Mistakes We Never Made

Mistakes We Never Made #1

by Hannah Brown

An epic coastal road-trip gives two lifelong rivals a second chance at love in this debut novel. 

Two former debate team champions who almost fell in love years ago are now stuck together on one wild wedding weekend. When bridesmaid Emma first sees groomsman Finn, she's reminded of all the mistakes she almost made with him—the date, the party, the kiss, that one night on the rooftop in New York. Each ended in heartbreak, and she would have been happy never to see Finn again.

But when the bride runs away, and both Emma and Finn are tasked with bringing her home in time to walk down the aisle, they end up on a whirlwind road trip down memory lane... and might just fall in love along the way. 

Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, MISTAKES WE NEVER MADE reminds us it’s never too late to risk falling in love, because being true to your heart is never a mistake. 

Genres: Romance, Audiobook, Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Second Chance, Chick Lit

352 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2024

About the author

Hannah Brown is a television personality, lifestyle expert, podcast host and New York Times bestselling author of God Bless This Mess. After winning Miss Alabama USA in 2018, she went on to star on season 15 of ABC’s hit reality series The Bachelorette, win season 28 of Dancing with the Stars, and compete on FOX’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, where she ended up being one of two women who completed the course and outlasted the other 16 contestants, most of whom were professional athletes.

Brown’s authenticity and charismatic personality have captivated her millions of followers, and she continues to inspire and empower others by instilling beauty goes beyond just what’s on the surface, advocating for mental health awareness, and emphasizing the importance of self-love.

Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Brown currently resides in Nashville.

Reviews

[RiRi💌 (back in January) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh boy, I wish I had a physical copy of this book so I could burn it.🤗

It was going so well, but then all of a sudden, the author thought, Oh, just let me add the cheating trope to this book!😆
Do authors really think that makes the book more interesting??? It didn’t make the book more interesting for me; in fact, it made me want to give this 1 star, and a rant review on top.

I didn’t really like the FMC, Emma, from the beginning, so when I read about her cheating, I knew that I had good reasons for disliking her. And it wasn’t even her who stopped it before it got too far (it already got far); it was Finn who reminded her that she wasn’t in an open relationship like he is, nope, she’s in a serious one. (After that I couldn’t continue reading, I’m so sorry, but I just couldn’t)

I’m also really mad at the description of this book: “They almost took things too far one magical night." ALMOST???? Are you sure that they didn’t take it too far already, Hannah Brown???
If I had known that the cheating trope was in this book, I would have run fast away from it. I promise you that!!

ᴛʀᴏᴘᴇꜱ:
⊹ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀꜱ
⊹ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ, ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ᴛɪᴍᴇ
⊹ ꜱᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ
⊹ ᴍɪꜱᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ (ᴇᴡ)
⊹ ᴄʜᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ (ᴅᴏᴜʙʟᴇ ᴇᴡ)


𝚂𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎: 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝙼𝚈 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝.🫂


!!𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 & 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 (𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴) & 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗵 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗰 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄!!

[Southern Lady Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, I go into books pre-judging a writer, and I love it when I am unequivocally proven wrong. I really liked this, and I was 100% not expecting to! Also, THAT ENDING?!! If you've ever read a book that had a happy-ever-after ending - but also left you hanging on something major - you'll know what I mean. I absolutely NEED the next book.

As a person who's always liked second-chance romances - this was the perfect amount of angst/neurotic behavior to satisfy a late-night wine/bathtub read, ya know? I think I finished this in about two days because once I started, I couldn't stop!

I had an easy time liking the characters - except for the girl actually getting married lol she seemed like a wee bit of a selfish brat? And I desperately need her to be redeemed in the next book!!

**Thank you to Forever & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

Find Me On Instagram 🦋 || More Bookish Thoughts & Reviews Here 🖤

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of those romances that sets a whole new low bar for me. The story suffered from a deadly combination of being both boring and cringey.

The writing wasn’t terrible, but that’s because of the second writer in the room doing the Lord’s work with this story. The main character is a bratty, tunnel-visioned, self-centered, tyrannical bully who spends the majority of the book bulldozing over everyone else convinced she is always correct. The miscommunication trope is heavy-handed in this one, as the main character has this horrible tendency of cutting people off or running away from conversations while leaping to conclusions. And she refuses to own up to her errors in judgement while everyone around her tries to validate her mercurial feelings. She is mean and toxic and just impossible to sympathize with.

