Many thanks to NetGalley, Crown, and Josie Silver for the opportunity to read and review this book - 5 glowing stars, addictive read!

My taste generally runs to the psychological thriller genre so when I started this book, I thought I was in for 400 pages of fluff. Not that there's anything wrong with fluff - sometimes you need it to clear your mind from all the other dark stuff! But I couldn't have been more wrong about this book - I loved it. This is the book that will bring to mind your favorite Christmas movies - the ones that just make you feel good and that you feel vested in.

Laurie had a tough day - her job situation was rather bleak and life after university wasn't turning out quite as planned. She was on the bus home when she glanced out the window and magic struck. A man was waiting for a bus, reading a book, and they both shared a glance. But what a glance - can you fall in love instantly? As fate would have it, they didn't connect that day and Laurie spent the next year looking for "bus boy" with no success. Until the party when her best friend in the world introduces Laurie to her new boyfriend, Jack, who of course is "bus boy." The story of the next ten years is told in the viewpoints of both Jack and Laurie, giving us a back stage look into their lives.

Silver's story grips you and you won't be able to put this book down until you get to the end to see how it all works out. I loved the characters, the writing, this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a chance to read this book! This story is centered around the life and loves of Laurie after she finishes uni. The book begins with a bang, with the "love at first sight" scene between Laurie and Jack. This sets the scene for the rest of the book, where Laurie and James are constantly in each other's lives but unable to be together. This was frustrating to me at times, because it seemed like all the characters kept making bad decisions and not communicating openly. This seemed to repeat again and again with the story only picking up pace towards the final third of the book. However, there are some scenes which were genuinely touching and well written (illness and death of Laurie's dad). Overall, not a bad read, good if you want something fast and easy to read.

I really enjoyed this and felt very close to the characters. I loved Lu and Sarah's friendship and the twists involved there. Really enjoyed that it spanned over many years of ups and downs in these characters' lives. Wished for an epilogue though!! The ending was perfect!

December.
This story starts and ends on One Day in December. Laurie James is on the bus home for Christmas Holiday, when she spots a handsome stranger and it's instantly love at first sight, but when the bus door closes... so does the chances of seeing him again. One year later, after constant searching for a year, she sees him again, but this time Jack is dating her radiant best friend Sarah. Crushed, Laurie keeps these feelings bottled up herself, but so does Jack. And so begins their "forbidden love" for the next 10 years.

This book was an absolute joy to read. It's a feel-good romance with loads of relatable humor. As a twenty-something year old, I couldn't help but relate entirely to this story and the struggles of young adulthood. Although the plot revolves around romance, it also has bits of sadness and grief and tremendous amounts of aspirations and goals.

This book is definitely one to read for the upcoming cozy winter months! It leaves you not wanting to regret anything in life and to strive for something greater!!

Thank you Crown Publishing for the e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion!

One Day in December is more than your typical romance. It's about friendship, missed opportunities, and fate. Josie Silver wrote characters that are extremely likeable, it felt like I was reading about my best friends. The story is told over nine years, from Laurie and Jack's perspectives. I really enjoyed the long time frame and multiple perspectives, it created a very well-rounded story. This is the perfect book to read curled up with a blanket and hot chocolate by the fire this winter!!

Thanks to Josie Silver, Crown Publishing, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Such a great book from start to finish! Love triangles are done a lot and I don’t always enjoy them but the characters and writing of this book made it so great to read I didn’t even mind the love triangle. I loved Laurie and Jack and was anticipated every scene I could read of them together. Such a heartwarming story about true love and connections and choices we make in our lives I loved every second of it and can’t wait to read more by this author!

One Day in December absolutely exceeded my expectations! Josie Silver is a lovely writer and the I flew threw the story. I could not wait to find out what happens. Everything ends up so PERFECT and it is just the kind of book you need to warm your heart right up. Such a sweet story.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the push and pull between the main characters in this romance. I thought it was well written and LOVED the heroine. Laurie was easy to identify with and I loved her tenacity. The author's choice to develop Jack's character into somewhat of a playboy without feelings towards the end of the book was a distasteful choice. I was nearly to the point of disinterest in their HEA because of it.

