"It's perfect because it's a fantasy and it's a fantasy because it's perfect."
When I told you yesterday that I couldn't stop thinking about Ben and Rachel in You Had Me at Hello by Mhairi McFarlane, I was, in fact, not kidding. I made a beeline for the novella, After Hello, and wholeheartedly believe that it would be a short sequel to satisfy my thirst.
Disclaimer: Please stop reading if you haven't read the first book yet, and read my review here instead.
"Part of being grown up is realising that "I don't want to" is a good enough reason."
Rachel and Ben have been together together for two years now. Happily living in an incredible apartment in the city, they adopt two cute cats: Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. While Rachel is busy preparing Mindy's hen do before the wedding takes place, she finds out that Ben is quite opposed to marriages... or at least for now. Soon enough, more misunderstandings follow. They have to trust each other and hold on to their happily ever after more than ever.
I genuinely thought that this novella was cute and had all the potential to live up to my expectations. Albeit it was published five years after its forerunner, the two books felt like they belonged to each other. All the characters were still the same as if nothing had changed. Ivor and Mindy's wedding turned out to be something I hadn't realized I needed to see.
Sadly, I ended up wishing for a different thing. Please skip this part if you haven't read the book yet, but no matter how much I believed in Ben's innocence and devotion to Rachel, I still considered what he did quite unacceptable. While Rachel's outburst was a little improper (it was bitchy of her to bring up Olivia like that that I internally screamed, "No, Rachel, no!"), her sudden insecurity was understandable. I wish Ben was more "I'm sorry you feel that way but trust me there is nothing to worry about" and less "I don't know why you act like that nothing is going on".
In the end, it was still a cute read. It's just that I had hoped for more from our two main characters that it caused me to deem their behavior here unnecessary and rather disappointing.
Actual rating: 3★
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