I think the worst part, though, is that there are multiple examples of the main character treating service industry people poorly, which is a huge red flag. Ew.

follow me on booksta!

[Whitney Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched Hannah Brown on the Bachelorette a handful of years ago and she had quite the entertaining personality. My interest was piqued when I saw she wrote this book and I decided to give it a try. Honestly, my expectations were low going in, but I have to say, I was surpringly impressed! The main character, Emma, and an old friend from high school she almost dated, went on a wild chase after a runaway bride. The storyline was fun and different. Characters were all well developed. Overall, I enjoyed it! If you are looking for a light-hearted rom com, this one will fit the bill. 3.5 stars rounding up to 4!

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Net Galley, for a copy in return for my honest review.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

If anything, I wish I could “go beast mode” on this book because it’s undoubtedly one of the worst romance books I’ve ever waisted my time reading.

I didn’t know anything about the author going in but if the MC, Emma is at all similar to the author and her stint on the Bachelorette, then tbh it’s no wonder the romance didn’t last, because based on this book, romance and HEAs to this author mean toxic AF relationships where neither partner has a clue how to communicate, grow up, or respect other people’s feelings and lives.

Let’s start with Emma. She’s supposed to be a type A, list / itinerary loving perfectionist, who’s fiercely loyal. What this actually translates into is an incredibly rigid, controlling person who belittles the emotional intelligence, agency, and desires of her friends and instead decides she knows what’s best based on absolutely zero evidence. She signs her friend up for what is basically “the bachelor” (how creative, bleh) without telling her, decides she’s responsible for her best friend Sybil and keeping her from jumping off the proverbial ledge when Sybil seems to be a functioning and surviving adult on her own, and constantly seems to vacilate between being resentful of her “manic pixie dream girl” bestie Sybil and then irrationally, and frankly creepily, idolizing her.

There’s a clear lack of experience in the writing where the dialogue feels stilted, the landmarks / places noted can’t possibly be geographically accurate, and mental health is used as a convenient justification for deflection or drama instead of being treated seriously or reflected honestly. For example, the entire kayak fight is NOT how panic attacks actually work. Being stubborn and crazed because you don’t want to hear the truth about your behavior is not a panic attack, that’s just being stupid and immature.

Slight spoiler but I find it so off putting Emma decides to make herself some avenger for her friend’s heartbreak, going after her friend’s ex for cheating when Emma is in fact, ALSO a cheater. This is absolutely never addressed btw. It’s just implied that Emma’s boyfriend was boring so it’s ok. It’s not. It’s gross. And also stop assaulting people?? Unclear why the author thought this was a cutesy way of showing how Emma “goes beast mode” for those she loves because frankly, it’s incredibly off putting. Sure we all have fantasies of knocking an ex out but the fact that Emma shows this behavior multiple times and it’s treated like an endearing idiosyncratic quirk is concerning.

Next, the romantic lead, Finn is honestly such a snooze fest. There’s nothing swoony about him. It’s entirely unclear how he feels or what his motivations are and he felt like that same commitment phobic fuck boy he was in high school by the end. His only purpose is to tell Emma about her toxic behavior yet let her continue on acting that way anyway.

And if you’re curious, no, you in fact NEVER learn what the hell is up with Sybil the entire time. And that is maddening. It’s hard to believe these are even friends at all when Sybil has zero regard for her behavior and how it impacts everyone, when she lets Finn take the heat for an event she causes and when she knows Emma holds against Finn for YEARS. Sybil lets Emma believe the worst about Finn, while also being besties with Finn and knowing about his crush on Emma. Sybil knows Emma is controlling and why, but she lets Emma spiral on and hold a vendetta for years regardless.

Basically everyone in this book sucked and it’s clear it wasn’t on purpose. I’m all for reading about toxic relationships and characters, a la Sally Rooney, but this clearly wasn’t that.

Lastly, the ~spice~ was cringe at worst and confusing at best, I could not for the life of me understand the logistics and positions of their bodies while on the hammock, it was just weird. This felt like dramatized teenage angst pulled from the pages of a diary rather than an adult romance.

