After a bit of a rough start where I came to the sudden realization that this was not the romantic comedy I’d been expecting, I started to appreciate this book on its own merits. Unfortunately, the pacing didn’t work out for me and I never connected to the main characters, which made everything feel flat. Christina Lauren are an auto-buy author for me so I’m not quite sure what happened with this one. I know a ton of readers who have loved this one though! I’ll still definitely be reading their next book though!

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I generally love Christina Lauren, but this one didn’t work for me. There’s a HUGE trust issue that gets solved in like,,,two scenes...and the pacing seemed really weird.

This was an ok read for me. Tate and Sam were each others first love. Te first 9-10 chapters revolved around their past history. Fast forward the two meet again on a movie set. Tate is set to star in movie based on a book written by Sam. There is a great deal of attention regarding the movie and not enough interactions between the two hero and heroine. The ending is more of a HFN.

This book grabbed me from the start and didn’t let go till the last page. Tate’s journey is a tough one but very believable. Her dad is such a dick! Several times I wanted to punch him. I appreciate that she wasn’t a whiny character like so many other books like this. The relationship with Sam is so hot both times in her life. I can really see this one as a movie! First book I’ve read by this author and will definitely look for more.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

So normally I love Christina Lauren's writing so much that I devour their books within a day but that wasn't the case with this one. That's not to say it wasn't good, it was such a slow burn romance and different from their other works that it took a little more to get me fully invested in the plot. Tate is the daughter of a famous actor and has been living out of the spotlight with little contact with her dad since she was 8. For a graduation gift her Nana takes her to London. It's the first time she has been given any kind of freedom because the secret of her parentage cannot get out. While in London she meets Sam and after a few nights together she divulges her huge secret, which inevitably gets leaked to the press. We join Tate 14 years later as she is about to start filming a big movie with her dad and little does Tate know she's about to be pushed together again with her first love and the person who shared her secret with the world, Sam.

I had a few problems with the story, but overall it was a fairly sweet romance.

I loved this so much I gave it its own bonus episode of One Great Book! Here's the episode transcript:

One sentence description: A nod to a favorite classic romantic comedy secured Anne’s love for this contemporary romance about finding a once-in-a-lifetime love … twice.

Hey readers, it’s Anne, and I’m here with One Great Bonus, your patron-only bonus episode of One Great Book Volume II. In these episodes, I get to tell you about one forthcoming release that I’ve read but hasn’t been published yet. Today’s bonus book won’t be published for a while—it comes out in October—but there are two big reasons I’m sharing it with you today.

1. A little bookish anticipation never hurt anyone, and
2. This author—or really, these authors—are very free with their advance review copies, especially on Netgalley, so your odds of being able to read it early—even if you’ve never requested an ARC before—are way better than with most books. More about that in a sec.

The book is Twice in a Blue Moon, by Christina Lauren. That’s the pen name for besties Lauren Billings and Christina Hobbs, who’ve been writing books together for a good long time. They met writing fan fiction have been writing together since 2009, and published their first novel in 2010. Their range is impressive—you may know them from their Beautiful Bastard romance series, which, quite honestly, I’m too squeamish to read, women’s fiction like Love and Other Words, or rom coms like Dating You, Hating You.

Their forthcoming fall release is a contemporary romance called Twice in a Blue Moon, and it begins in a way I 100% did NOT expect but completely adored—seriously, I read this in a public place, and when I figured out what was going on I’m sure I had a big embarrassing grin on my face, you know, just me and my book at the pool. This happens to you too, right? And hey, it’s better than weeping over my book in public.

Here’s what happens. Tate Jones is in London with her grandmother; it’s her very first time abroad. It’s her very first time going anywhere outside California, really—she’s spent most of her life in a tiny town, hiding from the world. Truly hiding. But now they’re in London, and they check in to their fancy hotel, and go to their room, and look at how the window—and discover their view is of the street. And if Tate’s grandma had wanted to stare at a street, she could have stayed in Guerneville. Tate tries to reassure her, saying, it IS a pretty great street, though, but her grandma will have none of it. She paid for a view of the Thames. And Big Ben! But there’s nothing to be done about it, because the hotel is sold out.

Readers, I know some of you are tracking with me.

