One Day in December

Author: Josie Silver
Genre: Women's Fiction
Type: e-book
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Crown Publishing
First Published: Oct 16, 2018
First Line: "It's a wonder everyone who uses public transport in winter doesn't keel over and die of germ overload."

Book Description from GoodReads: A love story about what happens after you meet, or rather, don't meet the one.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.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

My Review:

This romantic dramedy is perfect for fans of When Harry Met Sally, Me Before You and Notting Hill.  Readers heart strings and funny bone will be equally pulled/tickled as they witness the sometimes tumultuous and complicated love life of Laurie James and her ‘bus boy’ – a man who catches her eye and heart in one brief encounter on a December afternoon.  They experience love at first sight but are unable to meet in person at that moment, so their connection haunts both of them until they are suddenly thrown together and unable to act on their feelings.

The story has likeable, believable characters and is a slow-burn kind of read since the story is told, via different points of view, over a decade. The timeline and POVs are woven together well and I enjoyed getting a bird’s eye view of the interconnected relationships of these friends and lovers.  Normally, I’m not a huge romance reader – I find them often to have quite an ‘ode de fromage’ feel but this light-hearted romance touches on some serious topics and how it handles its complicated relationships makes it more than a simple romance.

One Day in December is a wonderful, escapist-type read that I read in just over one day. While it is a romantic dramedy, the addition of its deeper moments about friendship, love, loss, regret and missed opportunities make it a book that will appeal to many different readers.

Favourite Quote: "You tread lightly through life, but you leave deep footprints that are hard for other people to fill."