On the HahaFiction shelf

What If?

by Shari Low

What If? · Book 1

Carly Cooper has come close to marrying six different men. At thirty, she starts wondering whether one of those goodbyes was a mistake, and abandons her routine to find out. This romantic comedy turns a familiar urge to revisit an ex into an international search, set in 1999, long before checking a social-media profile could settle the question.

Romance Romantic comedy Banter

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What makes it funny?

Carly calls in sick after supposedly hurting her toe in the garden, overlooking the fact that she lives in a third-floor flat. Her dreams of wealth and several homes run up against her irritation at vacuuming the small place she already has.

The comedy at work

Carly talks directly to the reader, making grand declarations and immediately supplying the embarrassing detail that undermines them. Friends answer her romantic despair with teasing advice rather than treating every crisis as a catastrophe.

Try this if…

Carly’s old friendships give the romantic search a group to come home to. The appeal includes teasing conversations, 1990s pop-culture references and the temptation to revisit a relationship that might have worked out differently.

Good to know

The story first looks back at Carly’s relationships, then follows her return visits. Expect frank talk about sex and strong language; the publisher’s opening sample makes that clear immediately.