Mad About You

CW: emotional abuse, gaslighting, negging3.5 stars. Once again, Mhairi McFarlane's latest novel is being mistakenly marketed by her publisher as a light-hearted enemies-to-lovers romance, rather than what it really is: a frequently angsty story about personal growth and recovery. The love story is just the icing on the cupcake. I didn't find Mad About You as engaging as McFarlane's 2021 release [b:Just Last Night 54870201 Just Last Night Mhairi McFarlane https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1606106948l/54870201.SY75.jpg 78642686], but she remains one of my few auto-read authors.Harriet is a successful wedding photographer whose most recent gig was abruptly curtailed when the groom called it off just as the bride was arriving at the church. Despite her profession, Harriet isn't a big fan of marriage, so her boyfriend Jon's very public proposal has the unintended result of Harriet breaking up with him. Wanting to move on as quickly as possible, Harriet accepts new lodgings, sight unseen. Her new home turns out to be lovely, but its owner is none other than the runaway groom who broke his fiancé's heart. Harriet is horrified to learn that she is living with such a heartless cad, but Cal Clarke seems to be a nice, funny and handsome guy. He even helps Harriet rid herself of the exasperating Jon. But then she encounters another former boyfriend, and is far more traumatized by the memories of that toxic relationship. Can Harriet finally heal from the wounds that Scott inflicted, and is there a way to stop the same thing from happening again to another woman? The novel's primary theme is the danger of judging others too quickly. Initially, Harriet thought Scott was the perfect boyfriend, but he turned out to be a nightmare. Cal did the unforgivable by jilting his bride on their wedding day, but once Harriet learns the full story she realizes there were justifiable reasons for his behavior. A lot of the fallout from Harriet's vendetta against Scott happens on social media, where people make scathing statements without knowing anything about the facts. Harriet gets help from her two BFFs and two new friends she meets in a surprising way. The “sisterhood is powerful” theme pretty much overshadows the romance, which feels a bit like an afterthought. It mostly consists of Cal being supportive of Harriet while she gradually stops jumping to the worst conclusions about him, followed by an 11th hour shag and a Medium Sized Misunderstanding that is quickly cleared up.Although the book has a serious tone, McFarlane never fails to throw in a few zingers, such as this description of the best man at the doomed wedding: The best man looked at her with an expression of taut desperation. He was coated in a pastry glaze of sweat, like he'd been brushed with an egg wash and would form a solid crust at 180 degrees...he looked as if he were having an anesthesia-free foot amputation aboard a haunted boat in a storm.. ARC gratefully received from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, I'm kind of sorry I read this in June, because if McFarlane continues to release books on the same timetable I won't be treated to a new one for more than a year. And that's a long time to wait for new material from an author whose layered work evinces so many different feelings.