Just Last Night,

by Mhairi McFarlane

Publication: William Morrow and Custom House; May 4, 2021

About:

Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have been friends since they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, the four are as close as ever, Thursday night bar trivia is sacred, and Eve is still secretly in love with Ed. Maybe she should have moved on by now, but she can’t stop thinking about what could have been. And she knows Ed still thinks about it, too.

But then, in an instant, their lives are changed forever.

In the aftermath, Eve’s world is upended. As stunning secrets are revealed, she begins to wonder if she really knew her friends as well as she thought. And when someone from the past comes back into her life, Eve’s future veers in a surprising new direction…

They say every love story starts with a single moment. What if it was just last night?

My Review

Oh my goodness I am so excited to bring you my review of Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane! This is hands down one of my top 5 books of 2021! Besides the blurb, I had no idea where this story was going, but it ended up being the most amazing story of friendship and love found in the most unlikely of places. There is a foursome of best friends – Ed, Justin, Eve, and Susie – all of which have been friends for about 18 years. Eve and Ed briefly expressed undying love for one another but as a whole, they are just friends. After a quiz night at the local pup, tragedy strikes this group. A person who initially seems an enemy worms their way into Eve’s heart. Secrets are revealed, feelings are hurt, and relationships are broken. However, in the end, one thing truly remains and that is neverending friendship.

This book tackles so many things: death, grief, love, secrets, wrong first impressions, and so on. Without saying too much, I will say that after an epic night of pub trivia and drinking, one of the friends is suddenly killed and kudos to the author, it was not who I thought. Anyway, what happens next is a lot of grieving, unanswered questions, and discoveries that the person should have made on their own while still alive.

Let me get my criticism out of the way first… I struggled getting into this book. When my Kindle said 23%, I was still deciding whether or not to stick with it or mark this one off as a DNF. Do not give up! I would have missed out on such an amazing love story (both friendly and romantic) if I had given up! The author does a lot of characterization and back story at the beginning which feels tedious at times, but it was all worth it. There are numerous subplots that keep the story interesting and although I normally hate them, I enjoyed the somewhat ambiguous ending about Eve’s love life at the end. You are left hoping for the best but not quite certain what her future holds.

This book is easy to connect with in that, imagine your 3 best friends and suddenly one is taken away way too early in life. Everything is in upheaval and no one knows the right way to feel and behave. I easily pictured my most loved inner circle and found myself wondering several times if I would have felt the same way or done the same things. This book calls on your every emotion and though very bleak at times, leaves you feeling optimistic. This is a new to me author but one I will happily bing her every book going forward.