My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

The Man I Never Met by Elle Cook is an emotional will-they-or-won’t-they romance story. It’s a journey of hope from beginning to end.

My Overview

Hannah lives in London and is content living the single life. Davey lives in Texas, and hopes to do well in a job interview, for a position he wants in London. Their paths first crossed when Davey misdials the firm he is interviewing at in London, calling Hannah instead. They speak briefly and Hannah wishes him luck. Davey texts her later, to let her know he got the job. Soon, what started out as a misdial turns into texting, video calls, and plans to meet at the airport when Davey moves to London. Unfortunately, when Davey’s flight arrived in London, he wasn’t in it. Hannah was left standing at the airport, wondering what happened. This is a unique story in the sense that everything happens between two people in love, who’ve never met.

Hannah and Davey are likable characters and have great chemistry. But, then this story took me by surprise (not in the best way) 😏. Based on the cover and synopsis, I expected a much lighter storyline. In fact, the story started out fun and light … until the point where Davey doesn’t show up at the airport in London. Up until that point, I’d been enjoying the storyline and banter. Once the reason for Davey not arriving at the airport became known, the story took an unexpected and heartbreaking turn that dictated the rest of the story. From then on, the fun storyline and banter became replaced by an emotional roller coaster I hadn’t anticipated.

At that point, I considered not finishing the book. However, I stuck with it because although it wasn’t the direction I’d expected for Hannah and Davey, I should let the characters take me on their journey. Overall, I’m glad I didn’t quit the story. Told from dual perspectives (Hannah and Davey), the story unfolds into a span of nearly two years of their lives and many will-they-or-won’t-they moments.

My Recommendation

I listened to the audiobook, and recommend it. The dual narration added to the emotional and realistic situations the characters experienced. If you enjoy emotional will-they-or-won’t-they romance stories, you’ll likely enjoy this one. Don’t be fooled by the cover, though. This is a heartbreaking story.

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