Hannah Brown made a name for herself on reality TV shows like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Dancing With the Stars, and Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. I hadn’t watched her on any of those shows (because I don’t watch much reality TV in general), but when I heard she was writing a novel, it piqued my interest.

When my friends at Forever sent me an early copy of Mistakes We Never Made to review, I read her memoir, God Bless This Mess [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] first so I could get a sense of who she is before her fictional characters. This is absolutely not required reading in order to enjoy Mistakes We Never Made, but something I enjoyed.

Anyways…. onto the story!

Mistakes We Never Made [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] follows Emma and Finn, debate partners turned friends turned enemies. There are flashbacks to various moments in their relationship over the years, but the modern timeline is set in the days leading up to her best friend’s wedding. Emma is, of course, the maid of honor, and she’s none to thrilled that Finn is A) there and B) close friends with the bride. After some drinks, something happens and they find that the bride has run away. Emma decides to chase her friend down, but Finn insists on going with her…. since it is his very fancy car she’s taking, afterall.

This is a fun blend of forced proximity, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, second chance, and many other beloved tropes. It’s interesting to see the different pieces of Hannah in the characters, including one friend who was on a reality dating show and got her heart broken. Some of the plot is a little farfetched, and I’m not even going to pretend that all the driving makes sense, but there was enough drama to keep it entertaining and fun. Some parts felt a little longwinded, but again, it didn’t stop me or even slow me down from finishing this book within 24 hours from when I first picked it up.

It is important to note that Hannah did not write this alone. She worked with three other women to craft and create this story. While the cover itself doesn’t indicate this fact, Hannah is pretty open about it, as you can hear in my interview with her on YouTube and all podcast platforms. (You should check this out because it’s a good time!)

Overall, Mistakes We Never Made is a solid fiction debut for Brown and I’m looking forward to the second book which will feature a currently unnamed other member of Emma’s friend group.

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