REVIEW: Who’s That Girl? by Mhairi McFarlane

In Who’s That Girl? by Mhairi McFarlane, Years ago, when Edie Thompson moved to London, she had dreams of working her way up the ranks in her career in advertising and enjoying laughed-filled nights out with good friends. She never expected to be the cause of a public scandal. Especially not one that casts her as the bad guy at her coworkers wedding where Edie is suddenly kissed by the groom, leading the bride to go into hysterics.

‘Everyone online was tomatoing her. Her whole office had voted to get rid of her. She was a scarlet woman and a marriage wrecker. Edie knew she wasn’t the person they were saying she was. She could get past this.’

The ensuing fallout on social media causes Edie’s boss to relocate her to her hometown of Nottingham to ghostwrite an autobiography for mega-actor Elliot Owen. The hope is to keep her out of the spotlight and let things subside in the office. But once Edie is staying at home with her cranky sister, bumbling father, a nosy next door neighbor, and meeting gorgeous Elliot in person, things become even more chaotic. As the press catches on to her presence with Elliot and the truth comes out over who was behind the malicious comments about her online, Edie will have some thinking and massive rearranging to do in her life.

‘It was preferable to think Elliot hadn’t been into her. Because if by some astonishing, anomalous quirk of the fates, Elliot Owen had briefly fancied her, and tried to tell her, and she’d mucked it up, Edie would have to punch herself in the face for eternity.’

What a crazy and emotional journey we get taken on in Who’s That Girl, as we follow Edie while she navigates through public shaming, sibling and other family drama, workplace woes, and complicated romantic attachments.

I have to say that reading Mhairi McFarlane’s books brings a smile to my face and keeps me fully entertained. She has a knack for creating characters who are real and who feel like someone you might already know. That’s definitely how it felt for me with our main character Edie. Okay, so she was from England, not America, so there were some references that I might not have understood or appreciated like a proper Brit would, but the whirlwind that became Edie’s life was something I think many of us could empathize with. Especially in the digital age where pictures and gossip hit social media with lightning speed.

Now, this was a fairly long book at about five hundred forty-four pages so it wasn’t necessarily a super-quick read. It didn’t drag on, but we did get a fair amount of Edie’s background in regard to her childhood and her friendships. I found that the information came in handy and painted a picture about how Edie came to some of her decisions. Some of it also helped as she became introspective, trying to figure out why she was in such a predicament and how she could carry on after being so publicly ostracized.

I will warn that this didn’t have a traditional HEA or even HFN ending. There was the hint of a HEA potentially looming in the future for Edie, so it didn’t end in a bad way. I just think for some readers the lack of closure might be a bit grating. I had a moment of surprise that it ended so abruptly, but then it made me smile thinking of the possibilities for Edie’s romantic future. She was certainly in a better place than where she started at the beginning of this novel and had figured out who her real friends were as well as what her priorities should be. I really enjoyed seeing Edie grow and make smart decisions.

Who’s That Girl had bits of mayhem, lots of drama, comical conversations, and enough heart to please any reader. I had fun getting to know Edie and the other charming (and some not-so charming) characters and hope fans of romance and chick-lit will as well.

Book Info:

Published April 7th 2016 (first published November 19th 2015) | by Harper |

An achingly funny story from the author of the bestselling YOU HAD ME AT HELLO

What’s the one thing you do at a wedding? Kiss your groom. What’s the one thing you DON’T do at a wedding? Kiss someone else’s groom.

When Edie is caught in a compromising position at her colleagues’ wedding, all the blame falls on her – turns out that personal popularity in the office is not that different from your schooldays. Ostracised by everyone she knows, shamed online, her boss suggests an extended sabbatical. He has the perfect project to fill it – ghostwriting an autobiography for hot new acting talent, Elliot Owen. All she has to do is keep her head down and get on with the star. Easy, right?

Wrong. Banished back to her home town of Nottingham, Edie is not only dealing with a celebrity megabrat of epic proportions but also facing the ghosts of her past as she moves back in with her widowed father and layabout sister. As she questions the woman she has become, Edie realises that turning to look at her past is not just painful – it could potentially change her future.