In her early twenties near the Christmas holidays, Laurie spots a man waiting on the street below from the top deck of a London bus. They make eye contact and have an inexplicably strong connection. Despite her inner voice telling her otherwise, Laurie doesn't get off the bus, and she and her best friend Sarah spend the next year searching London for the mystery man. She finds him the following Christmas when Sarah introduces him as Jack, her boyfriend. The rest of the book follows Laurie and Jack over the next several years, becoming close friends while dancing around the fact that they shared such a special moment as strangers when they first met.

A blurb described this as mix of 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Love Actually..' The vibes it gave me were more of David Nicholls' 'One Day.' The book often jumps through time fairly quickly, and it was because of this that I initially did have trouble believing that Laurie and Jack were as close friends as they said they were. That feeling faded throughout the book, especially as these two and their significant others are really the only characters that are purposely fleshed out. I'm a sucker for the "following-friends-over-time" plot, and while all of these stories usually have something about them I don't like, what drew me in with 'One Day in December' were some very beautiful observations in the writing. While not descriptive or particularly vivid, the writing has lovely stream-of-consciousness points about life.

The story is predictable, but it has a simple sweetness that is perfect for the upcoming holiday season. If you love your emotional rom-coms and stories that take place over long periods of time, check it out!

*A link to a blog review will follow shortly.

4.5 STARS - 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 (and a Dewey Divas and Dude pick!) 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."

One snowy day in December 2008 Laurie made eye contact with a man outside her bus. Their instant connection could be described as nothing less than love at first sight but a whole year of searching for him lead to nothing but disappointment. Well, that is until she meets him again, when he's introduced to her as her best friend's new boyfriend.

Over the next ten years, Laurie and Jack circle around each other both as friends and sometimes as something more, but always with those first moments of instant love as a cloud over them.

One Day in December made me cringe with anxiety, yell at the characters, and finally accept that their journey was long but it was theirs.

Ah, Laurie and Jack! A tale of angst and missed opportunity.

Being very honest, I wasn't in the mood for this when I started reading it because I didn't know what to expect. However, about four chapters in, I was charmed. Laurie is so great and the book has this subtle sense of humor that had me chuckling a few times. Definitely not a romcom but it helped keep things from getting too angsty.

My main issue with this book is wondering how to categorize it. It doesn't feel like romance really, more like women's fiction. But it's told from a dual POV so it doesn't really fit that either. And Jack's POV is needed because he's not easy to like for several parts of the book. Luckily Laurie is awesome so I never got discouraged.

I honestly wasn't sure how this book would end but I was please even if it felt a little rushed. I could also maybe have used a little more romance between the main characters. But I suppose the whole point is there multi-year journey and all of the turmoil they endure before they can be together. You're heart will definitely bleed for both of them.

I thought the writing was very well done, good pacing, great character development. I'm quite glad I read it. Just be warned that this is not a traditional romance novel and all should be well. It will satisfy a bit of your Christmas fix but I don't necessarily consider this a holiday novel.

I read this book almost in one day! I loved the writing style of Josie Silver and how she made these characters so real with very complex feelings and emotions. I loved all of the characters in the book, not only Jack and Laurie but also Sarah. This books is the definition of "it's complicated;" it tugged on my heart strings hard at certain moments, but also made me smile and laugh. I only wish that there was an epilogue! Definitely a great read. **ARC provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own**

Wow. What an amazing romantic book. Josie Silver has written such a touching and beautiful love story.

One Day in December is a lovely holiday offering by Josie Silver. This story covers the decade between when Laurie and Jack first make eye contact at a distance in December of 2008 and today.

Laurie had never believed in love at first sight, that is until it happens to her. On a snowy December evening, Laurie looks out the window of her double decker bus to make eye contact with a handsome stranger at the bus stop below. Something magical happens in that moment, but neither one is able to move quickly enough to meet on that fateful night.

Laurie and her best friend and flat mate Sarah spend much of the following year looking for “busboy” at bus stops, coffee shops, and evenings out without any luck. Just when Laurie has about given up, she does find him. However, she just happens to be introduced to Jack as the love of Sarah’s life.

The following decade is a mix of love and loss, missed opportunities and self sacrifice, all leading to what fate appears to have ordained on a snowy December night. This is the intertwining tale of three lovely people finding their way in an uncertain world. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it.

3.5 -4 stars

Time is such a cruel mistress. Chance encounters and near misses happen every day. What if you left the house 1 minute earlier? A minute later? Withheld a truth to spare someone's feelings? Would any of these seemingly insignificant things be enough to alter the trajectory of your entire life? I asked myself many of these questions while reading One Day in December and found myself devouring this book so I could find out what happens when you meet the right person at the wrong time.