Pretty much a novel alternative to Love, Actually – which isn’t a bad thing! This was a perfect feel-good book to read while getting all cosied up. It starts off super emotional and balances itself out, and I genuinely enjoyed it. It was a bit too simple for my taste and I feel like there could have been a bit more depth. The cover is gorgeous and it makes for a wonderful holiday read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Broadway Books for this free copy in exchange for an honest review. #partner
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Falling in love at first sight. We’ve all read about it and the characters change but the premise remains the same. You’d think we’d tire of this trope but nope it lives and with One Day in December it come back to remind us why we still flock to this idea. One day in December Laurie James is coming from a long day off a job she doesn’t like and just looking forward to the upcoming holidays. She looks out her bus and through the misty windows sees bus boy. A man that’s waiting for the bus while reading a book (Josie Silver sure knows how to get us), their eyes meet and it is love at first sight. Unfortunately, the bus goes away and takes their love away with it. For twelve months Laurie searches for bus boy at every cafe and bar she goes. She is convinced that bus boy is the love of her life. One day she finally finds him, only he’s introduced as her best friends boyfriend, Jack O’Mara. Fate can suck balls because they’re finally reunited in the worst of circumstances.
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The love that is portrayed is so amazing that you root for them, all the while it breaks your heart. We are taken through ten years of their missed opportunities, heartbreak and such an amazing friendship. I loved Sarah (the best friend) and every character that was introduced was solid. We follow the characters through big events in the span of a decade. We get to know their strengths and weaknesses. We get to know their celebrations and sorrows. It was just beyond words, so worth losing sleep. Read it!! This is a romance novel that deserves a movie and I will be there for it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

December 21, 2008

Laurie works at the reception desk of a hotel in London. She has just finished her last shift before heading to her parents’ home in the Midlands for Christmas. Riding the double decker bus to her flat, her attention is drawn to a handsome guy waiting at a bus stop. Their eyes meet and it’s instant attraction. But just as he decides to get on the bus, it drives off leaving Laurie devastated. Having told her friends about bus-boy as she calls him, everywhere she goes, she looks for him in the crowds.

Laurie and Sarah are roommates and Sarah is always trying to pair Laurie up with someone and get her to stop thinking about bus boy. But when Laurie finally meets Jack, the guy Sarah is crazy about, it’s bus boy! She can’t let Sarah know it’s him. They are best friends and she wouldn’t hurt her friend for anything. Secretly, Laurie and Jack are attracted to one another but stay away from one another so they don’t hurt Sarah.

When Laurie’s father has a heart attack, she quits her job to care for him and her mother. Some months later, Laurie decides to spend a few months in Thailand before returning home and getting another job. There, she meets Oscar, a wealthy British man. They have such fun together and fall in love. Back home, Laurie and Oscar decide to get married, but when Oscar starts working in Brussels several days of the week, their marriage begins to break down.

This story follows these characters through different steps in their lives as they find new loves and jobs. They are all close friends and keep in touch. Can all of them find true happiness?

While it’s a long story told over a number of years, it’s also very well-written. We see how good friendships are for life and we see how true love is hard to find. Don’t miss it.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

My Rating:

4.5

Favorite Quotes:

‘I’ve got a date next week… I met him in a lift. I held him to ransom with the stop button until he agreed to ask me out.’ I really need to take life lessons from Sarah… I need to make ‘What would Sarah do?’ my life motto.

I’ll have to take a rain check. I’ve got a double date tonight with Ben and Jerry. They’re sweet… We’re going to work our way through the Karamel Sutra. It’s going to be a thrill a minute.

If I tell you something, do you promise to never tell another living soul, not even a goldfish?

I’ve only met Oscar’s brother once before. All I can recall is that Gerry doesn’t seem to be much like his easy-going younger brother, and his poker-thin wife, Felicity, looks as if she exists on fresh air and Chanel No. 5.

… how very tangled and complicated our lives have become over the years. We are a triangle, but our sides have kept changing length. Nothing has ever quite been equal. Perhaps it’s time to learn how to stand on our own, rather than lean on each other.

My Review:

A pair of strangers shared a fleeting connection when their eyes met and locked at a bus stop. Laurie was on the crowded bus, while Jack was sitting at the bus stop. They did not speak to each other but their profound gaze left a deep and lasting impression before the bus pulled away and parted them yet again. Neither ever forgot that interaction and though they had each searched, they did not meet up again until Laurie’s roommate, Sarah, introduced Jack as her new boyfriend a year later. Oops, what a mess… but what to do about it? Denial and avoidance was apparently the unspoken plan. This engaging tale covers a decade of unfortunately bad timing in the life these two conflicted soul mates as well as their small group of friends. Written in my favorite dual POV, this clever scribe’s writing was crisp and sparkled with wit and levity during the first half, although, to my consternation, grew steadily heavier with angst and conflict as the characters matured and struggled with various life stressors, relationships foibles, family, and work issues. I was running out of pages and hope for resolution when the crafty author pulled a sly and smooth move, which provided that much desired and highly satisfactory HEA. This was my first exposure to the delightful Josie Silver – what a trickster!

