Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

Trigger warning: sexual assault 

So this was a bit off to me through my whole reading. I thought that this was setting up to be a funny book about a woman Alice who has a career set-back who now has to live with her current boyfriend's ex. Instead the whole book is full of a lot of angst, the author throws in a me too movement plot point and Alice and Joe (her boyfriend) barely talk in this book. Honestly 90 percent of the issues in this book would have been resolved if they had an actual conversation. Also I am not a fan of cheating in romance books so I started to dread this book the entire time I read it. I am disappointed though that unlike with her latest books, this one has no ties into previous books or characters. I wonder if Ranald would have been better off developing a story surrounding one of the women we have been reading about through her other books like "The Truth About Gemma Gray", "Sorry Not Sorry", "It's Not You It's Him", and "No, We Can't be Friends."

Alice and her boyfriend of two years Joe are living together. When Alice has a career set-back and can't afford to pay her share of their rent, he asks about his ex Zoe living with them. Instead of saying [expletive] no, Alice agrees and the whole time wonders if Zoe is doings things in order to get back with Joe. Alice starts working at local pub and starts to wonder about what she really wants. Complicating things a bit is the next door brewery owner named Archie that she is starting to feel something for over their games of Scrabble. On top of all of that, Alice has a secret that she has kept from Joe that she worries about throughout the book. 

So Alice. I don't know. I liked parts of this character, but think Ranald didn't develop her very well. I liked the other leads in her books I mentioned earlier because those characters were always upfront with the readers via the way the story is told. Ranald doesn't tell us everything that is going on and then we get thrown a curveball that changes up the whole story. I didn't even know what to do with it since it felt like we couldn't get a handle on that before jumping off to Alice still being threatened by Zoe and stressing over Joe. I also wish that the Alice and Joe just talked. There is an opportunity for them to talk but neither do but just do passive aggressive mess to each other. I will say that Ranald does a good job of showing us why Alice loves Joe and they make sense as a couple. I just wish we got more time of the two of them on their own before the specter of Zoe.

Ah Zoe. Nope, didn't like her at all especially when we get the whole confrontation thing finally. I thought Ranald per usual let a character off the hook when they have shown to not be trustworthy. She did this mess with the character of Adam in "Sorry Not Sorry" and the character of Bianca from "Sorry Not Sorry" and "No, We Can't be Friends." Sometimes people are terrible and you cut them out of your lives. I really feel like shouting that from the rooftops.

We don't get much development of other characters. Ranald throws in a side plot about one of her pub regulars that I just went are you serious? It made zero sense to the overall story and think it should have been cut. 

The writing felt off to me a bit. I liked the other books which I think did tackle some serious stuff but with humor and romance. This one really didn't I thought. We had I think three love scenes with Alice and Joe and we kept reading about how hurried they were (in two of them) and how Alice misses Joe since they don't really make love anymore because of his hours at work and her hours at the pub. The me too subplot was jarring I think. The whole book took a dark turn at that point. I was definitely not prepared to read about a sexual assault and my insides flipped around. I also didn't like the resolution to it either. It felt like it was inserted, important for a bit, and then we get to see what became of said character and the book moved on.

The flow was up and down since we have parts of Alice hidden from us until the full reveal about everything. And honestly I got bored reading about her working at the pub and the things she was doing. I don't know. It read similar to me when Nora Roberts went on her whole decorating fit in her books and every book was focused on renovating, painting, decorating and us readers were like please stop. No one cares about crown molding this much. Not even people on HGTV.

The ending read as very incomplete to me. It just kind of plops out and I went is that it? So yeah, after loving the other books for the most part, this one is a strong 3 star read. 

Not bad. Just not a lot of romance really in this one. The plot was too all over the place too. Wish this had ties into her earlier books but think Ranald introduced new characters here. 

This was a light-hearted, funny romance with a sting. It was about relationships and how the past have a lasting influence on them, but above all it was about weddings and how they often get way out of hand and lead to bitterness and resentment.

Pippa and Nick have always said marriage isn’t for them, but when they go to a friend’s wedding they get very drunk and decide to get married. Pippa is a chef and can’t do the planning for the wedding because she’s really busy, so Nick takes over and even writes a blog about his experience called, A Groom With A View. Pippa wants the wedding to be a small, intimate affair, but soon enough it gets out of hand. The problem is she doesn’t really communicate this with Nick and instead gets more and more resentful. I know people get bothered about this plot maneuver, where if only the characters spoke to one another things would be resolved. I get why it’s annoying as I did feel this a bit. Anyway, Nick has some glaring faults, too, so it isn’t all Pippa’s fault. That’s what I really liked about this book, the characters were very real, although I must admit one made a surprising U-turn in her attitude at the end of the novel which was a bit unbelievable.