As much as I enjoyed Laurie and Jack's story, I'm not sure if I truly loved it. It was well written (though a bit long) and poignant, but as much as I sympathized with the characters and their decisions, part of me wasn't sure if I truly wanted them to end up together. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't particularly feel the intense bond they shared or if so much "life" had happened over the span of this book. The story is told from both Jack and Laurie's POV, and illustrates just how different the perspectives of men and women can be. 10 years. 10 years of longing, tears, laughs, joys, ups, downs, distance, stolen moments, lovers, and heartbreaks. One issue I had with the time span was that I often had to check the date at the start of each chapter to determine how much time had passed for our characters. This broke up the flow of the book for me and was a bit distracting.

The book actually reminded me a lot of Renee Carlino's Blind Kiss, except One Day in December didn't quite evoke such ragey feelings in me. The book isn't as light and heartwarming as the blurb and cover make it sound though. The author does attempt to keep things lighter at times with references to famous rom coms and the wonderful cast of secondary characters added to the story, but besides Sara, everyone else was just a plot device or passing fancy. I actually liked Oscar a lot and felt more between him and Laurie than her and Jack. Ultimately, the book could be boiled down to one question for me. In life and love, is close enough, enough? Something Sara said about love not being a constant effort and that you shouldn't have to be someone even slightly different to who you really are, truly struck a chord with me. Though I don't agree with all the decisions these characters made over the 10 year span of this book, I did feel most were necessary for their character to truly grow and come into their own. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed (after all that build-up), but I was satisfied as I turned the last page.

Overall, One Day in December is a solid read that romantics at heart will adore.

*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book*

One cold day in December, Laurie is on a packed bus. Through the window, she sees a man sitting at a bus stop. Their eyes meet, they have a moment, and that is that - love at first sight. Laurie spends the next year looking for bus stop boy, but never finds him. Then, she finally meets him - when her best friend brings her new boyfriend to a party & introduces him as Jack. Laurie instantly realizes that Jack is bus boy, but knows that she can never tell her best friend that she's found him.
What follows is almost a decade of missed opportunities. Laurie & Jack build a friendship that stands the test of time, but there are a lot of life events that get in the way. Both of them have dark moments, good times, and sweet memories. But will they find each other in the end?
I loved this book. I thought it was a really cute story, and the author did a great job of developing the love at first sight concept & all of the friendships. This could've been awkward & gone very wrong, but she didn't let the missed opportunities take over the relationships and outshine them. I felt for Jack & Laurie - I felt their heartbreak, their love, their friendship, and their frustration.
The end was so cute! It gave me a very Sleepless in Seattle vibe and totally warmed my heart. I was very satisfied with it.

A woman and a man spot each other through the window of a bus and they both feel a spark, but before either can act, the bus pulls away!

Now, before you go thinking this is one of those missed connection-they spend the whole book missing each other, let me continue! Laurie tells her roommate Sarah about this, and they are constantly on the lookout for bus-boy. Now, much to Laurie's surprise, Christmas comes and Sarah brings home her new boyfriend, none other than bus-boy (Jack)!

As you can imagine, this is not just any love triangle, but things can get rather intense here. I was somewhat expecting this to be a bit of a Something Borrowed story, which is a favorite of mine, but it took a rather different path, which still ended up being amazing. My heart ached for these characters at times and I wanted to shake them and scream at other times but I can't say enough good things about this book!

An Absolute Heartbreaker.

One Day in December starts with a magical meet cute where Laurie's bus pulls up at Jack's stop and their eyes meet. A year later, Jack turns up - he's dating Laurie's best friend & roommate. The story chronicles their friendships and lives over nearly 10 years. If you thought fate was a cruel mistress, serendipity is no better.

I loved the meet cute and the vividness of Silver's characters, but ultimately showing the evolution of friendships over nearly a decade drags down the pace of the story.

Ideal for fans of Helen Fielding, Sophie Kinsella and David Nicholls' One Day.

3.5 stars

When I first heard about this book, it was being compared to When Harry Met Sally, and I guess I see some of that in there, but when I started reading it, the emotions it evoked were more closely tied with my experience reading Love, Rosie. Rosie was a solid 5-star read for me, but it was an emotional roller coaster, and like Love, Rosie, One Day in December was a ride I was so glad I had taken.

Could you imagine a missed opportunity, that turned into a year long search, just to end in that one special someone being your best friend's one special someone? Well, that's what happened to Laurie, and her pain and emotional struggle with the discovery made me gasp and get a little teary eyed, and it did not end there.

With each beginning and ending that Laurie, Sarah, and Jack endured, I shed tears - both of joy and sadness. I cheered for them, and I ached for them, and that is quite a testament to how well Silver crafted this story and these characters, because I cared so much about what happened to them.

She gave them many beautiful things, and though I was was sad that Jack and Laurie kept missing their opportunity, I was happy for the things that did come their way.

Listen, a decade is a long time to be involved in a character's life. There were many ups and downs, and Silver kept breaking my heart and filling it up. I read this book on a Saturday, and therefore was able to do ample updates. At one point, one of my blogger friends reached out to me. That's how emotional I was about this book.

