There’s a kind of unparalleled feeling to picking up a book by an author you love that you know you’re going to enjoy. It is pretty surprising and bad, and the book concludes in a hail of drama and confrontation: romantic, family, and adversarial. Mhairi McFarlane is one of those authors that for me, is so consistent in terms of quality and beauty of story.

I usually really like Mhairi McFarlane even though her books are of that genre where women find their inner power, a genre that normally I find hokey and annoying. After some efforts at journalism, she started writing novels and her first book, You Had Me At Hello, was an instant success. I went through all the emotions with this one; shed a tear, laughed-out-loud, scowled and did a happy dance. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself. Roisin and Joe join their friends for a weekend in the country for a triple celebration, part of which is in honour of Joe's latest television show - a crime piece that he has penned.He’s gone from a hairline like an old tennis ball to a thatch that looks like it’d come running if you shook a packet of Dreamies. They decide to celebrate both Rosie's birthday and their friends' engagement party by getting together with their longtime friendship group to watch the pilot together. As with her last book, the focus in Between Us, is very much on a failing relationship, and whilst there is a new romantic interest for Roisin, who I liked, this aspect was just covered far too fast to feel any real connection to, and as such just didn't come off as believable or as a relationship to feel invested in.

And as they watch the first episode of Joe’s drama, she realizes that the private things she told him—which should have stayed between them—are right there on the screen. From the first pages, it's not clear how long Roisin will tolerate Joe in her life, despite their decade together, since their relationship has been on a steady downward trajectory for quite a while. That starts her wondering what kind of man Joe is and if she can see herself moving on from their relationship. While I didn’t get what I wanted from Between Us, McFarlane’s writing is strong enough it didn’t ever occur to me to put the book down. It had all the heart and wit of McFarlane’s other works, and I really liked the story and characters.Some of the issues I had are definitely based on my particular likes and dislikes so I would still definitely recommend reading this one! I love her heroines, and I mostly loved Roisin even though she did things I didn’t always approve of or understand. In this book, you have to be patient for Roisin to get an idea of the kind of partner she deserves, after Joe uses her and her quiet investigations uncover his betrayal in so many more ways. So when I found Between Us on NetGalley, I immediately requested it and was really excited to read it. She particularly thinks her and Joe’s relationship would only contribute to this, so she’s been mostly ignoring the fact that he doesn’t seem to like her, or Matt, anymore.

I found MAD ABOUT YOU to be a louder book than usual from this author and while this wasn't on the same decibel scale, it still felt a little bigger. Some scenes really stayed with me days after reading it, including totally engaging scenes of Roisin handling disrespectful boys in her classroom. Roisin could imagine her selling you a five grand cucumber juice enema in a way that made it clear you were lucky she’d even speak to someone with a non-salad flavoured arse. When she watched the shows, she realizes he is uses scenes from her own life in the show and she gets so mad at him, she breaks up with him.At the start, I found myself bombarded with characters I didn't really like, with one exception, as the group of friends was introduced.

For Roisin, the decision isn’t that hard, but Joe has to rush off so they agree to table it until he gets back. A lot of the beginning is her considering whether or not it’s right to end things, given the new revelations.I was struggling to find time to read this one with my final college semester starting but after midterms this week I just read as much as I could. Regardless of where it lands in your rankings for that author, you enjoy the act of reading as much as you enjoy what you’re reading.