Then in the hotel lobby, Tate and her grandma meet another grandparent/grandchild traveling pair. There’s a gorgeous 21-year-old guy from Vermont named Sam, traveling with his grandpa. Or, grandpa figure, really, but that’s fine. When they hear that Tate and her grandma may be checking out of the hotel in order to gain a better view, they are aghast. There’s no need to do that, Sam says, because they have a wonderful view—they can see the river, the London Eye, and Big Ben—and they really don’t care. They should trade rooms. It will be the work of an hour, and everyone will be happy.

Tate’s grandma doesn’t want to do it, because even with nice men, you don’t want to be obligated. And besides, what if they find out who Tate really is? (DUM DUM DUM.) Tate rolls her eyes hard at both suggestions, wins over her grandma, and they get their view.

The setup is not the point of story, but it sets the tone, and I loved it. Now the point: Sam turns out to be the love of Tate’s life. She tells him all her secrets, including who she really is, and then he horribly betrays her, and she never sees him again.

Or at least Tate assumes she’ll never see him again, because fourteen years have gone by. She wouldn’t know how to find him if she wanted to. Fourteen years later, Tate is now a famous actress. She’s gotten the life she always wanted, though she didn’t get it on her terms. That’s Sam’s fault, and it’s something she still thinks about all the time. But she’s not going to let that distract her anymore, because she’s about to begin the best role of her career.

And then Tate bumps into Sam. On set. And she falls apart. But as she pulls herself together again, it’s obvious to her—and to everyone who sees her, really—that she’s not over him. And she’s not sure how she feels about. She thought she’d already had her “once in a lifetime” love. Can it really happen twice?

Readers, I haven’t read all of Christina Lauren’s work—which is no wonder, because they are prolific—yet this one is my favorite so far. It’s fast and fun, the characters totally suck you in, they’re believable and you care about what happens to them. I will say this is definitely open door-ish, I’m sure many seasoned romance readers won’t consider this to be terribly steamy but it certainly was for me, so know that going in.

And readers, if you don’t know about Aunt Charlotte and Lucy and their own room with a view, go watch the Merchant Ivory film A Room with a View and thank me later. This is one of those rare films that is better than the book it’s based on. (Although heads-up on a not-at-all steamy but totally nude bathing scene by the lake, to give you some idea of the innocent factor here, we watched this as a family movie at my house.)

The publication date for Twice in a Blue Moon is a few months away but Harper is generous with review copies for Christina Lauren titles, so if you’re a reader who likes to request those, or a reader who would like to start, this would be a good one to ask for. If you’re not familiar with Netgalley, google is your friend. OR for Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club members: we covered this topic in a recent session for our Summer of Experts; go back and watch that video at any time, it’s called “Getting Your Hands on Advanced Review Copies.”

Twice in a Blue Moon is out October 22 from Gallery, so get your ARC requests, library requests, or pre-orders in right now. Just a reminder: you can order this and any other title we’ve featured on One Great Book from Page 1 Books, who will ship your order right to your door, beautifully wrapped with a fun little bookish extra. Go to page1books.com (that’s the numeral one, page1books.com) and look for the one great book tab at the top.

Readers, I hope you enjoyed this One Great Bonus episode. Happy reading!

I wasn't able to finish the book. I liked the premise of the book but I just couldn't get into the storyline or the characters. I was very disappointed because I'd heard nothing but great things about the story. This one wasn't for me but that won't stop me from reading more from the author.

I really enjoyed The Unhoneymooners, so I was eager to read another one of Christina Lauren’s books. I also enjoy books about Hollywood so this seemed like the perfect combination.

Tate Butler is the daughter of Ian Butler, a famous movie star. She also hasn’t seen him in years and lives in anonymity. On a trip to London, she has a whirlwind romance with a fellow American tourist, Sam, who she tells her secrets to. When the paparazzi find her outside her hotel, and Sam is nowhere to be found, she knows it was he who betrayed her.

14 years later, she is a famous actress and Sam suddenly reappears in her life.

I enjoyed this book, it had romance but was not just gratuitous sex scenes. The characters were interesting, although not really all that dimensional. It unfortunately didn’t have the banter of The Unhoneymooners (one of reasons I loved it so much), but was still a good, quick read.

Book is a bit of a slow starter, but I found the book as enjoyable as any other Christina Lauren book.

Christina Lauren never fails to bring on all the feels and swoons with their writing. I always end up consumed by their story and with the biggest book hangover and this book is no exception. For fans of this duo it is a must and for those seeking to delve into their writing....what are you waiting for?

