Member Reviews
Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I was interested in the concept of this book, but although it was passable, I didn't actively enjoy it. I didn't feel that invested in the story or characters, and found it dragged somewhat.
New York-based architect Sarah has travelled over to Ireland to be maid-of-honour at her best friend’s wedding. The last thing she expected was to be seated at the worst table, with her most recent one-night-stand beside her.
Declan is the groom’s brother and is still a bit miffed at being unceremoniously tossed out of Sarah’s apartment after their night of passion. And now Sarah has had a chance to get to know him a bit better, she can’t seem to get him out of her head.
The debut novel had cute characters, witty banter and engaging writing, although perhaps it needed a touch more conflict to stop the story dragging in the second half. But definitely an author to keep an eye on.
One Night Only follows Sarah and Declan, who have a one night stand the night before this book begins. Sarah kicks Declan out in the morning, only to soon find out that he is the brother of her best friend’s fiancé and the best man in the wedding that she has traveled to Ireland to attend. They hook up again in Ireland, and find that they keep running into each other when they return to New York.
I really thought that I was going to love this book at the beginning, but I unfortunately struggled to get through the rest of the book once Sarah and Declan arrived back in New York. I loved Sarah’s sex positivity, but I just couldn’t connect to her character. I can see how people would enjoy this book, but it just wasn’t for me.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!
"One Night Only": 3.5⭐
(Unpaid Review: thank you to @netgalley, @catherinewalsh and the publishers for allowing me to read this eArc copy in exchange for a review.)
The concept of this book is so entertaining and fun, gave me lots of How I Met Your Mother vibes. The main characters are a thrill to read about and so fun!
Being a debut author myself, I was instantly drawn to getting this arc! I loved the author's writing, was absolutely stunning and so fluid and easy to understand!
One Night Only is a book I didn't mind reading, but is definitely something I will forget in a day or two.
Pros:
-The opening chapter was probably my favorite part of the book. I found it to be attention grabbing and immediately sucked me in.
- The chemistry between the two leads was there and was felt as I was reading.
- I love the Ireland setting for some of the book.
Cons:
- Even though the first chapter did hook me in as I kept reading I had a harder time staying engaged with the book. This could possibly be to the slow pacing or the single person perspective which I usually have a harder time staying in the book when reading romance.
- As I previously mentioned the story dragged a bit, there was good portion in the middle of the book which I struggled to get through.
I think my reading experience with this book could probably me summed up with it's just not for me. I do think if your looking for an Irish romantic hero as well as the one night stand trope you should check this out. I would steer clear of this one if you tend to lose interest with single person perspectives.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.
Romantic comedies are typically hit or miss. This was a hit! If you're looking for a laugh-out-loud, beach/weekend read, this is it! Walsh's book was well-written and the storyline had me turning pages quite quickly. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to like this but Walsh proved me wrong!
“Is she alright?” a waiter asks as he passes. “She fine” Declan says “it’s just drugs.”
In ‘One Night Only’ we follow Sarah who has many one night stands and never expects to see these men again until Declan. Declan is the brother of the groom of the wedding Sarah is attending which makes it’s a little bit awkward between them.
I really enjoyed reading this as i love Sarah’s attitude and i knew i would love Declan as he is so funny.
Obviously no ones relationship is going to be perfect but there were some points in the story where Sarah and Declan would not communicate which meant they got annoyed with each other and ending up ignoring each other. This created a lot of tension as we just want Sarah and Declan to be together. The way the story is written makes us seem as if there is a magnetic force between the two characters as they always end up with each other.
The writing was fabulous and i couldn’t put the book down. It was so easy to get into as you are captured within the first lines. As a whole, ‘One Night Only’ was excellent and i can’t wait to read more of Catherine’s work.
Thank you to Netgalley and Catherine Walsh for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
After a bad breakup, Sarah came to the conclusion she didn’t want a relationship so had a string of one-night stands, knowing that she would not have to see them again and she wouldn’t get hurt.
The book starts as she is kicking her latest O-N-S out in the morning, thinking that would be the last time she saw him.
Her best friend Annie is getting married in Ireland, Sarah is Maid of Honor when she arrives, she is in awe, that is until she meets Paul the groom’s brother, it is Declan, her latest O-N-S. OMG AWKWARD!
To top that off, the mother of the groom decides to change the table arrangements of the first night and put Sarah and Declan on the same table. Oh well, not to worry, once the wedding is over, she will be flying back to New York and will never have to see him again. Yeh, that doesn’t work quite as planned.
Obviously, there is so much more to this book, lots of things happening but you need to read it!
I absolutely loved reading this, it was a fun, light read that kept me wanting to read more. I think I read this book in record time, I couldn’t get enough of it.
Catherine Walsh brought me a book that took me out of my romance genre slump.
I look forward to reading more from her.
What a great book! Witty, fun, heartwarming.
I absolutely fell in love with Sarah from the first page, her attitude, her humour. And soon I found myself falling in love with Declan too. Together they're firecrackers, teasing one another, driving each other crazy. And their chemistry was sizzling! That said, I found this did drag a little bit in the middle during a chunk of the story when the characters were apart, but once they were back together I was all in again and this was an all around blast.
I love a good rom-com every now and then, One Night Only didn’t disappoint! The witty dialogues are particularly well written and made me laugh out loud so many times. This book also made me long to walk around the Irish country side and the streets of NYC. I can’t wait for Catherine Walsh’s next book.
I enjoyed this light summer read. But thinking about it afterwards there are several things I didn't appreciate. The story is fairly simple. Sarah has a one night stand with Declan Murphy. A week later she is maid of honor at her best friends wedding in Ireland and she finds Declan is the brother of the groom. The wedding festivities have them interacting all week.
