If Not You - by Ellen O'Clover (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

AN INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

Five years of history. Four weeks on the road. Two rival copywriters learning love is the hardest sell of all.

Mattie French has always known how to tell a good story. It's why she stopped at nothing to land her dream career as a copywriter at a scrappy independent advertising agency. In fact, if it weren't for one person, Mattie would probably be the most-talked-about rising star in town.

Campbell Porter is a senior copywriter at Chicago's slickest agency. Absurdly talented, incredibly aware of it, and the bane of Mattie's existence since they were interns together, Campbell is always just...there, with his golden-boy smirk and the familiar gaze that never fails to taunt her across a crowded room.

Mattie would love nothing more than to avoid Campbell forever. But when their agencies are pitted against each other to compete for a luxury resort account, it's her chance to prove she can beat him--and earn the promotion she covets.

During the month of travel required for the pitch, Mattie and Campbell are thrown together as fierce competitors and, slowly, as unexpected witnesses to each other's hidden wounds and softest parts. As their trip barrels toward its final pitch, Mattie is forced to confront the increasingly obvious truth: the story she's crafted for her and Campbell over the years might need a new ending.

Review Quotes

One of Bustle's 10 Best New Books to Read in September!

"Ellen O'Clover is one of my favorite writers -- her books leave me in perpetual awe. The yearning here is top-tier, the characters beautifully messy, the tension hot enough to set the pages on fire. The romance genre is radically lucky to have Ellen's voice in it."--Rachel Lynn Solomon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Extracurricular

"This is my favorite read of the year. If Not You shows the beautifully devastating reality of yearning and life's inevitable failures. Ellen O'Clover's writing is stunning, smart, and never lets go of your heart for a single second. I will never stop recommending this book."--Julie Olivia, USA Today bestselling author of If It Makes You Happy

"If Not You is my favorite kind of romance: intimate and engrossing, gorgeously written and so real that the characters live on with me way past the last page. I inhaled every morsel of the rivals-and-lovers tension between Mattie and Campbell, and savored the immense yearning splashed across every page. Ellen O'Clover is one of my favorite romance authors, and this book perfectly illustrates why she's also one of the best."--Jessica Joyce, USA Today bestselling author of The Ex Vows

"If Not You is an even more fabulous follow-up to an already incredible debut from Ellen O'Clover. I'm not sure what my favorite part of her writing is: maybe her mastery of metaphor, her characterization, the specificity about copywriting, the evocative imagery. Mattie and Campbell's world was as real as the one around me. O'Clover could write absolutely anything, and we're all so lucky she chooses to write about love."--Rachel Runya Katz, USA Today bestselling author of Isn't It Obvious?

"If Not You kept me up all night! It is the type of story that refuses to be set down. Ellen O'Clover masterfully crafts a heartfelt romance full of delicious tension and longing. The settings are enchanting, the writing is sublime, and readers should expect to fall deeply in love with both Mattie and Campbell. I certainly did. The saddest part of this book was turning the final page because I never wanted it to end."--Lauren Connolly, author of PS: I Hate You and Love in Plane Sight

"One of the best rivals-to-lovers romances I've read--readers will be swept away by the vivid settings, the workplace rivalry, and the sizzling chemistry of the rivals in question. I utterly devoured it!"--Kayla Olson, USA Today Bestselling Author of The Great Outdoors

"With forced proximity and enemies-to-lovers, If Not You by Ellen O'Clover is another perfect cozy romance for the fall. It's packed with workplace drama, dreams of success, and the hope of a new ending."--Parade

"A steamy and deliciously angsty romance featuring beautifully well-drawn characters."--Kirkus (starred review)

"O'Clover's shrewd humor and savvy prose result in a riveting competition full of quick wit and crafty quips. She also employs her signature tenderness and emotional depth to create a romance about finding someone who makes the hard parts of life easier. If Not You is full of passion, hope, and belonging."--Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"In the winning rivals-to-lovers romance If Not You, competition is the most potent aphrodisiac...For longtime romance readers, Mattie and Campbell's battle royale will conjure treasured memories of Sally Thorne's blockbuster hit The Hating Game and Christina Lauren's Dating You/Hating You. But If Not You's slow-burn romance has its own indelible footprint. Mattie's guarded viewpoint is convincing and specific: She grew up inside the wreckage of love gone wrong, with resentful absentee parents. Her and Campbell's relationship is complicated, and their build toward compassion and understanding as well as red-hot attraction is tantalizing in O'Clover's sure hands."--BookPage

Praise for Ellen O'Clover

"Ellen O'Clover is absolutely a romance voice to watch."--B.K. Borison, #1 New York Times bestselling author of And Now, Back to You

"Ellen O'Clover has such a talent for well-drawn characters and big feelings, I know I will be anticipating every single book she ever puts out."--Alicia Thompson, USA Today bestselling author of Never Been Shipped

"I can't wait to read whatever Ellen writes next!"--Kristina Forest, USA Today bestselling author of The Love Lyric

"Ellen O'Clover is brilliant." --Jessica Joyce, USA Today bestselling author of The Ex Vows

"Ellen O'Clover is one of the great talents of our time."--Anita Kelly, author of Love & Other Disasters

"I want to read everything Ellen O'Clover writes!"--Kayla Olson, USA Today bestselling author of The Lodge

About the Author

Ellen O'Clover writes stories about love, identity, and belonging for both teens and adults. She grew up in Ohio and studied creative writing at the Johns Hopkins University before moving west to Colorado, where she lives in a little green house under a giant aspen tree with her rocket scientist husband and two perfect bulldogs.