You Had Me at Hello

By: Mhairi McFarlane

Narrated by: Julie Hesmondhalgh

Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

What happens when the one that got away comes back? Find out in this sparkling debut from Mhairi McFarlane.

"Think of the great duos of history. We're just like them."

"You mean like Kylie and Jason? Torvill and Dean? Sonny and Cher?"

"I think you’ve missed the point, Rachel."

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. They’d been partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on: Ben is married. Rachel is not. 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. Hilarious, heartbreaking and everything in between, you’ll be hooked from their first hello.

©2013 Mhairi McFarlane (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Very very witty and funny. Left me in awe…a total gem." (Marian Keyes)

"The funniest, most romantic book I've read since One Day." (Lisa Jewell)

"I loved this book. It made me laugh and reminded me that anything's possible in love - and in everything else for that matter." (Minnie Driver)

Horrible performance!

Narration was horrible! I could not understand what the narrator was saying most times. I continue to listen because I got drawn into the story.

I kept hoping and hoping

it took me a little time to get my ear accustomed to the accent. Once I did, I was enveloped in the story and surprised and anxious to learn about each character's twist in the storyline. definitely a recommend for us romantics!

Another endearing story by Mcfarlane!

This one delivers a realistic view of the complications of modern sexual freedom and the pursuit of a genuine connection only the mysterious chemistry called love can provide.

Narrator ruins it

Great book by one of my new fave authors - but yikes! The narrator! She sounds like Ringo Starr. Heavy accent probably won't faze the UK listeners but really hard to understand for me - and not helped by the fact that she speaks very rapidly, runs all the words together, and tends to mumble and fade out at the end of sentences. Even weirder, she not only doesn't bother to change voices with different characters, she actually goes up when voicing the character of Ben. Makes him sound like a little girl. Almost impossible to distinguish what characters she's voicing with little or no change - or an odd change like with Ben. The storyline is great, but this is one that might have been better to purchase and read!

Wonderful story, Slow down the speed & A+

I *love* this book. I own it as an ebook and was so hooked, I had to get the audio version, too.

The narration can be tricky for American-English listeners (like me!) because the narrator has a thick accent and reads fast. I was overwhelmed at first. Until I remembered you can slow the speed down. My sweet spot was 85%. It made the words much clearer--cheers! And the narrator is a GREAT reader. No weird issues (E.g., breaths, overly moist) and she reads with excellent inflection and character voices. (If slowing it down wasn't an option, I would have returned this one because at normal rate I just couldn't understand it.)

I can't recall the last time I read a book with such depth, warmth, and humanity that also had me laughing aloud (gasping for breath no less!). This is *such* a gem. I love the four friends (protagonist Rachel, Ivor, Mindy, and Caroline) at the center of the novel. I miss them already.

I highly recommend!

I enjoyed it, but it was not my favorite of her books

The story was good but the narration was so difficult to understand that I almost returned it.

Took a minute to get used to

I was hesitant on this one at first on the narrator but with a bit of time, I got used to her accent and ended up enjoying it in the end. Love the author and all of her books.

Good storytelling

Spoiler alert
As always, I do like how McFarlane writes. Her way of capturing the human character is unmatched. The narrator was great, catching the writers sardonic tone nicely. But as much as I admire this writer’s style and abilities, I did not care for how the grabby scene in the bar was handled, not during or after. I suspect I’m much older than her or her audience, but this was a molestation and deserved more than a knight in shining armor with a right hook. Disappointing really. As women, we let men get away with way too much and this is one example. It happened to me in middle school and I still regret not informing someone and remember it like it was yesterday. People cannot touch other people’s bodies. Usually her messaging is so much more astute, but I’m still bothered by this and how she wrote everyone’s reactions — in fact it took me out of the story.

Narrator ruins it

The narrator spoke as if she got paid extra to get out as many words in one breath as possible. And honestly the dialogue seemed more like pointless blathering, maybe it wouldn't have with a different narrator. I only got through a chapter or 2 because I didn't see a reason to subject myself to this any further

funny and light

Liked it! A good laugh. Narration was very good as well. if you are looking for something fun and light I recommend this book.