Don't worry, though. As I write this, I am thinking about the ending, and how amazing it was. I have a few happy tears in my eyes, and a huge smile on my face. So, all I have to say about this book is that it was an emotional trip worth taking.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic! One of my new favorite authors!

Laurie sees a man at a georgeous man at a bus stop. When he looks back, she believes he is the man for her. After searching for him for a year, she finally meets him when she is introduced as her girlfriend, Sarah’s, new boyfriend. The triangle than ensues over the next ten years gives you an emotional ride.

The characters in this book are so rich you are invested in them from the start. You feel their happiness and their pain. You will laugh out loud. The pain in your chest when they falter will be real. The story line is so much more than the typical boy meets girl.

I cannot praise this book enough! Be sure to buy it today.

This book packs a fucking punch. So much so that I read it all in one sitting. That right there is what had me go from 4.5 stars to 5. From the blurb, I was expecting a light book with maybe a little angst. A girl sees a boy from the seat of her bus one snowy evening in December. They share a connection and he almost gets on that bus but misses it. Then she spends the better part of a year looking for him. I figured the book would be her journey in finding him. Instead, she finds him at the end of that year when Sarah, her best friend and roommate, introduces him as HER boyfriend. This book spans over a decade and there's so much love, angst, and more. It's an emotional journey for all of them. Laurie and Sarah are the best of friends and more like sisters. I absolutely adored their friendship. We're treated to both Laurie and Jack falling in love with other people, forming and falling out of friendships, losing people close to them, and new opportunities that takes them to new places. They were complex characters that had so much depth to them. The reader watches them go through so much in this book and you really feel what they're going through. Josie Silver writes well-rounded characters that make you love and hate them at different times. There were times were I wanted them to be together so badly and other times where I didn't think they were right for each other anymore. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions for all the characters in the book. This was a slow burn romance but full of heart, heartbreak, and happiness. It takes you all over the world and you almost feel like you're there with them when you're reading it. I think my favorite part was the ending because I could so clearly see it happening on the big screen. This book was nothing like I expected it to be. It was just so much MORE. I almost wish I could read it again for the first time. I will definitely be reading anything that Josie Silver publishes in the future!

A unique story spanning a decade of love, loss and love again. I enjoyed the characters and storyline.

Did not finish. The book kind of lost my interest when neither character really seemed to try to connect. I also didn't really find the friendship very compelling. After it was revealed that Laurie is in love with her best friend's new boyfriend, I kind of lost interest.

One Day In December by author Josie Silver is a warm and cozy love story! The characters are well structured and they leave a mark in your heart after reading. The plot was wonderful and it reads easily and you are able to follow nicely. I thoroughly enjoyed A Day In December which isn’t my usual genre, so glad I tried this one!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of A Day In December in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this, more than I ever imagined. The characters grabbed me from the very beginning and the hopeful search for the mystery man made me love him too. It really was a whirlwind, growing with the characters as they grow. I really loved it. This is exactly what I look for in a story! It's the kind of story that gives you a sense that there's hope for you too.

This one dragged on for me. I do enjoy Josie Silver's writing very much, but what promised to be "When Harry Met Sally" meets "Love Actually" didn't deliver for me. And I love a good romantic love story, but I just wasn't sold and found myself not rooting for anyone halfway through the book. But I did like Silver's style of writing, so I will seek her out in the future. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

It was love at first sight. Whether you believe in that sort of thing or not, when Laurie locked eyes with Jack from her seat on a London bus, she knew fate had just crossed her path and she had finally found her one. Except when the bus pulls off, and Laurie is left only with a mirage of the man she knows she is supposed to be with for the rest of her life.

For a year, Laurie pines after Jack, the bus stop stranger, even writing him into her New Year’s resolution - “I will find the stranger from the bus stop.” Laurie has almost all but given up hope of ever finding Jack until the day that her best friend Sarah brings him home to their shared flat and introduces him to Laurie as her new, incredible boyfriend, the love of her life, the man she is going to marry. Laurie’s world has just dropped out from below her, and she suddenly finds herself torn between her best friend and the man of her dreams.

Debut author Josie Silver’s One Day in December is a magical, masterful story of love and love lost. Told in alternating perspectives by both Laurie and Jack, One Day in December follows the two throughout the years as they try to come to terms with their feelings for each other in the wake of unexpected, and rather unfortunate, circumstances.

I loved this book because Silver does a wonderful job of painting a complete picture of her characters. Readers really get to know Laurie and Jack and their personalities. By the end of the book, I felt like I was in their circle of friends and invested in their relationship, however you define it.

I enjoyed how Silver took us on the entire journey of their relationship, with the novel spanning nine long years. Readers follow Laurie and Jack through the ups and downs, the highs and lows, careers and relationships, and just life in general. Very well-written, thought-provoking, and atmospheric, Laurie and Jack’s story will stay with readers long after they close the covers of the book.

Sure to be savored by romance lovers and romantics at heart, One Day in December is a poignant, heartwarming novel, and is a perfectly cozy read to pick up for the holiday season.