I haven't read any of this authors books and I don't usually read romance books, but this one caught my eye for "second chance love". I don't know what I expected, but for me it was just o.k. There seemed to be so many competing storylines or maybe just elements of storylines, and I don't feel many were very well developed enough for me. I enjoyed parts of it, but was left with a feeling of wanting more. I think it could have been a really good book if the author had taken more time with the character development. It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't the right book for me, I think. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I'll admit this is not my favorite book by Lauren. While I loved the first portion of the book, young loves in London, the second part was a bit drawn out. Books about celebrities are hard to read, there's always paparazzi, scandal and naivety. When Tate and Sam were younger everything was easy until Sam made an important decision. Looking back, I think Tate could have figured it all out easily if she just paid attention. She's a bit self absorbed, thanks to her dad and his selfish personality. Even later when Sam and Tate work together she's oblivious to the background of the movie. I really wanted to enjoy their story but the characters just didn't jump out at me and the flow was a bit stuttered. Netgalley provided my early copy, review was voluntary.

Twice in a Blue Moon is a fabulous second chance romance. Prepare to be swept away by beautiful scenery, exquisite travels, romance, love, heartache, disappointment, and impossible choices.

Sam and Tait are full of hopes and dreams. Sam is a romantic who wears his heart on his sleeve and Tait has lived a sheltered life and is finally getting a small taste of freedom, so it’s unsurprising that during a chance meeting in London sparks fly and these two find themselves falling hard and fast. What comes next will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Vibrant and brilliant storytelling, timed to perfection, magnificent character development~ Twice in a Blue Moon exceeds expectations on every level.

Not my first read by the author but I think my official blog review. I haven’t read enough to remember the style very well, so I was kind of going in blind-ish! I will say on a side note that it did take me a little to pick up on this one.

Tate & Sam met during a vacation in London. When they met it was at unhappy times, see Sam was going through something and Tate well she was just being the 18 year old self. [Sam is 21] so when they spend 2 beautiful and sweet weeks together where secrets, passion and kisses were shared. Only, when Tate feels betrayed…she blames the only person who could have done it. Sam. Where do they go from there? Well, more then a decade later when they cross path’s again…it is when Tate is a famous actress on a rise to more stardom. Forced to work together, old feelings come boiling up and they both have no other choice then to address the big elephant in the room. Which sounds like a great idea right? Well, some things are better meant to stay under the rug.

Things that drove me nuts a little: a lot of side characters that were sort of thrown in, I wasn’t sure why and what they contributed to the story at times. It didn’t pick up for me until later, but I really did enjoy the ending. Again, I think mainly the side characters that kind of threw me off at times. Other then that, I enjoyed the story line and the main characters.

Rating: ★★★★
Romance: ♡♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥
Type: Standalone
Recommended: ☑
⇨ H A P P Y – R E A D I N G ⇦

I am all about a Christina Lauren novel but this one didn’t have the sharp wit and banter that I’ve come to expect from their novels. This one felt more like a Hallmark movie for me. A little too much sweet and romantic for me.

This was a bit disappointing for me, There was a lot of story (first love, betrayal, racism, second chance, parental issues, life on a film set) and I feel that this led to none of these great story lines getting the attention they deserved. I also struggled significantly with Tate. I found the younger Tate very immature and her actions incredibly naive. Even 14 years later as a successful adult, she's still looking for her father's approval and (in my opinion) living life with blinders on. Her first love, Sam, seems to be a shadow of a character. We don't learn enough about him to invest in Tate giving him a second chance.

I would have loved to see Luther and Roberta get more page time. Their story of overcoming racism in the 80s had a lot of potential. It was interesting to have their romance play out through Tate's eyes and the film, but it fell flat towards the end, much like the rest of the subplots. Towards the end I found myself skipping ahead because it felt like there wasn't anything important being said.

One positive for me is Christina Lauren's ability to draw me right into the setting. I felt I was right there with Sam and Tate in their private garden and again on the film set. I loved how the authors gave some insight on how a movie plays out (which I suspect is first hand knowledge for them with production of Roomies).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for honest feedback.

***ARC received for an honest review***

Good luck making sense of this review. I’ve pondered how to write it - spoiler free and yet still sensical. Not sure that’s possible. I also cannot arrive at a rating. 2 stars? 3? I don’t know.

This book is full of buts. And not the fun kind. I enjoyed it. But I always knew that I was reading. I was never lost in it. I liked Tate. But Tate’s decisions made it impossible to respect her. The hero is the time-worn gentle giant. But he’s pretty gross. Reprehensible one might say. And no buts here - daddy issues are passé. Let’s find something new to write about if you can’t do them in an interesting way.

