The Best Thing That Never Happened to Me by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice

Description from Goodreads

Everyone remembers their first love.

Holly has learnt that life isn’t about seizing the moment. She might have harboured dreams about travelling the world as a teenager, but she let go of those – just as she let go of Alex.

But what if the feelings never really went away?

Alex wants to make every moment of his new job count. It’s a fresh start in a new city, and he knows that moving to London has nothing to do with Holly. Well, probably.
How do you know if it was meant to be. or never meant to happen at all?

A brilliantly funny, feel-good story of first love, second chances and everything inbetween, perfect for fans of romantic comedies like Love Actually, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones.

I gave this book four stars out of five

My thoughts:

This was a wonderful story about first love, written from the viewpoint of both of the protagonists, in alternating chapters. This made for an interesting perspective as the reader, since we could experience the inner most thoughts of each character, and knew what was going on in the mind of both, rather than being limited to the external actions and words of the other, as the characters were.

I really liked this narrative approach, although at times I did find the characters frustrating, knowing that things could be so different, if just one of them was able to show some courage and take a risk. They both had a fear of admitting their true feelings for one another. In spite of a dearth of evidence that the other liked them, they had that fear of ruining a friendship.

The writing was relaxed and funny, making it a very enjoyable read. It was well paced, in the present, with flashbacks to earlier days providing good back story that explained the characters thoughts and actions in the present. I was constantly wanting to know what happened next, and what new thing could get in the way. What would be the next misunderstanding or misconception that would crop up meaning that despite them each wanting to be with the other, they would assume the other didn’t want them.

The characters and plot were very believable as presented by the two authors. The dialogue was also very straightforward and down to earth. You could feel the rapport between Alex and Holly, something that wasn’t evident in their interactions with their current partners. It was interesting to see the type of relationships that both had pursued in the period they had been out of contact, and also their current partners.

I found it easy to like the protagonists and invest in them and their lives, willing them on. It was fascinating looking at how they had changed based upon their flawed belief of a situation years past, and also how when they reconnected how easily they fell into the old way of behaving and thinking around each other.

I really wanted this book to go on longer, which I often feel is an indication of a good story and/or characters. I wanted to know what happened next, even though the story didn’t feel incomplete in any way, or unfinished.

I would certainly recommend book this to anyone that is a fan of the romcom, and wants an easy to read story, filled with humour, and great, believable characters.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by Netgalley and the publisher.