[Estelle]

Full disclosure: I'm one of the publicists on this book.

This is a fun and flirty summer romance. If you were a fan of Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation and Jessica Joyce's You with a View and authors like Ava Wilder and Kate Spencer, you are going to eat this one up. There's amazing friendship, a road trip to save a wedding with the guy you hate to love, and a woman really working through the non-relationship she has with her father. From California to Vegas to Albuquerque and back, you will be cheering on Finn and Emma to give in to the tension while also rooting for Emma to put herself first for once. (And also this mystery about Sybil, who is meant to be getting married, makes me so excited for a future book!)

Bonus: you will want to travel immediately.

Scenes reminded me of The Little Mermaid and Elf (yes you heard me), and also the romance of Fools Rush In.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, apparently this was an instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller according to some headlines about it. Why do you think that was? Did it have to do with the author’s ability to write, or her own celebrity?

For anyone who isn’t aware of who this author is, she is a former Bachelorette of “The Bachelor” series. She also went on to be one of the ‘celebrity’ dancers on “Dancing with the Stars,” and won her season with professional dancer, Alan Bersten. I would imagine that many who follow ‘Bachelor Nation’ or ‘Dancing with the Stars’ may have ‘known of’ her, and thus wanted to read her book. And, to be honest, curiosity was what made me pick this one up, too.

But would it be a good read?

Premise: Emma and Finn use to be a thing. Something happens, and now they are not, and yet they are reunited for a mutual friend’s wedding. With all these unresolved feelings what do readers think is going to happen?

Road trip. With these two. Will they resolve their baggage, have fun and heal, flirt, get in trouble, or resume a romance?

Typical rom-com with predictable will-they-or-won’t-they tension. But for this reader, the romance fell a bit flat. Overall, the story plotline had potential, but it didn’t meet up to mine. I may be an outlier, so please check other reviews.

[Madison Warner Fairbanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown
Contemporary chick lit, romance. Second chance. Multiple time-lines via flashbacks.
Three nights before the wedding of Sybil and Jamie, four besties have arrived early in Malibu to party, reconnect and wish the bride well. Emma has written a detailed schedule for the days that she wants everyone to follow, to get the maximum fun out of the weekend. She’s best at organizing after all. Emma is not happy to have Finn crash the girls party. She and Finn used to be friends falling in love, before their relationship ended in heartbreak. The next morning, as Emma is getting everyone ready for their spa appointments, they find the bride-to-be missing. Seems she’s run off to San Diego for her preferred spa treatments. Or wait, now her phone is pinging from Las Vegas. Emma and Finn join forces, jump in his car, and try to chase down the bride. As they spend the days in the car, chasing from location to location, they have the chance to talk and reconnect. Maybe they can figure out where bings went sideways.

Emma is structured and organized to the max and seems to know what’s best for everyone, even to the detriment of enjoying the time with her friends. I had to admire the patience that Finn shows as they search and drive and deal with issues along the way. Maybe the privilege of money, but he seemed to have more depth than that.
The scenes with her family were a bit heartbreaking but clearly needed.

Happily the second chance was what they needed for their hea.
3.25

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

[C (bookedandstarred) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it was a mistake that I didn’t DNF this.

I actually have no idea who Hannah Brown is and didn’t know of any of her Bachelorette history. I requested this simply because of the premise and that I’m such a sucker for second chance romances.

Sadly, I didn’t connect with any of the characters. None of them were particularly likable and Emma grates at me most of the time especially with her warfreak tendencies. On the other hand, Finn’s presence is just there and didn’t draw me in. The core friend group was promising but seemed like they just filled some space but nothing special, too.

The chemistry? None. And that damn debate. I felt like the main characters never moved on from their glory days in high school. And if I read about Finn smelling of woodsmoke and lavender one more time, ugh.

Don’t get me started on the loose ends. I don’t mind them generally in my reading and I even welcome them if they’re written well. But if it’s the whole reason for the main storyline in the first place, don’t we at least get a reason why? I get that this may be a setup for a sequel, but came across as some ridiculous form of a clickbait. The more I think about this, the more infuriated I get.

Coming from books that have genuine issues and roadblocks to relationships, the reasons they can’t be together here felt superficial and was just plain miscommunication.

