The Best Thing That Never Happened To Me - Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice

The Best Thing That Never Happened To Me

By Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice

The Best Thing That Never Happened To Me by Jimmy Rice

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


'Everyone remembers their first love. 

Holly has learnt that life isn't about seizing the moment. She might have harboured dreams about travelling the world as a teenager, but she let go of those - just as she let go of Alex.

But what if the feelings never really went away? 

Alex wants to make every moment of his new job count. It's a fresh start in a new city, and he knows that moving to London has nothing to do with Holly. Well, probably.
How do you know if it was meant to be. or never meant to happen at all? 


A brilliantly funny, feel-good story of first love, second chances and everything inbetween, perfect for fans of romantic comedies like Love Actually, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones.'






Well, what can I say about this book?! First of all, I was unsure how it was going to work, written by two authors, they would need to know each other inside out and even know what the other is thinking. I was really looking forward to reading this and also seeing how well the authors could connect together to produce a good book. This is something I feel they have got down to a tea! They do know each other extremely well and it is clear from the story they are very good friends.

This story really appealed to me, growing up in the 90's I felt I could relate to the characters brilliantly. It bought back memories from my own life. For a start Romy and Michelle's High school reunion! OMG I can't believe this is actually in the book! I thought no one had seen it except me and I loved that I could connect to it so well! Little references to this period really made me smile and I felt my enjoyment of the book was enhanced because of this. Anyway I am rambling, lets get on about the book!

So the story follows two lives, Holly and Alex, both of these characters we get to follow in depth, we see them in the present day and in the past (my favourite part!) The way it is written jumping through time, you would think would be difficult to follow and hard to grasp, it is not. It allows you to remember and when you realise the connection or the significance of something that happened in the past you understand why the present is the way it is, or how it has enhanced the present.

Holly and Alex, have known each other for most of their lives growing up, however they lost contact 10 years ago, Holly heading to London, 10 years on and Alex has the chance to relocate to London for a job opportunity. He is a teacher and feels he has more to offer to the kids there than where he is presently. But is that the real reason he is going to London? It can't be about Holly now can it??

I loved how Holly and Alex met in London, after seeing each other after such a long time apart didn't make it awkward, they slipped back into the 90's reminiscing and rekindling their relationship as it always had been, or so they thought. But things have changed, they aren't the same people as they were 10 years ago.

When Holly meets up with Alex, he seems to have achieved all he was set out to do, Holly on the other hand feels she has got lost along the way and seeing how Alex's life has panned out gets her questioning her own, is she happy?

The book takes you on a range of emotions, it is very humorous at times but also there were sad moments. I hated Holly's boss, he was really mean to her and it took her a while to work it out. I really enjoyed reading about their relationship though and I felt it gave more emotion to the book.

This is a brilliant debut novel and shows how well the authors can connect together, it had me laughing, crying and becoming hopeful. I would love to read more from both of these authors. I do hope they continue to write together as I feel they have something special.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me the book in exchange for a honest review.

The Authors 

Laura and Jimmy became mates while studying journalism at Sheffield 

University, so sitting in pubs talking about life and love is something they’ve 

been doing for the last ten years. 

Their friendship survives because Laura makes tea exactly how Jimmy likes it 

(he once took a picture of his perfect brew on Laura’s phone so she can colour 

match it for strength) and because Jimmy noted Laura’s weakness for custard 

creams and stocks up accordingly.

Laura Tait is a writer for Shortlist and Stylist magazines and Jimmy Rice is a 

freelance journalist. They both live in London.

Giveaway

September over at Transworld has very kindly given me 3 copies to use for a giveaway. Make sure you enter to be in with a chance of winning a copy of this fab book! 

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Buy your copy now from thebookdepository.com