From the Publisher:
A struggling writer is forced to walk down the aisle at her best friend’s wedding with the man who gave her book a very public one-star rating in this fresh romantic comedy from Laura Hankin.
Natalie and Rob couldn’t have less in common. Nat’s a messy artist, and Rob’s a rigid academic. The only thing they share is their devotion to their respective best friends—who just got engaged. Still, unexpected chemistry has Natalie cautiously optimistic about being maid of honor to Rob’s best man.
Until, minutes before the ceremony, Nat learns that Rob wrote a one-star review of her new novel, which has them both reeling: Nat from imposter syndrome, and Rob over the reason he needed to write it.
When the reception ends, these two opposites hope they’ll never meet again. But, as they slip from their twenties into their thirties, they’re forced together whenever their fast-track best friends celebrate another milestone. Through housewarmings and christenings, life-changing triumphs and failures, Natalie and Rob grapple with their own choices—and how your harshest critic can become your perfectly imperfect match.
After all, even the truest love stories sometimes need a bit of rewriting.
“Hankin performs a magic trick with this book, turning the most unlikeable (and relatable) of characters into flawed protagonists worth rooting for. Natalie and Rob are the definition of “right person, wrong time,” and because the story spans multiple years, we get the pleasure of seeing them make mistakes, grow up and grow together. It’s real, refreshing and romantic.” —The Washington Post
“Fans of not only romance but women’s fiction as well will enjoy this multilayered, realistic novel from Hankin.” —Library Journal
https://amzn.to/3KG70ii
This is the ultimate slow-burn romance, but also a testament to friendship. Natalie and Gabby have been best friends since freshman year of college through sharing a ratty NYC apartment. Rob and Angus have been best friends since middle school, when Angus befriended the new kid, Rob. Angus and Gabby are engaged, and that’s how Rob and Natalie meet. And meet again. Several times, over several years of parties, the wedding, weekend getaways, and more.
Initially, there is some attraction there, but then Natalie figures out that the one-star review on Goodreads of her first novel was turned in by, you guessed it, Rob. That starts a hate relationship between them that occasionally veers towards a less than platonic relationship, but never quite gets there. At least not for many years.
Natalie’s first novel features a main character loosely based on Angus. Natalie is jealous of her friend spending more time with him, but more than that, she just can’t understand what her beautiful, brilliant, kind friend sees in this man she thinks is mediocre at best. Gabby realizes it halfway through reading the novel, and never finishes it. Rob instantly recognizes Angus, hence the one-star review. Luckily, Angus never even reads it. It takes Natalie quite a few years to realize it was probably a mistake to use Angus like that.
Eventually, Rob gets engaged to Zuri, and Natalie is on the fence about moving in with her boyfriend. Ultimately, she decides to break up with him instead – she is self-aware enough to realize that she is not in love with him and won’t ever be – thanks to a frank chat with Rob.
Then Natalie and Gabby have a huge blow-up and stop speaking for over a year. The only good side of that is she no longer has to endure Rob. But then Angus sends an email that Gabby is sick, and Natalie drops everything to show up for her friend, as does Rob. This time, Rob and Natalie are both single, and things take a turn towards romance, even while they both are heartsick about Gabby’s illness.
There is a very happy ending for everyone, but I have to say this book touched a little too close to home for me. I was bawling for the last quarter of the book.
I, too, had a best friend for many years. We met when my husband, son and I rented half a duplex from her husband. Shortly after we moved in, they moved into the other half. We were inseparable for many years, considered ourselves to be Lucy & Ethel, and the biggest fight we had was over who was Lucy and who was Ethel.
Eventually, we each bought a home a few miles apart, but we stayed close. Our kids were friends, and we spent many holidays together. Then, one Easter dinner, she made a remark about my husband and our marriage that he took great offense to. I thought she was kidding, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that while I wanted her to be kidding, she wasn’t, and we stopped speaking for many years, other than to say hello if we ran into each other.
One day she came to see me at work and told me she had breast cancer. I was shocked, but she was very upbeat and positive that she would beat it – most women do. She was one of the healthiest women I knew, ate mostly organic, and ran miles every day. Turned out that she had a very aggressive form that had already spread to her lymph nodes. She had a full mastectomy, chemo, radiation, and many, many holistic treatments – her husband was constantly researching and taking her wherever they could find a glimmer of hope.
After several years of struggling with sickness and surgeries and horrible drugs and pain, she finally begged me and her other friends to talk her husband into stopping all these treatments. She was ready to go, but he wasn’t. It was just about impossible for him to do that, but she eventually prevailed. We lost her in 2005, this beautiful, generous, kind 46-year-old mother of three.
I finished this book right before bedtime and woke up every hour or so all night long. It’s been almost twenty years since I lost my friend, and I still have a lot of regrets that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Sorry I veered so far off in a book review, but obviously, this book touched a nerve. It is a wonderful, emotional read and I loved the premise, these characters, their friendship, and the slow burn of romance. Highly recommend!
6/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
ONE-STAR ROMANCE by Laura Hankin. Berkley (June 18, 2024). ISBN: 978-0593438213. 400p.
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