I understand that this is a debut and the author (and her ghostwriter) has a lot to improve on. I do think that this book could have benefited from a tighter edit. I still might pick up Brown’s memoir as she piqued my interest as a person. The sequel, too, if there ever was one on Sybil out of curiosity.

My thanks to Forever, NetGalley and the author for my early copy. All opinions are honest and my own.

[Kennedy Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️
If the hangover was a rom-com? This is a very rough comparison just so you know - it’s just the only thing I could think of while reading this 😂

This book just had a few tropes I don’t love, and I had a hard time with Emma!

[Olivia Todd · Rating 1 out of 5]

the only mistake I made was spending money and time on this book

[Mikayla Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

I went into this book with pretty low expectations. It has some cute moments and it’s an average contemporary romance book…. Not the best but not the worst!

It just has some of my least favorite things in a book so it was just hard to get past those things haha

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown is a new contemporary romance novel. The story in Mistakes We Never Made is one that actually has two timelines with the characters having a past together which of course makes this a second chance romance.

Emma will do anything for her best friend Sybil, including being the best bridesmaid she can be despite her old friend/sort of old flame Finn being a groomsman. Surely Emma and Finn can survive one little wedding with all they had between them in the past. Before she knows it though Emma really needs to step up as bridesmaid and chase down a runaway bride and who else is there to help other than Finn.

First thing first, I will say that Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown has a storyline that may not be for every reader with there being a cheating element to the main couple. I will admit that I wasn’t totally on board with that fact either so my rating did fall to the three and a half stars wishing that we could have had some other conflict instead. Thankfully I do enjoy a good fast paced adventure type of story though as that side of the book made it a bit better although there was a little up in the air too that I would have liked answered so I questioned that when finished too…possibly a book two?

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/

[Delaney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book will undoubtedly be a bestseller, but not because it’s a great read.

We follow Emma and Finn on a wild goose chase after a runaway bride. But somehow, our Emma finds ways to make this all about her. Talk about the most self centered character I’ve encountered in awhile. Now I’ve seen some say Emma puts her friends and family first, but I have to say, she does it all the while talking about herself. Emma this, Emma that, this is what Emma has going on amidst all the other people.

I didn’t find her friends very likable either, so running around after the bride who runs away really wasn’t keeping me interested.

The love story aspect? There was more tension between Emma and the opening scene bartender than there was between her and Finn. I honestly was waiting for a few pages to see how the author wove us back to the bantering bartender.

Overall, this book isn’t one I would recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted (free) ARC

[Janssen]

This was a fun single day read (reminded me a fair amount of You With a View)

[Tasha Metzler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the slowest burn of a 2nd chance of real love. Not the fluffy crap, the real stuff. Just took over a decade to get here but here we are folks. I liked it though.

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw that this book was written by my favourite bachelorette, I immediately had to request it, and I’m so glad I did! Emma and Finn, the leads in the book, are the exact definition of ‘right person, wrong time.’ Since high school, they’ve experienced a series of relationship false starts, and it all comes to a head when they are forced on a road trip to find a runaway bride.

This book has:
•Childhood friends to lovers and second chance romance tropes
•Close proximity via a cross-country road trip that brings the leads back together 🚘👩‍❤️‍👨
•Dual timeline

Now for the cons! This book features cheating, which I was not here for. The cheating trope is probably my most hated trope, hence why I had to knock off a few stars. It added nothing to the story, and the angst could have been created any other way.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

[Zoey Mclean · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 🌟’s

This book was so fun! I immediately freaked out when I saw that Netgally had sent this over to me because I was a big fan of the bachelorette in 2019-2020 and younger Zoey was very excited for me.

If I hadn’t known anything about the author going into this book I would probably rate it a bit higher because while the story was incredibly enjoyable at times I did feel like she put a lot of herself into her main character and sometimes it didn’t come across in the way i felt like she wanted.

The setting for this book was so cute, and I would 100% recommend this one for a road trip or summer vacation read !

