eBook Review: What Might Have Been by Matt Dunn

"A year ago, Evan and Sarah shared one incredible night. Then Evan’s music—the thing that brought them together—suddenly tore them apart.

Since then, Evan’s not been able to forget about her. And try as she might, Sarah can’t seem to get over him either.

With time running out, Evan’s got one last chance to convince her that the two of them were meant to be. But is one night enough for Sarah to make a decision about the rest of her life—even if it was the best night of her life? And if she doesn’t believe in love at first sight, how can Evan persuade her that what they had will last?"

Rating: 4/5

You can buy What Might Have Been as a paperback or an eBook now.

Evan and Sarah meet by chance at a jazz nightclub, where Evan is playing saxophone to an enthusiastic crowd. Sarah is loving the music that reminds her so much of her father, and Evan spots her face in the crowd. The pair spend an incredible night together, but are torn apart when Evan is offered the opportunity of a lifetime. He knows he has to take it, even though he has to leave Sarah behind. A year later, Evan is back and determined to get Sarah back - however, there's a small snag - she's engaged to be married. Evan is sure that Sarah is doing the wrong thing in getting married, and sets out to persuade her that he can make her happy forever. But Sarah is hiding her own secrets about her feelings for Evan too... will the pair overcome the odds and make it through together?

I really enjoyed this book right from the beginning. I like that we got to meet Evan and Sarah just like they meet each other - out of the blue, and have to make opinions about them quite quickly. They are drawn together by their love of music, and I loved reading the descriptions of Evan's saxophone playing, and the music is general, Dunn writes about it so well you can really imagine the scene of the Jazz club and how Sarah is immediately attracted to Evan. What makes this story so good for me was the element of 'what might have been', as the title suggests. Despite the fact they only had one night together, Evan is convinced Sarah is the love of his life, with some amazing memories and he is sure he can convince her too.

Evan is a sweet character, if perhaps a bit naive. He has clearly fallen head over heels for Sarah, everything about the young American woman and really does want to be with her. It seems strange in parts that he got such an attachment to Sarah after just one night, and you're left thinking what could have happened between the pair if Evan hadn't had to go abroad for his music. Sarah is far more stand-offish than Evan, perhaps slightly embarrassed about their past, and I felt she was quite rude to him at times. Yes, she's engaged to be married but I did feel like it was more an engagement of convenience than true love, that was my feeling throughout the whole book. I liked Sarah, but she did feel quite emotionally closed throughout, I wanted to see a bit more something from her, especially towards her fiance David who she just seemed to tolerate.

There was a lot of 'will they, won't they' elements to the story, with Evan keenly chasing a more reluctant Sarah, but I enjoyed the pace of the story. Things moved along at a believable rate, you could sense that Evan was under pressure to make things happen due to Sarah's impending nuptials, and I really was hoping for a happy ending. There were parts where both characters frustrated me due to their attitudes, but overall I did enjoy following their story. The writing was very good throughout the book, Matt Dunn makes the characters and their stories something you want to follow, and throws enough curveballs in there to make you doubt how it's all going to end up. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, very readable and one that I would recommend!