New additions to my Brit Vocabulary List include squiffy which Mr. Google said was a stuffy or overheated room; naff - which apparently has several meanings such as tacky, lame or uncool, and go away; and my new favorite of cock-a-hoop which means highly pleased or excited. I’m cock-a-hoop to have found a new author to fangirl.

The potential angst in this book, combined with the beautiful illustrated cover were the biggest drawing points when I spotted One Day in December. I've never read a book by this author before, but the total package being presented was appealing to me in every way, so I had to have it. Based on the blurb, I knew I was taking a bit of a risk because it seemed to be a bit of a love triangle, and honestly I avoid those books like the plague. Not to say I could never read one that I'll like, but from my experience, the vast majority are not enjoyable so I don't fight the odds. However, my curiosity got the better of me, and I went all in. Thankfully, I can say with all honesty that though that trope is present in the first half, it's not the overwhelming feel of the book. Not at all. I would describe this story as more of a friends to lovers trope, minus the lovers. And that's probably what ended up being the biggest disappointment.

Love at first sight is the other trope that can be found in the story. This is another one that doesn't always work for me, but if the author can sell it to me, my squishy romantic heart will happily beat double time. Realistically, it is a little far-fetched that a woman locks eyes with a man outside while sitting on a bus, and hears a metaphorical choir of angels singing true love. I'm not sure it felt completely genuine to me at that point, but it did seem as if she had a massive crush at first sight. And I won't deny that was exciting and a little bit exhilarating to feel the giddiness she experienced.

For months, Laurie daydreamed about fate bringing them together again, fall into each other's arms, and live happily ever after. I didn't ever feel that Jack felt the same, probably because from the moment she set eyes on him again, he was very happily in a committed relationship with Sarah. If you can believe that someone can be in love with two people at the same time, perhaps it's possible. Maybe Jack did love her at first sight, and loved her with the same intensity he loved Sarah. I just didn't feel it. Which in turn, made me not care too much about the fact that they were separated and unable to be together. They were pushed firmly in the friend zone, they became friends over time, and Laurie eventually had to let go of her idealistic dream she had when she briefly spotted him first. In fact, it was actually their friendship over time that made me believe more than anything that they could eventually be more if not for their circumstances.

From the very start, it seemed as if Jack and Laurie were fated to remain friends. As we're led through the ups and downs of his relationship with Sarah and Laurie, it was almost like walking through a minefield with them. There's a wistful feeling from both, as if they have a "what if" thought in the back of their minds. But really, how could it ever go anywhere? After four long years of sustaining a serious relationship, Jack and Sarah split up, but now the friend code comes into play! Throughout the years, I didn't feel much romantic angst. And unfortunately that's what I was going into this looking for. It's very hard to feel romantic angst and a tangible connection between two people who are making a valiant effort to be happy with other people. Over and over, for a decade. Poor choices are made, and there are hurt feelings all around with the trio, but did I root for them to get together? Not really.

It would have greatly changed my feelings if less detail were put into this couple's relationships with other people, and we were given more page time seeing Jack and Laurie together. I felt shorted on their actual romance. The end is undeniably rom-com perfect and movie worthy. But it was all too little, too late, for this reader. I struggled between a rating of a two and three. Two is my overall feel for the romance and the characters, and yet there is an addictive quality about the book that held me captive. I flew through its 400 pages almost in one sitting, and the humor was especially noteworthy. I would definitely read another by this author, but it was clear by the end that while I was entertained and intrigued, this time around I was not charmed by the romance.

Imagine sitting on a bus, mindlessly people watching. You make eye contact with an attractive man at a bus stop along your route, and a connection is made. Before either of you can act, the bus pulls away. You spend a year trying to cross paths with this stranger that you've fallen in love with, but you don't find him.

When you finally do meet him, after giving up hope, you learn he is no longer free to pursue a relationship. A friendship forms, but there's this undercurrent coloring your encounters with him. Does he also remember you? Did it impact him as much as it did you?