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

like 3.5 ⭐️

i think this rating would be higher if i didn’t know anything about The Bachelorette or Hannah B…. but girl.. you put wayyy too much of yourself into the plot and characters.

write what you know, but not like this.

also, the mc’s best friend was absolutely insufferable.

and it wouldn’t be done in true hannah brown fashion if jesus wasn’t mentioned multiple times.

despite all my criticisms, i still did enjoy this silly little romance ⛰️✨

[Delaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up

[cossette · Rating 1 out of 5]

reading this book truly was a mistake and a waste of my time

[Rachel Spiegelhalter · Rating 2 out of 5]

PLEASE NO ONE COME FOR ME FOR THIS 2 STAR REVIEW.

I really hate to say this , but for me personally.... this book was disappointing. I was super excited about this book and I guess maybe it was my fault for having such high hopes. However, I was just not captivated by this book. The storyline while yes, clear in the "mission" Emma and Finn went on to get Sybil... but it felt random. I was not able to connect with these characters. It was about a runaway bride, but I wish that runaway bride was the main character of the story. That part just did not connect for me with then the storyline of Emma and Finn.

I found Emma's personality repulsive. Her controlling behavior drove me nuts the whole book. I really wanted to like her, but she just was really aggravating me.

I think this book could have been a five stars for me if it had depth. It felt shallow and just not deep enough... I wish there was more high stakes. it felt like a lot of sub plots - all the flashbacks and high school stories, Emma's dad, Finn's dad, etc. I was just overloaded with way too many different sub plots I could not keep up with what the true story was about.

I love Hannah B, and I look forward to seeing how her journey as an author goes and continues! I am hopeful for her as she continues to hone in on the craft of storytelling.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Forever & NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I first have to share I am a HUGE fan of Hannah, and absolutely loved her autobiography. ‘Mistakes we never made’ was one of my most anticipated reads of this year, which turned into my biggest disappoint of the year.

This book is honestly the worst book I’ve read this year… I wanted to DNF multiple times but continued reading in hopes it would get better. It did not get better… it in fact got much worse.

The plot of the story is all over the place. And the main conflict they’re trying to solve is Sybil running away before her wedding day. The conflict is “resolved” when Sybil shows back up before her wedding. Never sharing where she went or why she was missing…. Cool? We just read a whole story about you running away and don’t even find out why. Then the last chapter ends at her wedding, but the epilogue alludes to that day “ending in a way no one saw coming” BUT DOESN’T SHARE WHAT HAPPENED. Literally the only two things I cared about enough to continue reading this book, and you didn’t even provide answers for either one.

Now on to Emma the FMC, she is insufferable. Not only was she impossible to like, she was downright infuriating to read about. She was super immature and self entitled, and just nothing you want to read about in a main character. Her relationship with Finn was strange, and never felt organic or real. They didn’t belong together, and envisioning their extremely quick happily ever after was cringey.

I have to stop myself from writing an entire novel with all my grievances with this book. But long story short, Hannah needs to stick to sharing stories about her own life because this work of fiction was terrible.

Please don’t waste your time with this book.

[✨️ Jessica's Bookshelf ✨️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up

this was just okay... it could have been shorter. A whole lot of nothing happened, tbh

[Leticia🌻 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25/5

I went into this book blindly; I didn't know what this book was about; all I saw was the cover and that it was written by Hannah Brown. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. This book also made me realize that my least favorite trope in romance book is miscommunication.

The book left me with many unanswered questions (I'm assuming it's a marketing strategy to get readers to buy the second book).

[Elle G. Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this one. It’s written by a former bachelorette, and I used to LOVE that show. It also has a former friends/second chance(ish) love story with a road trip which is something I normally enjoy. However, I couldn’t STAND the FMC. She was so snotty. Her inner monologue and the way she thought about her friends came off as very two faced. Having such a solid group of friends I would have thought she’d be written as a girls girl but it never felt like that to me. On the plus side I loved the adventurous aspects of this one. Looking for her friend who has become a runaway bride was a lot of fun and set us up for book 2 which I did enjoy more. I just didn’t care all that much about this one unfortunately. It’s not all bad but the FMC really took away from the enjoyment that I could have had while reading.

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐

[Stephanie (stephreadsallthebooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this because I have a morbid curiosity with celebrities writing fiction. Though not on the cover, on the inside title page, this is written by Hannah Brown and another writer (why have it on there and not the cover? I'm really not sure).

