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 the story she’s crafted for her and Campbell over the years might need a new ending.
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 the story she’s crafted for her and Campbell over the years might need a new ending.
Title: If Not You
Author: Ellen O'Clover
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Expected Publication Date: September 15, 2026
Review:
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I absolutely adored O'Clover's Heartbreak Hotel. As soon as I finished it, I knew she would be an auto-read author for me. She has an uncanny way of making me feel every single emotion from her characters. They feel totally genuine and real. When I saw this title available, I had to have it and read it. I absolutely adored this one as much as the other!
I really enjoy when an author builds the relationship between two characters by using flashbacks. O'Clover employed that technique here and it helped cement the emotions and underlying animosity we saw between Mattie and Campbell. From page one, I was invested in these two. I needed to watch them resolve their issues and see how that would help them turn into something more.
Mattie's inability to trust was the biggest issue in this book. She absolutely had difficulty understanding that relationships can grow and change without dissolving. Watching her struggle with this was so hard. I kept wanting to help her understand things could be good and fun and not just work. That she didn't need to constantly feel the need to prove herself (though I didn't understand the worry about being a woman in a male dominated work field). Given her past relationship with her parents, her fears were understandable. I do wish there would have been more showing of this, perhaps in the flashbacks, rather than Mattie telling us about it. But, alas, that did not happen.
Campbell, while coming off a bit arrogant, really is not. He has his own fears and vulnerabilities. His family situation is addressed more so than Mattie's during the story. I loved his relationship with his family. How they cared for him. My heart hurt for him because of his father's illness and how that affected how he saw himself. He is such a golden retriever of a character once you get to really start to see what's underneath his skin.
The actual plot was really great. I don't know much about advertising so I cannot say if it's accurate, but it seemed so to me. The idea of having these teams work against and with each other to see the best fit for the company was interesting. I loved where they gathered and now it was all described. It was easy to picture it all.
Above all, Mattie and Campbell have amazing banter and chemistry. It's easy to see how they fit together.
The side characters in this book were also fantastic. Each with their own development. Dexter was a great friend to Mattie, even if she did keep him a bit at arm's length. And Ava, her best friend for so long, really wanted her to just be happy. All the side characters really and truly leant so much to the story. It's nice to see characters who are important and not just plunked into the story as filler.
I will say this book is filled with angst. If that is not your cup of tea, just beware. There's a lot of it. And quite a bit of miscommunication that did get just a bit frustrating at times.
Despite the things that may have annoyed me, I absolutely adored this story. And I really loved the snippet of O'Clover's new story that will be out next year. I definitely wet my appetite to want to read it. I will definitely be recommending O'Clover to any of my friends and readers who love some enemies to lovers with pining romance!
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. Her debut young adult novel, Seven Percent of Ro Devereux, was named a Best Book of the Year by The Bank Street Center for Children’s Education and a finalist for both the Colorado Book Award and the Florida Sunshine Young Readers Award. Her debut adult romance, The Heartbreak Hotel, comes out in September 2025 with Berkley/Penguin Random House. Ellen lives near Boulder with her rocket scientist husband and two perfect bulldogs.
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