Review: TWICE IN A BLUE MOON by Christina Lauren

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
Also by this author: My Favorite Half-Night Stand, The Unhoneymooners

Published by Gallery Books on October 22, 2019
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
Pages: 368
Source: Netgalley
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FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TWICE IN A BLUE MOON Review

 

Tate Jones has a secret.  Her name is not actually Tate Jones; it’s Tate Butler and she is the long-lost daughter of legendary actor, Ian Butler.  After she got tired of Ian’s cheating ways, Tate’s mother filed for divorce, changed hers and Tate’s last names, and relocated to a remote community.  From those moments up until her eighteenth birthday, Tate has lived a completely sheltered life and, for her mother’s sake, has done her best to keep her true identity hidden.  When her Nana takes her on a two-week trip to London, it’s a much-needed taste of freedom for Tate and she decides to make the most of it.  She meets a handsome young man named Sam Brandis and over the course of those two weeks, she falls hard for him, so hard in fact that she confesses to Sam who she really is.  Imagine her surprise when Sam and his family abruptly checks out of the hotel without saying goodbye.  Then imagine her even bigger surprise when the paparazzi unexpectedly descends on her.  Tate unfortunately learns the hard way that her trust in Sam was misplaced.  Her world is irrevocably turned upside down.

Fast forward nearly fifteen years and Tate has followed in her father’s footsteps, becoming a successful actress in her own right.  She has signed on to play the lead role in a film that is so incredible on paper that she’s sure it will land her an Oscar nomination if she does her best work.  When she arrives on set, however, who does she come face to face with?  Sam Brandis, the young man who broke her heart and her trust all those years ago.  And even worse, he’s the writer who penned the script for her movie.  How does Tate confront Sam after all of these years?  Can she forgive him? Does he even deserve to be forgiven? And how is all of this awkwardness going to impact her work on this potentially career-making film?

 

*****

 

Christina Lauren’s latest novel Twice in a Blue Moon is a slight departure from the other books I’ve read from this amazing writing duo.  My prior experiences have been of the lively rom-com variety, filled with laugh-out-loud funny moments, while Twice in a Blue Moon comes across as a much more serious story.

While it wasn’t the light and funny story that I was expecting going in, Twice was still an entertaining and engaging read that features one of my favorite romantic tropes, the second chance romance.  After reading about Tate and Sam’s adventures in London as young adults and watching Tate fall in love for the first time only to have her heart broken, I was fully invested in seeing what happened when Tate and Sam met again and whether or not Sam could do anything to redeem himself and get Tate to forgive his betrayal.

I also just really liked Tate and felt tremendous sympathy for her. I can’t even imagine living a childhood where I had to hide who I was from everyone.  And then to finally confess your secret to someone, only to have them sell you out to the highest bidder?   All of that has got to take a psychological and emotional toll on a person and I thought Christina Lauren did a fantastic job of letting us into Tate’s headspace to experience all of her conflicting emotions, both of the moment of Sam’s initial betrayal and then again when they come face to face after so many years.  Sam was a great character too and so complex.  I loved that he was so genuinely likeable in those early London scenes that his betrayal came out of left field and had me anxiously flipping pages waiting for him to turn back up and give me a darn good reason for why he did what he did.

The one area of the book that didn’t work quite as well for me as I would have hoped was the filming of the movie.  Acting doesn’t really interest me so I got a little bored reading those scenes and the pages of script that were included.  The high point of the movie scenes were actually the secondary characters who were working on the film.  They were a lot of fun and I would have loved more time with them.  I’m sure the issue with the acting scenes is just a me thing though and even with that issue, I still really enjoyed the story overall.

While not my favorite book from Christina Lauren (that honor still goes to Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating), Twice in a Blue Moon is still a lovely read that fans of second chance romance are sure to enjoy.

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: 

Sam Brandis was Tate Jones’s first: Her first love. Her first everything. Including her first heartbreak.

During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world’s biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.

Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he’s the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it’s possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason… and whether “once in a lifetime” can come around twice.

With Christina Lauren’s signature “beautifully written and remarkably compelling” (Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author) prose and perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner, Twice in a Blue Moon is an unforgettable and moving novel of young love and second chances.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners and the “delectable, moving” (Entertainment Weekly) My Favorite Half-Night Stand comes a modern love story about what happens when your first love reenters your life when you least expect it…