I'll be honest - my expectations were pretty low for this. And here's what I'll say - the writing was not nearly as bad as I anticipated. It was pretty readable and though there were certainly some stylistic choices and perhaps overuse of slang (man-bod was one of the weirder ones), I've read so much worse.

The plot and characters however...yikes. Not a single character was likeable, including Emma's friends. The flashbacks to the "mistakes" weren't the worst plot device but then Emma continued to talk about the flashbacks in the present day chapters which was really confusing. I also HATED that we get 0 resolution with what happened with her friend and the wedding weekend even though in the epilogue, we are years into the future. It's obviously set up for the friends book but I think it was done really clunkily - and I'm so deeply suspicious that the incident in high school that was referred to is going to be something intensely traumatic. Looking forward to reading review of that one when it comes out because I won't be reading.

Also the title is so confusing - "Mistakes We Never Made" but each flashback chapter is in fact labeled a mistake?? Basically every character made mistakes and big ones... Like the fact that there's CHEATING in one of the flashbacks!! And that after they get together in the last flashback, Emma breaks up with her boyfriend for him (genuinely I finished this last night and cannot remember his name) and then he just stays with his girlfriend and never gives an explanation other than he was scared?

Ok and the last thing I have to say about this is about the first sex scene... I'm genuinely not sure I've ever read a more unrealistic sex scene, and I have read and enjoyed monster romance. They have sex...ON A HAMMOCK. Yes, you read that right. First off, who can even get out of a hammock without falling? Oh, you want to have sex? Lets add the risk of a concussion in, so sexy! I'm still thinking about this scene and I probably will for a while because I legitimately do not understand the logistics and how anyone could find that sexy. How did they not fall off???

[Lex ✿ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2⭐️

i remember watching hannah brown’s bachelorette season and adoring her! but i think that’s as far as it goes, because sadly, this book was not for me.

i was really looking forward to this one simply because a favorite author had blurbed it, i adore hannah brown, and it seemed like such a fun rom-com with a silly plot. i had low expectations and went in for the ✨vibes.✨ that naturally sounds like the perfect summer read, right? and don’t get me wrong, it started off that way - but there were certain tropes (bleh, the cheating trope) and parts that i found entirely insufferable. some of the writing felt very wattpad-esque (mostly the spicy scenes) and honestly i probably could’ve written something similar during my fanfic days. like why did i get the ick so many times? 😭😭🙃 it fell flat for me too many times and while the higher stakes of finding the runaway bride best friend made it a little more interesting, it really didn’t have the most satisfying ending. i felt like i was being pulled in all sorts of directions with trying to find her best friend, and then intertwining two days’ worth of rekindled romance between emma and finn. also the mention of another character being a contestant on a reality dating show made me laugh because hey, hannah bestie, were hitting a little too close to home 😂👀

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

The fiction debut from Bachelor Nation star Hannah Brown was a decent second chance, roadtrip romance. Good on audio, this story was full of flashbacks, missed connections/wrong time, right person, high school sweethearts kind of love that sees Finn and Emma joining up to help track down their runaway bride best friend right before her wedding.

I thought the mental health (anxiety rep) was well done and the side story about Emma's trauma from her parents' divorce and her dad's subsequent abandonment was treated sensitively. There were some great steamy scenes between the leads but I didn't love that there was a lot of borderline cheating - likely not to be a favorite part for many readers.

Overall this was a solid romance debut from a celeb turned writer and I would read more of what she writes in the future but this isn't going to be a favorite book of the year for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️
1🌶️

✨ second chance romance
✨ friends to lovers
✨ forced proximity
✨ roadtrip
✨ runaway bride

Hannah Brown’s debut novel is a sweet and nostalgic beach read. When Emma’s best friend Sybil runs away only days before her wedding, she has no choice but to chase after her. Along the way Emma finds herself, fixes an important relationship from her past, and rekindles a romance with an old, and recurring, flame. The fun, exciting plot and lovable characters more than make up for the number of misunderstandings and miscommunications in this story.

Mistakes We Never Made will be available May 7th! Mark your calendars! 🗓️

📚Thank you to Edelweiss, Forever (Hachette Book Group) and Hannah Brown for the e-ARC of Mistakes We Never Made.