot of my best friend. She’s always got her back. Even after the drama with Harriet’s boyfriend before Jon.This novel is funny, but it also highlights the type of abuse we don’t always see. Emotional abuse and control can cause just as much damage as physical abuse and the effects can be longer lasting. This book is also a romcom, but while it’s there, it’s not the main focus except for the fact that healing is possible and moving on to something great can definitely be in the cards if you let it.

This book was good and like and unlike any other that I have read by Mhairi McFarlane. Her books are often more about the friendship than the love story and this is no exception. I just honestly loved the character development and the very real depiction of the how people can have so many dimensions. It is so true that people can have so many different personas for the people that are with and that even though you THINK you know someone’s story and you make your judgements, you often don’t know the whole story. Harriett was classy in a way that many characters aren’t. I liked how she was emotionally intelligent and able to see herself and her flaws objectively. It was a very easy read that I finished in one day. I highly recommend it!

I love Mhairi McFarlane, every one of their books are really great and I love that they have these heavy topics that the main character has to work through. The reason this book isn’t rated as highly was well the romance between the lead characters wasn’t developed enough in my opinion. Cal felt like a secondary character to me. I did pick up on the romantic tension points but they were few and far between and way too flimsy to build a relationship on with a commitment phone character like Hannah. That’s another thing, I couldn’t relate to the heroines seemingly concrete belief that she never wanted to marry or be tied down. It would be one thing if she didn’t like marriage on principle or had been married to her abusive ex but her phobia of marriage seemed as flimsy as her convictions. Despite all this griping mhairi yet again pulled no stops in the humor department, I found myself audibly gasping and laughing on several occasions. The novel was good but it won’t be one I revisit every rainy day.

Harriet Hatley is a wedding photographer who has a bad breakup with her boyfriend and must find a place to live. She ends up with Cal Clarke, the guy who jilted his fiancee at one of the weddings she was supposed to immortalize. It's an uneasy relationship, and as always in a McFarlane book, there are a lot of other characters to interfere and confuse issues.This is more women's fiction than a romance story, which is fine and accurate in most of this author's books. Everyone has their bad moments and some shining ones as we make our way through the story. It's not my favorite of her books, but it's still a good read.

I loved this book! It’s so well done. I laughed out loud! Great story, not your typical romance novel.

This was a beautiful book about friendship, self-development, grief and courage. Handled the serious matter of emotional abuse and the effects on victims while also being full of humor. I loved the side characters and wished I had a friend like Lorna.I wouldn’t categorize this book as a romance novel though, and feel like the description of the book gave me a wrong expectation about what I was going to read. The romance part was way more of a sub-plot that supported Harriet’s journey as well as exploring the significance of friendship in romantic relationships as well. Friendship is a lot more central to the primary plot so if you’re not searching for a romance-centric read, I definitely recommend!

I have quite literally lived a variation of this plot in real life. I cannot begin to explain how SEEN I felt to have emotional abuse beautifully and accurately depicted, along with the deep emotional conflict that comes with “how do I warn the next one”.IMHO, this plot line took center stage and Harriet’s love story acts as a great bonus. As a byproduct of finding her voice, validating her experience—and healing from it—she is able to find genuine love (now that she is ready to accept it)! A reward I hope all people who have to deal with their own “Scott”s are able to find.

Harriet, our wedding photographer heroine, finds herself in a relationship with a man who can only be described as a nice monster (from a family of well off truely horrendous individuals). Jon is an attractive man, with a very good job, from a family used to the better things, who knows Harriet doesn't love him but he uses a wide array of financially based incentives to keep her from realizing her lack of feelings for him while he tries to manipulate her into greater attachment to him. As insensitive and self serving as Jon is, he's nothing compared to Scott, the original monster in Harriet's life. Mhari has said she wanted to explore how we can continue to make bad choices for ourselves even after exposure to emotional trauma we DO learn from....just not enough.The thing about Mhari's books is that you laugh while you cry and cry while you laugh, and in this case cringe while you peak through your fingers while you power-read too late into the night. I'm freaking exhausted and writing a review after just finishing this sucker is maybe not the best idea; but Harriet, Lorna (a really great, articulate, hilarious, insightful BFF I want) Cal ( the eventual love interest), Nina ( emotionally abused girlfriend #1 of Scott's) and Marianne ( Scott's emotionally abused fiance) stick in your system so vividly putting off reviewing this book feels wrong. The way Scott gets his comeuppance is so perfect it's worth surviving the emotional turmoil Mhari puts you through.If you're already a fan, don't miss this one; if your not a Mhari addict yet, be prepared to need to buy all of her back catalog.

Interessante

The book starts slow but after a few xhaptwrs, I got hooked by the characters and the story that kept getting more and more rich.

Loved it. The characters had dept and the storyline was original. I really enjoyed this book like all of her other books and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a light read.

A book I didn't want to put down. The rollercoaster of emotions I felt while reading this book was what I was craving and this book delivered..just no word others than amazing