Side note - was there an actual ending to this book? Bc I’m pretty sure I missed it if we got any kind of closure or answers. We deserved a little more.

I don’t think any of the reasons for any of the things were good enough. Everyone came out of this looking silly or looking like an asshole. Or both. The relationship lacked credibility and substance. I understand that love is an amorphous subjective concept - but y’all - this ain’t love.

I’ve been hesitant to take ARCs. Each excellent book I read makes me pickier. Each thought-provoking conversation with a fellow reader and each brilliant review by readers of substance make me aware of holes and fallacies and trite storylines. There’s like a version of me from some time ago who would have been naive enough to be okay with this book. With the way the heroine treated herself. With the fairy godmother nature of supporting characters. Now I’m scarred. Battle-weary. Learned. And this - this is not good enough.

4 1/2 "Second Chance" Stars!

I read very little of the blurb prior to reading Twice in a Blue Moon and I feel like my reading experience was all the richer for it. Going in blind helped me to be just as shocked as Tate was by the events that happened in her life. Sometimes that shock value can go a long way. For that reason, I'm going to attempt to keep my review relatively vague.

Tate and Sam meet when they are young. She's eighteen and he's twenty-one. They have their entire lives ahead of them, but they each have grown up in less than normal circumstances. They know that what they feel is intense, but due to circumstances that are beyond their control, they are pulled apart and lose touch for years.
When they meet up again years later, there is a lot of hurt to overcome and some misunderstandings to be explained. In the time they've been apart, Tate has become a successful actress and Sam has become accomplished in his own field. They will have to decide if their feelings are still there and if so, can they overcome the mistrust that exists between them.. Twice in a Blue Moon doesn't just focus on Tate and Sam's romantic love, it also addresses parent/child relationships, grandparent/child relationships, the importance of friendships and more.

I really loved this story. I found it to be a little different from a typical Christina Lauren book but that didn't make it bad, just different. At times, Twice in a Blue Moon felt more like women's fiction than contemporary romance to me. That could have just been my perception though.

I liked how we initially got to know Sam and Tate as young people with a fresh new love and then we fast forward to years down the road. Now they aren't together and neither is sure what the other one feels. They dodge one another until there is ultimately a moment where all of their angsty feelings culminate into a critical moment. At this point, they are forced to address their feelings for one another and address the bitterness that has been between them.

Not only did I feel a connection with Tate and Sam, I really enjoyed the secondary characters as well. The only thing I would have liked was to see a bit more of Sam and Tate's future. I believe an epilogue could have accomplished this for me. That said, it was still a great read and I thought the storyline was inventive.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m always excited when I find out about a new Christina Lauren book. TWICE IN A BLUE MOON was no exception. Some of their books are among my favorites, and after a couple of recent misses, I was hopeful TIABM would be a contender for another favorite, however, this one missed the mark for me, too.

There wasn’t anything particularly bad about the book. The writing is trademark CLo and an interesting take on a second chance and forced proximity romance. Tate and Sam’s relationship just didn’t do it for me.

I’m not sure if it’s because of how the story is structured (past is the 1st 100 or so pages, then you read the present. There aren’t any flashbacks.), but I didn’t get the chemistry between these two like I need in a romance.

They know each other all of 2 weeks 14 years ago, and yes they had an intense connection, but was it love? Lust? Infatuation? Could that really last for 14 years when there’s zero contact? Could they really truly know each other and deeply love each other after only two weeks when they were 18 and 21? For most people, who they are at 18 vs 32 is very different, so I wasn’t able to easily convince myself that these two could have such a lasting love without time to reconnect beforehand. It feels a little like wish fulfillment.

When we go to the present, the tension isn’t there and the chemistry was missing for me, too. I wasn’t yelling at them to get together or honestly particularly rooting for them. I just kind of felt apathetic.

It was a fine story, and no doubt there will be people who love it, so I don’t want to necessarily discourage you from reading it. I just think there are better CLo books than this one. Fingers crossed I like their next book better!

Christina Lauren always gives life to their books in away that no other can. Twice in a Blue Moon will touch your heart on many levels as you travel the relationships of Tate and her family along with Tate and Sam.
They met in London when they were young they left an impression on each others lives 14 years later it seems neither of them have really moved on from that initial impression no matter the harshness the world and life through at them individually.
So worth the read, it will suck you in and not let you go until the end.