I really enjoyed this book. While I don't think I love it as much as their other books I still found myself invested. There were times where I did find it difficult to connect to the main character. This was a quick and very cute read. I feel like it could've had more of an emotional punch however, despite that I still recommend this book.

While this had a very different vibe from past CL books, I was still invested in the characters and their "life" choices. The beginning felt a bit like YA to me with the coming of age "love" connection of Sam and Tate. They meet while vacationing with family in London. We get to know them and their backgrounds.

Will Sam break her heart? Did she share too much with him?

Fourteen years later, Sam and Tate meet in an unexpected reunion. I had mixed feelings about one of them and was hoping for more of a connection.

I missed the lighthearted, LOL humor that I was expecting from a CL novel, but I enjoyed the characters and the second chance theme!

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am going to preface this review by saying that I absolutely adore Christina Lauren. This book makes my fourth one by them, and I’m still going to continue reading them. They’re always fun and fast-paced books!

Story | I absolutely loved the beginning of this one. You find out how Tate meets Sam, and you learn about her family’s background. The reader witnesses Tate’s struggle to open up due to the pressure from her Nana, Judith Houriet. You see this young love blossom over the course of a few weeks, just to watch him drop her after telling her to jump.

The story isn’t super exciting after that. She is filming a movie, Milkweed, with her father, which is odd and Sam just so happens to be the screenwriter of said movie. It shakes up her world after she meets Nick Tyler, another actor who shows an interest in Tate. Nick is the other main role in the movie.

This is where I start to have some thoughts about this book. I’m sure everyone knows how this book ends, but for those who don’t, I’m not going to spoil anything. All I will say is: what’s the point of Nick?

I had to snag the audio for this one to read along with because I was just bored. I didn’t have an interest in any of the characters after chapter 10. It’s unfortunate, but I’m looking forward to their next one, The Honey-Don’t List.

I will also say that there isn’t much smut in this, not that there is with Christina Lauren. If you’re going into this expecting that, then I would walk away. Or go into it with different expectations.

Writing | The writing isn’t really any different from the rest of their books. It’s really easy to fly through. I don’t find it super cheesy like I do most romance novels. It’s cheesy, but it’s more of a provolone rather than Swiss. I love cheese so whenever I can pop those references in there the better my life is.

Characters | This is a book where I don’t have a favorite character. I was honestly more interested in Charlie, Tate’s best friend/makeup artist. I found her more interesting than Tate. I also wanted more of my boo, Marco Offredi, Tate’s PR manager.

Overall | I didn’t enjoy this one very much. It was slow, and I didn’t like the celebrity trope. Those are usually hit or miss for me, anyway. I just think it focused too hard on the exploitation of her history. I wanted more romance! *pounds my fist on the table*

I’m still going to continue on with Christina Lauren’s books. This does not change my mind about the authors. It just didn’t work for me, but I’m sure it’ll work for others.

I usually stay away from novels about movie stars but I had to give this one a chance. Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren had so many ups and downs. The novel was broken up by spaces of time. From Tate and Sam’s vacation when they are young to reuniting later in life.

Of course, I wasn’t disappointed in reading this novel. There is a bit of mystery, humor and spice. I love how Sam and Tate’s chemistry build when they met and how the authors brought them back together after so much heartbreak. There is the typical banter and humor that is expected of Christina Lauren, which I love. The ever-present supporting characters are great as well

I did feel like the novel dragged to get to the resolution but that’s just my preference. I recommend it to fans of romance who are looking for something different.

An advance complimentary copy of this book was supplied by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Loved this take on the second chance romance, the fact that Christina Lauren made me laugh out loud while reading is what made this book so enjoyable.
Sam & Tate meet as teenagers, and it's love at first sight...then it all blows up.
Years later, they find themselves back together again, and the sparks fly. I enjoyed watching this tumultuous couple find their way back to each other.

Christina Lauren writes a fun story of Tate Jones and the life she is thrown into when her first love exposes her greatest secret.

Twice in a Blue Moon is the first Christina Lauren novel I've read. I liked the idea of the divided timelines and the second chance romance, but the result seemed like each part was rushed. I would have loved to seen the sides developed a little bit more. I really did enjoy being on a movie set in the second part though, which was so fun. I actually read this one by listening to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator. In the future, I definitely want to read Christina Lauren's other novels!