Themes of family, friendship, and loyalty come up time and again. If you like to be filled with angst as you witness love triangles and be generally frustrated as hurdle after hurdle appears, this book is for you. There appears to be a perfect way to resolve the issues, but through lack of action or lack of communication, complications abound. I admit I was sometimes annoyed at the characters, but I can imagine this becoming a popular chick flick if turned into a movie.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Crown Publishing in exchange for my honest review.)

One Day in December by Josie Silver is a love story that will have you believing in love at first sight and then leave you in an emotional mess. The novel also looks at friendship and finding oneself through its cast of interesting characters. When the reader gets to the dramatic conclusion, the story is reminiscent of a classic movie.

Although the title might lead one to believe that the book is about one day in December, it actually takes place over the span of a few years. Silver uses the chance encounter to set the stage for the novel and then adds quite a few layers of character development that allows the characters to change and grow. I really enjoyed reading about Laurie and her struggles with her career. Her character is determined and head strong, which I found to be an engaging quality.

At first, I was worried about a love triangle, but it wasn’t like that at all. Because Laurie is one of those types of people who picks up the pieces and moves forward, so does the plot. The amazing friendship between Laurie and Sarah becomes the focus and it is so wonderful to read a story about women who have each other’s backs. This was my favourite aspect of the book by far.

Once the book comes full circle, the drama goes full tilt. The ending is something that you might find straight out of a movie like An Affair to Remember. The number of times that Laurie and Jack are close to finding each other and then don’t just gives me a Cary Grant/Deborah Kerr vibe. The message here is: love is something that will endure whatever is thrown at it.

If you are a fan of melodrama and love stories, I highly suggest giving One Day in December a read. The characters are well-developed, and the friendship between the two women is admirable. You will want to stock up on some tissues for the ending, trust me on that one!

Thank you Crown Publishing and Broadway Books for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review. 

Picture seeing the man of your dreams, the love of your life, through a fogged-up bus window and you can't leave to meet him. You both exchange glances and then spend the next year of your life in search for him. Just before the year is over, you find him, but he's dating your best friend. What do you do? This book takes place in a span of ten years, begging you to follow along and see if they ever get together in the end.

The best part about this book? It’s great to read all-year round, not just at Christmas! It’s utterly adorable with a perfect ending. All about finding love at first sight. This takes place in a span of ten years which is pretty cool! I wish there was a bit more detail in some of the years, but I understand that the book would be forever long. I still left feeling all warm and cozy with this read.

4/5 Stars

Sometimes, even if you know the outcome of a situation, you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. That's how I felt reading this book. This isn't your average "boy meets girl" romance, there is quite a journey involved taking place over ten years. It was fun to see the characters develop and quite a few pop culture references thrown in as well. In addition to romance, we even get family ties and friendship thrown in as well.

If you're looking for a light read taking place in England, told in alternating voices, then this the book for you.

I received this book from Net Galley for honest and impartial review

After I requested this book, I wondered why in the world I chose a cheesy romance novel. I debated not even reading it. But I did. And I have to say, I tried not to like this book and I still did. I still rooted for Laurie and Jack, and even Sarah and Oscar as the romantic foils weren't villains, but real, complex likable people. All the characters are well developed with issues and problems that aren't easily resolved except over time and with great love. Perhaps that's the best thing about this book: the hope that love can make us better people in all its forms. I'm very glad I chose to read this after all.

One Day in December is an emotionally intense and ultimately heartwarming novel about Laurie, a woman who feels an immediate connection with someone she sees on the street as she sits on the bus. Her journey and her voice are relatable as she wrestles with her feelings and whether or not to pursue them.. Both her and the reader must ask themselves about what it means to be "meant to be". I gobbled up the book in a weekend as I could not wait to see how Laurie's life turned out. Josie Silver's writing is so warm and engaging that it is a joy to curl up with this book. Reminiscent of David Nicholls' "One Day".

<i>One Day</i> is one of my favorite books that I'll never read again, and it has forever made me hesitant of books like this. Still, I like to remind myself that I am not cold and heartless and love love.

This book did not disappoint me in making me tear up and remember how much I like romance and love, and that time is just another factor of life. This book is both a comfort of romance tropes and fresh at the same time. It's both realistic and hopeful, having me praying a few times that what I feared would happen would. Laurie, though a journalist (sigh), grows up well over the 9 years of the book.
It would make a good holiday movie for sure - one that I'll read and watch over and over.

4.5/5 stars easily. If you need a good holiday romance book, this is yours for 2018.