You Had Me at Hello

By: Mhairi McFarlane

Narrated by: Julie Hesmondhalgh

What happens when the one that got away comes back? Find out in this sparkling comedy from #1 bestseller 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’.

‘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

©2012 Mhairi McFarlane (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

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.

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.

Loved the story, poor choice of narrator

I really like this author. Her stories are great, she’s so witty and sharp. This was such a sweet story. My only critique is the choice of narrator. I take no issue with her strong accent, that’s authentic and true to the character. Her delivery was fine to me. It was just a weird choice because she sounded like a much more mature woman considering the age of the character. It’s funny how much that can matter. I got over it and still enjoyed the story, but I continued to find it distracting throughout the whole experience. It was just a weird mismatch as if the character’s mom was playing acting as the character. Makes is far less believable.