One Day in December...#BookReview

About the book:
Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.

Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.

Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.

What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered.
One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.

Laurie is sitting on a bus and, at a stop, looks out the window and locks eyes with a man and instantly falls in love. The feeling seems mutual, but the man can't get onto the bus in time and the moment is lost. Laurie spends the next year searching for Bus Boy everywhere she goes. When she finally finds him, he's her best friend's new boyfriend.

I purchased this book because I loved the premise: a missed meet cute. Then it languished in my bedside TBR for a couple of years. I picked it up again, hoping for a light, entertaining read.

The novel tries for a Love Actually-type moment and misses. And honestly, I like Love Actually, I really do, but it's full of unhealthy relationships and situations. This felt more like a sitcom where the leads finally get together at the end of the series, but lacked the initial charm that many sitcoms have.

The alternating first person narrative wasn't terrible, but the entire story was flat and, honestly, exhausting.

Something I dislike about romance novels is the purposeful non-communication for effect. Laurie and Jack have 10 years of it. It was tiresome. Truly tiresome. Just say how you feel already. I finally skimmed the story to get to the end. And the end was cute, absolutely sitcom worthy, it was just 10 years too late in coming.

I don't like writing negative reviews, because I know that authors put their heart and soul into a story. I also know that not every story is right for every person who reads it. However, I appreciate negative reviews, when I'm looking for a book to read. This one definitely has an audience, Reese recommended it, and people love it; I'm just not one of them. 

For a different perspective from those who loved this story, check out: Always with A Book, and megsbookrack.

2 Stars because the premise is darling, even if the execution was flawed.

Read 3/23

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2/5 Stars

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