Sam and Tate meet during a trip to London and quickly fall in love. Then he disappears, and she finds her identity has been revealed to the press. Fast forward 14 years. Tate turned that reveal into a very successful acting career, and she's landed a huge movie role as the lead with her famous father in a supporting role. And on the first night on set, she sees Sam again. Even with the strength of their feelings, neither tried to contact the other. Then they have to figure out how to work together on set.
It was a good story, most of the time spent either in London or on the movie set. I had trouble with some of the actions/reactions of some of the characters to certain situations.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Twice in a Blue Moon captured my heart the minute I recognized the homage to A Room with a View in the first chapter. The book opens with two young people, each on a vacation in London with their grandparent. Tate and Sam are attracted immediately and become first friends and then quickly fall in love. But they are separated by scandal as Tate's identity as the estranged daughter of a famous Hollywood actor is leaked to the press, probably by Sam. Sam and Tate meet again 14 years later as Sam has become a successful writer whose book is sold as a movie and Tate is now an actress cast as the lead in Sam's movie.

I loved this story, which was more than just a romance. Tate's estranged father is also cast in the movie, so there is a lot of pressure for Tate to try to deal with her father as well. Tate has not spent much time with her father, since her mother left him when Tate was 8. Tate's grandmother was also involved in a difficult marriage, so Tate really comes from a family of women who doesn't trust men much. Tate has to figure out how she can deal with her father and Sam on the most challenging film in her career.

I think Christina Lauren is my new favorite author, this story was so good! I wish I could say more, but spoilers!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sam Brandis was Tate Jones' first everything: her first love, her first sexual experience, and her first betrayal. She never expected him to come back into her life.

Tate met Sam in London fourteen years ago on a trip to London with her grandmother, and the two bonded fiercely. Until Sam discovered Tate's secret and betrayed her to the world, summoning a plague of paparazzi (this is the accurate collective noun btw) and heralding her entrance into stardom.

I did enjoy this book. Up to the 92ish percent mark. Then I just...I dunno. I just kinda didn't?

I was intrigued and enthralled by the world of movie stars—the spinning of narratives, the on-set antics and behavioral norms, Tate's relationship with her very famous father who was kinda but not really Tom Cruise—but wasn't so intrigued by Tate and Sam themselves.

The first part is slow, with lots of lying on the grass staring up at the sky and just being and talking and blah blah and aching betrayal, and the second catapults straight into present day.

I honestly couldn't believe for a second that some level of familiarity didn't jiggle into Tate's mind when she read Milkweed's screenplay. Because Sam was at the corner of her mind, always present even when she wasn't thinking about him, because his betrayal was what made her what she was—literally and figuratively. And because the story of his grandparents was just so amazing and resonated so much.

And she never tried to stalk the dude who exposed her to the world? She just moved on and went on with her life?

Puh-leaze.

So Sam and Tate themselves were annoying. I won't go further because ~spoilers~, but lemme just say that if a dude screwed me over that badly, I would never forgive him. Nope, nope, nope. And I have felt that strongly for a person before (happily I am married to someone who is much more amazing). Okay, the emails did make me cry but c'mon that's such a cop out because I wasn't feeling so great that day (also: Tate, be more proactive in the mundanities of your life).

However, I did enjoy the book.

Mostly because I loved the supporting cast.

Not Ian Butler, because he's a dick, but the others: Nick and Marco, and Charlie and Trey. I wish that Gwen and Devon had had more screen time and time to be developed as people too, because what parts of them that were on page were delightful and so good for Tate and her ability to deal with her father and Sam. Nick especially I wanted more of—I really, really liked him and wish the best of everything for that sweet little bean.

Anywho, this was a far different kind of book than My Favorite Half-Night Stand or My Favorite Half-Night Stand, mostly because it's not filled with laugh-out-loud humor but an anticipatory tension that slowly winds its way into your heart.

Against the odds.

Against your expectations.

Against societal norms.

Kinda like Milkweed itself.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Twice in a Blue Moon is a first love/second chance romance filled with passion and scandal. It was a great read from beginning to end that lets us experience the characters as they grow up.

The story follows Tate and Sam as they travel abroad with their grandparents. They meet and have an instant connection and start to reveal their hopes and dreams for their future.

Tate has a secret that only her family knows about and feels comfortable enough to tell Sam. They love each other and she has faith and trust in him that he won't tell a soul.

Something surprising happens and changes their whole relationship and Tate has to figure out where to go from here.

The story picks up about a decade later and Tate and Sam find each other working on the same project. Tate is the lead actress and Sam is the writer. Tate has so many feelings towards Sam that she is having a hard time working through. As they begin to talk things out, they find the connection they once had.

Overall, I thought it was a beautiful story about experiencing love and experiencing a connection that is unexplainable yet all-consuming. Christina Lauren once again created a story that has the ups and downs of a real relationship and created a set of characters that did the story justice!