I’m not into weddings myself, so was skeptical about this book going in, but the focus wasn’t on weddings per-se, but instead how they can wreak havoc in relationships and garner much more attention than they deserve. That was my favourite aspect of the novel, the fact that it wasn’t just a fluffy romance, but imparted wisdom and caution. Weddings were almost critiqued, which I really liked.

Overall this isn’t a novel I’m going to especially remember in 6 months, but it was good for what it was and had much more substance than I initially thought it would.

I have read other books by Ranald and it was interesting to see her still in this same universe. This book focuses on Sloane who we met in "The Truth About Gemma Grey" and was referenced in "Sorry Not Sorry". If you read those two books you will already know about what this story will get into. In "Sorry Not Sorry" the lead character had an affair with a married man. In "No, We Can't be Friends" we follow that married man, Myles, and his wife Sloane. The story is told via Sloane's POV. I did like Sloane, but thought that a lot of her personal history should have been thought on more for also how she reacted to what was going on with her and Myles. I thought that the secondary character of Bianca got off way too lightly. And I thought that Ranald tried to wrap up the whole Myles thing too quickly too.

In "No, We Can't Be Friends" we follow Sloane who is happily married to her husband Myles. They start trying to have a family, but so far Sloane has not become pregnant. Sloane and Myles are also dealing with a huge house renovation. Sloane is starting to feel something is off with Myles. She starts to wonder if he's having an affair and thinks it could be with one of her frenemies, Bianca.

I have to say that I didn't really get Sloane's job in this one. I had a better understanding of her work in and outs in "The Truth About Gemma Grey." I did think that Ranald set things up well enough to show why Sloane fell for Myles and ended up following him to England later to live and work. I just wish that Sloane's past had been incorporated more smoothly. We get a lot of jump back and forths about Sloane's mother and why Sloane feels a certain way towards an aging movie star. 

The secondary characters needed more development. We get a last minute shot of this is why Bianca is not all that she seems that I didn't like because it doesn't explain why this character keeps doing terrible ass things. I also think we should have had more time with Myles and Sloane when they were happy. 

The book did make me think though. Without getting into it very much, Ranald shows a great case of gaslighting and I wish had spelled things out in those terms so that Sloane could have had a conversation with herself about that. 

The ending felt a little too rushed though. 

Please note that I received this book via NetGally for free. This did not affect my rating or review.

This was hands down one of my favorite reads this year. I already read "Sorry Not Sorry" and was fretting about what would come next for Tansy. Ranald does such a great job of showing Tansy during her school years, present day, and in select moments during her relationship with her ex Renzo. Ranald also does a good job of working in some sub-plots dealing with Tansy's family as well as her job and her mentoring an up and coming designer.

"It's Not You It's Him" is the follow up to Ranald's "Sorry Not Sorry". I would recommend you read that book first to get a lay of the land. As readers know Tansy was dumped by her boyfriend Renzo after she told him that she used to do webcam work. Feeling devastated and not really engaged with work anymore, Tansy starts focusing on ways to get Renzo back. Since Adam (her housemate who is still a loon by the way) is now working at Renzo's company she enlists him in telling her where Renzo is going to be in order to see if she can make him remember how good they were with each other. Of course things don't always go to plan. 

I thought Ranald did a great with developing Tansy. I rooted for her the whole way through this book. She feels trapped by what is going on with her family and her job. She loves Renzo, but when we follow her memories of him, you start to wonder about that. I thought it was great to see Tansy's developing friendship with Adam (still sucks though due to actions in book #1) and her work colleague Felicity. And I think it was great to see how her old boss's son (Josh) coming to stay with her and Adam for a few months ended up bringing up things she rather would have forgot about school. 

Ranald developed the secondary characters quite well too. I thought she did a great job with making Adam the butt of jokes (his obsession with next door's cat is a hot mess) and then him getting upset when Freezer fell in bro-love with Josh. I really did like Josh though wish we had more scenes to get to know him, but honestly I thought she did very well with him. Ranald even did a great job with showcasing Renzo too I thought. 

The writing was very good and at times funny and other times sad. No spoilers, but Ranald takes a look at the very different ways you can be abused in relationships. Not only verbally, but mentally and financially too. She does a great job with you being able to hear Tansy's "voice" the whole way through and you get to see her change over time with what she thought she wanted and what she actually does need.

The flow was really good and there was no awkwardness going back and forth between present day, Tansy's relationship with Renzo, and her doing her school days. 

The setting of the book takes place in London and we do get to get out of there a bit here and there when we have Tansy remarking on trips she made with Renzo or when she goes home to see her family.

The ending was so good and now I have a feeling the third book (if there is one) is going to follow Adam. Please let it be about Felicity or someone else.