If Only: The perfect feel-good romantic comedy

Angela Marsons

Jul 2021 · Bookouture

About this ebook

‘Hilarious!’ Griffbuck, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I absolutely loved it.’ chez405, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I finished it in one sitting.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Fantastic… I absolutely could not put down.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

Today started off like every other: tedious letters, refilling the coffee machine, unjamming the printer. But then, just as I was about to clock off, for a girls’ night of pasta and wine with my best friends, BIG NEWS: Michael Hunter is going to be my new boss.

Gorgeous, smart, funny (maybe a little too confident) Michael, aka the man of my dreams.

If only he would notice the real me and see that we’re the perfect match.

If only I could take the advice from my self-help book: be more assertive and ask him out.

If only I had long legs and shiny hair and a pair of tights without ladders.

If only I would listen to my friends and workmate Dan when they warn me that Michael is trouble…

Totally unputdownable, absolutely full of laugh-out-loud ‘I’ve so done that’ moments, and plenty of emotional twists and turns that will keep you refilling your wine and racing through to the end. The perfect romantic comedy for fans of Shari Low, Sophie Kinsella and Jill Mansell.

Read what everyone is saying about If Only:

‘I absolutely loved it…it made me laugh out loud…I will be recommending it to everyone I know.’chez405

‘This book took me on an amazing journey and I enjoyed every minute!...bursting with humour, heartache…amazing and the characters will stay with you for a long time. If you love witty and heartwarming, you can’t afford to miss this one!’ Griffbuck

‘I LOVED it! Heartwarming, uplifting and guaranteed to put a smile on your face.’ Holly Martin

‘Will make you laugh and cry…An unputdownable book that you will devour in one sitting.’Goodreads reviewer

‘I loved this…I couldn’t put this book down and read it really quickly.’Fictionvixenreads

‘Filled with laughter and tears, love and friendship.’Goodreads reviewer

‘Loved the girls in this story, their fun and adventure while dealing with every day life problems. Loved it…enjoyed every page.’lucysbooks26

‘Cher, Sarah and Deb I loved these ladies!...I loved the story it was so heartwarming.’oh.happy.reading

‘I laughed out loud at some parts, found myself welling up at others…Loved it!’Goodreads reviewer

‘A laugh out loud story with friendship, desires and well-drawn characters. Light-hearted and a perfect summer/beach read with a great ending.’Goodreads reviewer

Ratings and reviews

If Only is a stand-alone novel by British author, Angela Marsons, who is well known for her crime novels. This one is a light romance that features three main female characters. Initially, Cher will probably strike the reader as shallow: too dazzled by her manager’s good looks to notice the genuinely decent guy in front of her; Sarah, whose selfish plan to fall pregnant to lure her married lover away from his family, makes her difficult to like; Deb is plagued by a manipulative, controlling prospective mother-in-law and needs to grow a backbone. It says something about this trio that the only criticism Sarah’s plan to snare a married man with a baby attracts is logistical rather than moral. These women are all wishing for something: to be noticed by a cocky, arrogant male, or for a man to leave his wife, or for a woman to disappear; on their girls’ night in, they consult a spell book and drunkenly try to magic what they want. A few weeks later, their lives look very much like a case of “be careful what you wish for.” There are subplots to fill out the main stories and distract the women from their primary wants: Cher’s workplace is subject to a management audit; Deb is thrown into competition with her work rival for a better position; Sarah begins to focus on her lifelong ambition to write. While there are some twists and surprises, overall the plot is fairly predictable. Cher will frustrate with her ongoing blind loyalty to a user; sympathy for Sarah’s situation is hard to muster; and Deb takes way too long to stand up for herself. Three of the four children are obnoxious and only two male characters really impress. This one may appeal to readers wanting a light romcom, but is likely not representative of her usual quality, and fans of her crime fiction will probably be disappointed This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Bookouture.

Be careful what you wish for... Cher, Sarah, and Deb are three girlfriends who are at various seasons of life and all depressed woth their situations. One girls night when the wine is flowing, they get the bright idea to cast a spell to change their lives for the better. Cher wants the man of her dreams. Sarah wants her married boyfriend to get her pregnant so he'll finally leave his wife for her. And Deb wants her mother in law to actually start to like her. There is obviously cheating so if that doesn't sit well with you then maybe pass. Sarah is just dumb. Don't get me wrong, I loved the book, but I hated Sarah. Her idea was just preposterous and horrible. No Sarah. Hes not gonna leave his wife who already has a child with him to be with you when you try to pop out an entrapment baby. 🙄 Also, horrible reason to ever make a baby. Ever. Cher is sweet with absolutely no self confidence. But she's in love with an uber douche that every single person in the world can see but her. I get being in love but girl open your eyes! Deb does truly have a mother in law from hell and how she didn't go off on this woman sooner is beyond me. I get being sweet to your MIL but have a backbone lady! All this to say, I did actually like the book. I just didn't exactly like the characters. But that's also probably the point. We'd never be friends in real life, but atleast at the end they had fairly widened up and dont suck near as bad. And there is truly really good messages like just because youre not a size six you can still be gorgeous. The fact that the women all have weak points but learn to love themselves does redeem the book as a whole. But Sarah. She's just 😐. 🍹🍹🍹🍹 Four stars because like I said it redeems itself, but do beware of marital cheating. I know that's a sore spot for some and it's truly spoke about with no real regard for the wife which I didn't like. The rest however was fun and truly enjoyable mostly. Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and Angela Marsons for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Angela Marsons temporarily steps away from her best selling DI Kim Stone crime thriller series with her latest release, If Only, which is a standalone novel in the romantic comedy genre. Being a crime fiction addict myself, it is not very often I cross over to the dark side with a feel good romance, but with Angela Marsons at the helm, I thought I would give it a go. This story follows friends Cher, Sarah and Deb, each with their own set of problems ranging from unrequited love, a commitment phobic partner and a future mother in law from hell! After a night of copious amounts of wine they stumble across a book of spells and for a laugh decide to cast a wishing one. But as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for…. I don’t always like to compare when an author steps outside of their regular genre, but I have to say that I much prefer Angela Marsons style of her crime thrillers more, which I have just stared listening to. I do appreciate the effort that has been put into this book and I really admire her for this bold move she has taken. Despite it being not for me, If Only is an easy light hearted read that has been well written and with plenty of laugh out loud moments, I am sure will appeal to lovers of this genre.