Here’s Looking At You
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4.4 • 405 Ratings
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
A laugh-out-loud read from the Sunday Times bestselling author of If I Never Met You
Anna Alessi – history expert, possessor of a lot of hair and an occasionally filthy mouth – seeks nice man for intelligent conversation and Mills & Boon moments.
Despite the oddballs that keep turning up on her dates, Anna couldn’t be happier. As a 30-something with a job she loves, life has turned out better than she dared dream. However, things weren’t always this way, and her years spent as the ‘Italian Galleon’ of an East London comprehensive are ones she’d rather forget.
So when James Fraser – the architect of Anna’s final humiliation at school – walks back into her life, her world is turned upside down. But James seems a changed man. Polite. Mature. Funny, even. People can change, right? So why does Anna feel like she’s a fool to trust him?
Hilarious and poignant, Here’s Looking At You will have you laughing one minute and crying the next. The new must-read novel from #1 bestseller Mhairi McFarlane.
Reviews
Praise for Here’s Looking At You:
‘An absolute blinder of a read’ Sun
‘A romantic and charming read guaranteed to deliver plenty of laugh-out-loud moments’ OK!
‘Mhairi McFarlane’s characters shine with wit and insight’ Irish Times
‘Sparkly writing, laugh out loud funny and a story that'll keep you enthralled. What's not to love?’ Jane Fallon
Praise for You Had Me at Hello:
‘Very very witty and funny. Left me in awe … a total gem’ Marian Keyes
‘The funniest, most romantic book I've read since One Day’ Lisa Jewell
‘I loved this book. It made me laugh and reminded me that anything's possible in love – and in everything else for that matter’ Minnie Driver
‘Mhairi is darkly funny and quite, quite rude … You Had Me at Hello is a breath of tart, Northern air’ Sarra Manning
About the author
Mhairi was born in Scotland in 1976 and has been explaining how to pronounce her name ever since.
She is based in Nottingham where she’s a freelance writer and sometime-blogger. She likes drinking wine, eating food and obtaining clothes; all the impressive hobbies. She lives with a man and a cat.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Mhairi McFarlane’s Inside Story: “Writing book two was, honestly, nightmarish. Absolutely nightmarish. I was utterly unprepared for it. I’d had five years to finesse You Had Me At Hello [McFarlane’s 2012 debut]—so much time to get it exactly how I wanted. Then suddenly you’re asked to do it all over again within four to six months. I became completely convinced that people didn’t like me, they liked that story and those characters. And, because my books are always standalones, at that stage I thought everyone would hate it, and so I communicated constant low-level hysteria to my poor editor.
“It was only when friends and family read it that I started to think it might not be such a disaster. Because my friends and family are very happy to be brutally—far too brutally, at times—forthcoming. They suddenly think you want all their feedback. In this instance, that was actually very helpful. Mates of my mum would stop me in the street to tell me that they preferred it to the first book. It was an utterly horrendous process with quite a nice outcome. It’s still not a book I could bear to re-read because it’s too infected with my panic.
"All my friends are absolutely used to me being incredibly nosy about their relationships and their pasts, or anything they’re getting up to. Let’s call it curious, not nosy. I’m not someone who would read someone’s diary if I was left alone in the room with it. Partly because I would think, ‘Oh God, I’m going to see things I don’t want to be burdened with.’ I’m not that level nosy, but definitely in the pub if my friends say, ‘So, I’m seeing this bloke,’ then yes—I’ll definitely, definitely be nosy about that.
“They’ve all been so nice about things being used. All my friends are positively like, ‘Use it. Go on. Stick it to him. Describe what happened here,’ They’re all really good about it, which is lucky because I’m on six books. I always find it hilarious when you get the question: ‘How much of this is you?” It’s like, ‘Jesus, really. Not much. I haven’t lived six romcom books in my life, nor would I want to.’”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A snide modern ugly-duckling tale gives lip service to the message of being happy with who you are, but its characters remain shallow and obsessed with juvenile expectations of the ways men and women ought to behave. Aureliana Alessi, still haunted by her teen years as the "Italian Galleon" and laughingstock at her East London high school, has settled into a successful history professorship and slimmed into a stunner. Her dating life is still a mess of awkward Internet-mediated mishaps. Through a work assignment, Anna reencounters school heartthrob and bully James Fraser, who becomes interested in her without realizing their history together. Anna's supportive friend Michelle and colleague Patrick give her the bravery to move forward, while James is impeded by soon-to-be-ex-wife Eva and womanizing drinking buddy Laurence. McFarlane's story is infused with the humor of a 21st-century comedy of errors, but it lacks romantic warmth; Anna and James don't discover true love, but merely settle into a mutually higher level of socially acceptable success.
Customer Reviews
Laugh out loud!
I read Mhairi's first book; You had me at hello, and loved it, so I was really looking forward to reading the her 2nd book. It's a little slow to start off with, but soon picks up and will have you laughing out loud!
Boring
Maybe because is one of early books but I couldn’t finish it, the hero is pretty unlikable
Here’s looking at you
I really liked this modern take on the timeless Pride and Prejudice story, although I am somewhat disappointed no credit was given to the original novel. At least the author has done a good job, Jane Austen would have approved.