This was a sweet first love, enemies to lovers, and a second chance romance all in one! I liked following an older Tate as an actress and getting behind the scenes of that. She was down to earth and a sweet person. Tate and Charlie’s friendship is goals. Sam is a sweet, sensitive, tall, burly man.....who is also a writer. Swoon! I enjoyed the focus on family relationships and discussion of toxic fathers/ father abandonment. Reading vlog where I read this book is linked below.

Christina Lauren’s books have become this thing in my life where I’m always excited to read their next book irrespective of what I felt about the previous one. And I frankly have no idea why that is. I can’t say I had a lot of expectations this time but I still ended up a bit disappointed, which is just ughhhh.

This book has the second chance romance trope which is not always my favorite, but can be done really well with a lot of angst. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me well at all in this instance. I’ve had a similar experience with the authors’ previous book with the same trope, Love and Other Words and I just couldn’t connect with the love story at all. Thankfully, the writing is fast paced as always and I breezed through it in just a few hours but I also wanted to skim read it a bit because I wanted to be done. The present timeline of the story is set during a film shoot on a rural farm set and I thought that was quite unique and interesting. There was some fascinating insight into how shoots and table reads work, which I really enjoyed and kept wishing that we had more of those scenes. I think there were many such small moments throughout the book which were lovely and what helped me finish the book, but they all felt disjointed and didn’t work well together as a whole. I think I’ve also come to expect the authors’ books to be a lot of fun and bantery, which was definitely missing here and that may have impacted my reading experience too.

I’m usually okay when the plot doesn’t work if I can connect to the characters and that was my biggest gripe here. Unlike many of my fellow reviewers, I actually liked the flashback storyline. I know it was instalove but I still could believe those moments of instant attraction, the possibility of a romance on a vacation, the fluttery feelings - the newness of it all was captured very beautifully and that’s why the heartbreak felt realistic too.

However, I literally felt nothing in the fourteen years later present timeline. While I could understand how Tate’s life may have been affected drastically due to being in constant spotlight and also being very sheltered while young, but the idea that a one week long fling affected her ability to have healthy relationships for more than a decade just felt so unrealistic. I liked Sam in the past timeline because he was sweet and considerate until everything blew up, but I really didn’t feel much of anything about him in the current timeline because he was such a background presence with not much of a personality. I can give points for nostalgic feelings when you meet your first love after ages, but there was really no buildup to why they were still in love or what they even knew about each other to fall in such a deep relationship so fast.

There were some cool side characters who brought laughs and good feelings to the proceedings but they didn’t leave enough of an impact on me. The only side character I even have an opinion on is Tate’s father who was a douche and I just wish there was some resolution to Tate’s relationship with him. I could totally relate to her desire to have a relationship with him despite his passive aggressive nature, but after giving this subplot so much importance through the end, it’s just left hanging towards the end and I hated it.

At the end, I just want to say that this ended up being a bit boring and not a very enjoyable read. However, I think it’s a very personal thing and you might still like it. If you enjoyed the authors’ Love and Other Words and you are a fan of the second chance romance trope, then this book might be a good choice for you. But if you want to deeply connect to the main characters, it might leave you disappointed. And as usual, I’m already looking forward to the next book by the authors and hoping it’ll be more fun.

I am a sucker for Second Chance romances & Author Christina Lauren delivered it.

I liked the unusual story of Sam & Tate.
There is a good combination of love, heartache, sexy times and a very good mystery of why these two did not work out the first time.

This book brought me back to my days living in Hollywood and the people that I was surround by like Tate. It is a world that was brought to life in this story and made it feel so real to be in Tate and Sam's world. Many emotions flowed reading this book.

Sam was frustrating to like in the beginning but he grew into me and I totally understood why he was soo guarded just like Tate was with their feelings towards one another.

Tons of angst so be warned that you will want to smack these two around and yell at your book in frustration but when that frustration is finally popped, be ready to explode in excitement with Tate and Sam getting that second chance in love,

Very well developed plot and storyline. Many of the background characters I want to know more about and hope to see in future books of their stories.

5 🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒popped!

I loved this book SO much, not only for the amazing second chance love story but also because it was set in my hometown. Reading about Guerneville, the Russian River, Lark's Drugs...I could not contain the perma-grin that was attached to my face whilst reading this one. This dynamic duo always delivers for me. I have yet to read a book of theirs that doesn't keep me connected and smiling the entire time. I highly recommend not only this one but ALL of their stories.

I loved the newest Christina Lauren book, which is no surprise! I will say this one had a slightly different, tamer feel to it. Not a bad thing, just different. Didn't make me enjoy it any less! I loved to see the character growth from their teenage years to adulthood. It was the perfect blend of humor and seriousness. Loved!

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.