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

Christina Lauren is my favorite romance author duo, so when I was approved for my second book by them in the same year I was THRILLED! The cover, the title, the synopsis- everything appealed to me, and I found myself procrastinating on starting it, waiting for a time when I could really sit down, focus and enjoy it. When I finally did have a chance to sit down and read it over the course of a few days, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down, sneaking it in during lunch breaks, waiting for rides, etc. It’s one of my favorite Christina Lauren novels to date!

I’ll be honest- though this book was a strong 4 star read for me, what made it so enjoyable for me wasn’t the romance, but the overall plot and setting of the book. It follows protagonist Tate, who is the daughter of a really big movie star but has kept her identity hidden. Split between two time periods, it starts with a focus on her life right before the world rediscovers who she is, and then jumps over a decade later to her adult life as she navigates her acting career. I was so interested in reading all of the behind the scenes details of what the film industry is like, how her father acts in public vs. private, how movies are made, etc. I was so intrigued reading about how once Tate’s identity is released to the press she starts off as a vampire on a CW show which catapults her career until she’s a serious actress playing the lead in an Oscar-worthy period piece. The career progression fascinated me and though I can’t speak to how accurate the depictions were, I found it really interesting to read about how different parts of a movie are shot, staged, and created (like when they build a barn on set to actually burn it down for the film- wild!) I also loved the Northern California farm setting that serves as the backdrop for the movie Tate is filming- you could practically feel the crisp air and easily imagine the serene peacefulness of the rural setting.

Obviously, as a Christina Lauren novel the story is a romance, but it felt very romance “light” compared to many of their other novels (which may be a good or bad thing depending on the mood you are in). It actually reminded me a lot of their novel Love and Other Words although a less intense version, what with the dual timelines and the plot centering around a second chance love story. I felt like the first part of the novel that focused on Tate and Sam’s love story was really well done, and felt believable even though they were only falling in love over the course of a couple weeks during a trip to London. The authors really managed to capture the intense, all consuming feelings of teenage love and infatuation that move at a very accelerated pace, coupled with the tension of following your family’s rules and expectations. Though brief, their whirlwind romance as teens resonated more with me than their reunion as adults. I want to avoid spoilers in this review so I won’t go too in depth, but Tate and Sam’s reunion as adults didn’t move me much. There’s a betrayal they must communicate about and eventually move past, however I personally don’t think I could have 1) moved past it and 2) rekindled the romance after everything that had happened in the time in between. Also, Sam didn’t feel like the same character as his younger self to me, and I had trouble reconciling his older and younger self.

Overall: Twice in a Blue Moon has easily become one of my favorite Christina Lauren novels not for its romance, but for the plot, setting and intimate look at the movie industry and behind the scenes elements of how films are made. It felt to me more like a story of the personal journey of the protagonist who had a romance kick start the rest of her life, rather than her life revolving around a romance, which was a refreshing change.

A second chance romance story. This book may not be for everyone, for me, it had me from the beginning. Tate Jones is on Vacation in London with her grandmother, she also is experiencing like a lot of teens her grandmother’s ways. She paid for something and expects that, which at times embarrasses Tate. Tate and her grandmother meet Sam Bandis and his grandfather at breakfast, a friendship starts. The friendship continues at night because each of their chaperones goes to bed early. They become romantic and Tate shares with Sam that she is the lost daughter of a famous actor.
Everything crashes down around her one morning when Sam and his grandfather are not downstairs, she is also told that they checked out. Problems come when she and her grandmother walk out of the hotel and she is accosted by photographers and newspaper people. She is also taken by one person to a car and given a choice. To end all of this today or the person can use this and help her be a star. She does the later.
Now fourteen years later getting ready for a new movie, she runs into Sam the man she feels not only betrayed her but left her as well. They are to play nice for the movie and everything will work out.
See I know that this is a book, a story and the story is good. But in life having known my wife since I was 14 ns now being married over 40 years, yeah if I would have pulled something like that when I was young, she may have spoken to me 14 years later but that would be about it. Taking that part out of the story it is good and like I said it is a story, to be fun, that is what I looked at ii as.

A bit different than other Christina Lauren books that I've read that incorporated more sassy dialogue adn humor. But I still loved this.