Back in NYC she tries to not think about Declan but again their paths cross. Declan is handsome and a hardworking barman and entrepreneur. His way of flirting is to push and provoke Sarah and I personally don't find that charming or helpful in growing a relationship. Sarah herself is wishy-washy. She has baggage from her parents marriage and dating history that makes it hard to trust and commit to trying a relationship. The obstacle that comes up at the 70 percent point shows how little they actually know about each other. And you realize how few meaningful conversations they have had together.
I did enjoy the story and appreciate that while Sarah states that she enjoys sex, the author chooses to leave the intimacy off the page. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.
WOW. I loved everything about this story. I loved the easy rapport between Declan and Sarah. Every time I thought this book was going to zig, it zagged, and I really appreciated that! I don’t find that often in romance novels. I wish I could read this again for the first time! I cannot wait to force this book on everyone I know!!!! THANK YOU FOR THE ARC!!!!
Well, let’s just begin with the fact that I’m going to get it in print once it’s out, just so you all know what to expect from this review.
God, where do I begin?
Declan, oh, I instantly fell in love with him. I can’t pin it down, but I did. It is usually the other way round. With a one-sided POV, I usually have to wait until a few chapters in to accept the guy. The realist in me creeps and reminds me about the sad reality of men, but with him? I instantly started craving his appearance after the very first interaction in Chapter 1, and that made loving this book so much easier.
Although, this book definitely absolutely threw me off as I did not expect it to go where it did at all. Sarah and Declan’s story is going to be a part of me that I’ll always carry.
Often, characters are forgotten and overlapped by the next ones and similar ones especially when you read as much as I do, but their story felt.. honest. Not raw or real but honest, and a world of fiction, it’s not often you make that connection. It might be because of how much I relate to the characters or how much it let me break free from the compelling voice that pulls me back into the real world and just enjoys the story. I felt each emotion as it came, I smiled, laughed, got second-hand embarrassment, and got soooo many butterflies.
This is an amazing story and a huge congrats to the author, Catherine for her debut novel! Make sure to grab a copy and hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.
Holy Heck! I adored this book, I’ll admit books/movies that involve a trip to Ireland and have an Irish love interest are some of my favorite ones ever ( Leap Year defiantly being my #1) and this book just adds to that ever growing list! Sarah and Declan are both such complex characters and I enjoyed seeing the meaning behind their actions and seeing the trust and love develop between them as the story went on. Walsh created the perfect balance when writing Declan and Sarah, playing to both their strengths and weaknesses creating a couple who is just perfectly matched and not afraid to push each other to be better. The supporting characters were just as fantastic and I loved seeing all their personalities and just adored every single one! I was hooked form the first page and finished reading this in one sitting, I cannot wait for this book to release so I can get all my friends to read it and convince them to run away to Ireland (or New York) with me! This is a precious book that had me laughing and gave me my much needed rom-com fix (while also being the perfect poolside read!). I am shocked this is a debut book, but know that after this I am so excited to see what Catherine Walsh writes next!! Highly recommend!
Special Thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutour for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest review!
One Night Only by Catherine Walsh is an amazing read and you would not think that it is her debut novel!
The characters are detailed and you feel the depth and effort that was put into them. The story is also longer than one would think and is not like the typical cliché ending where the one night stand meets up and is instantly in love and marries right away. I really loved the Irish representation here and how every detail was further explained down the lane.
I did not have one moment where I wanted to lay down the book because it was so authentic, I also really love the style in which it was written.
A definite recommendation from me and I am already excited for what comes next from this author!
This honest review was written in exchange for an ARC provided by Catherine Walsh and Netgalley
This was such a fun and sweet story!
I really enjoyed this book! One of the best parts was the banter between Sarah and Declan, the dialogue in the entire book was absolutely fantastic! I also loved their relationship throughout the story and the small coincidences that made the characters come to each other. Also, the friends were awesome and really well thought out characters considering that they were the side characters.
I need a story for Will!! He needs his own book, he's fabulous.
This book definitely made me laugh and had me hooked to constantly want to read more. It's the perfect vacation read to me and great for laughs!
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the earc in return for an honest review.
Great read
Sarah seems to have everything but she is not happy.
Then she meets Declan but can she trust him …
This was such a refreshing change from all the Thrillers I read. I loved every second of the book.
Thr writing style was exemplary, and I loved all the characters!!
I was laughing and crying along with the characters, and if that's not the power of a great book I don't know what is!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
eARC provided by NetGalley and bookouture in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars ⭐️
I knew from the moment I started reading this book I was going to love it. Was it a rollercoaster of emotions for me? yes and I'm here for it. It was super easy to read and everything flowed super easily, the humor, the romance, the banter, and the dynamics between both of the characters were on point and were exactly what I wanted from it.
“I am a woman who likes sex and who isn’t afraid to seek it out”
This quote right here I something i really liked in Sarah's character, she is comfortable with who she is. She likes sex and likes to have one-night stands and has no problem saying it and seeking it out. Honestly, she felt like an old friend of mine who I would just hang out with on a Friday night and I loved it.
This made me laugh and grin all the time, really enjoyed my time with it. I simply love the trope where one-night stands run into each other and I need more books with it asap. LOVED IT!
I knew from the start that I was going to love this book. The set up of having a one night stand that keeps popping up is top tier for me. Sarah and Declan's story was face paced and very charming. Due to her past Sarah has some commitment issues that was dragging out a tad to much making it a will they wont they kind of thing. Declan was such a witty and perfect character who has some serious patience. Overall this was a fun and compelling read.