I am going to let our high school English teacher know about this book for her classroom, so she can add it to her classroom collection.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Avon and HarperCollins Publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a romance book that has it all. It begins with Rose escaping from her dysfunctional family only to return years later to be Maid of Honor at her best friend’s wedding. The book highlights best friends sticking up for one another, romance, wedding plans that are failing and so very much more. It keeps your interest from the very beginning and holds it to the very end. You just wonder where is it all going to end? You will like all the characters and want the best for each of them. The villains are what they are supposed to be. Every girl dreams of meeting such men in her own life. Sigh! If I had to dig deep enough to complain I would say that the romance of Rose and Gray should have developed a little slower to be believable would also say that Rose would not have been able to repair the damage her father did to their family by simply saying they now can get on with their life. Recovery from abuse is a much slower process. All in all I would recommend this book to readers of romance novels. I did read it in one day and that says it all.

Great story that had me reading it in a day! Loved the main character in the book. First time author for me and will enjoy more!!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the chance to ready this early copy of “The One you Want.” Based on the beautiful cover, I was expecting a light summer read. Unfortunately, not every book is for every reader and this story did not work for me. The story was more angst than I prefer and the connection between Gray and Rose was instant - they were basically in love 2 minutes after they met. There was no real development of their relationship.

This was the fastest paced romance book I have ever read

The main character was so well rounded and I liked her a lot. I feel like most main characters like Rose develop during the book. However, she came out strong and I liked her strength. I liked the friendship between Maggie and Rose. The family development in Roses family was so great to read.
I definitely recommend this book.

I’m a fan

2.5 STARS

Rose returns to the home she left years before because of an abusive, alcoholic father who made her life a misery. Because of that trauma, Rose has also not seen her mother or sister in eight years. She has come back to Carmel not only to reconnect, but to be for, Maggie, her long time her best friend’s maid of honor. Rose is excited to meet the groom, Marc, until she realizes with shock and horror that he was the bad news, big mistake she made one night stand a year ago. Adding to all that drama, Rose is instantly attracted to Marc’s cousin, Gray, who is to be his best man.

So now Rose has quite the dilemma of when and if to tell both Maggie and Gray with only one week to go before the wedding. While trying to reconnect with her family now that Rose’s father has passed and relieving their shared psychological wounds, she also has to navigate the troubled waters with Maggie when it seems clear that Marc is not the perfect man he is pretending to be. And Rose really wants to get to know Gray, but the big secret is quite the barrier. Now Maggie is not only questioning her judgement in marrying Marc, her last boyfriend shows up to complicate the picture.

It is fairly clear from the beginning that Marc is a jerk especially since he is pressuring Rose not to tell they were together while trying to sabotage her chances with Gray because he has always been jealous of his cousin. Rose and Gray are straightforward with one another about their mutual attraction; however, the secret she is hiding threatens to ruin everything for Maggie and her as well because, in part, she keeps putting off the inevitable. This story is told from multiple points of view with a fair amount of angst and rehashing of old pain especially from Rose along with her mother and sister. Ultimately it did not work for me because Marc is such a sleaze the HEA is a little unbelievable and so much angsty angst interwoven into the romance.

**** SPOILER ALERT ****

This book takes place with Rose going back to her family home after years away and a tumultuous childhood. She is trying to reconnect with her mom and her sister.

She is back home for her best friend Maggie's wedding. She comes to find out that the man her best friend is marrying is a man she had a one night stand with.

Maggie's fiancée Marc's best man Gray immediately falls for Rose. And just trying to put this into words shows me how dramatic this book really was.

To top it off Rose is trying to resolve issues with her mother and sister.

Maggie is trying to figure out if she's making the right decision in marrying Marc. There was just a lot going on in this book.

I'm not even sure where to start with this book. It started off well enough going into details about Rose's past and why she hasn't been home in many years. But that was about it.

I found it difficult to believe that Rose could heal years of trauma with a few words to her mother and sister.

And then Rose and Gray meet and supposedly hit it off right away.

The conversation between these two are extremely cheesy. It felt super forced and not at all real. I couldn’t get into these two and just wanted to read past their scenes together.

Then everyone around her telling her how in love she was after literally 2 days of her knowing Gray. This was insta-love to the extreme.

Then even though Rose knows she slept with Marc and the reason it was a mistake she kept pushing Maggie to marry him and never trying to help her best friend out of it.

Instead she kept making mistakes until Marc acted like a complete idiot and Maggie's decision was easy. Every time Maggie had concerns she made an excuse for Marc. Some best friend she is, not saying your true feelings.

I just don’t understand why she kept being on his side with everything he did. And how he behaved towards her in front of Maggie.

I just don’t understand. But it finally comes to an end and let me tell you I was relieved it was finally over. And I was done with the super cheesy banter between Gray and Rose.

This one was not for me.

I enjoyed this book. Loved the way I stayed on pins and needles wondering how Rose will tell Maggie and Gray about who her one night stand was a year ago. Loved feeling emotional about her past and how hard it was for her to reach out to her Mom and sister. Loved getting multiple points of view but would have loved getting Gray’s pov too. So happy there’s a very happy ever after for everyone. I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy and I recommend this book.

I chose to read this book because I love Jennifer Ryan's historical novels which are well-written and entertaining. I found this contemporary romance slow with too many secrets, lies and too much angst. Most of the characters were likeable and the subplot about the abusive father was interesting. It took to long for the bride to get wise to the situation and I didn't like the ending for the original bride.

I received an ARC of, The One You Want by, Jennifer Ryan. I did not care for this book at all. Lies, and secrets, friendship, and romance.

3.75/5 stars - This is one of a few books with the instalove trope that I actually love the execution, it was cute and believable. The moment Gray and Rose met I fell in love too! Rose is back home for her best friend's wedding. She has avoided coming home, since she graduated high school and escaped her abusive father. She meet's the best man Gray and there is instant attraction. Their attraction jumps off the page, grabs you and sucks you in. The story is told from multiple character points of views which made me feel very connected to each character. There are good twists and turns throughout the book and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It definitely wasn't what I expected.

TW: emotional and physical abuse of child by parent, domestic abuse, confrontation of abuser, cheating, kiss without consent.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the digital ARC of The One You Want in exchange for my honest review.

Jennifer Ryan brings us the story of Rose who returns to home after fleeing an abusive home life after all these years. She is there to be a maid of honor for her best friend and to mend fences with her mother and sister after the death of their father. She finds excitement and happiness waiting for her when she reunites with her best friend Maggie only to find it dashed when she recognizes the groom. There is also an instant spark when she meets the best man. She finds hostility and hate when she reunites with her sister, but finds love with her mother. As she slowly repairs her relationship with her sister while encouraging her mother to step out of the shadow of fear, Rose struggles with this piece of information. Will she be able to go forward and repair relationships while also moving forward with her own life. Will she share this secret which may threaten her best friend's upcoming marriage, or will she be brave enough to tell both her best friend and the best man the truth before it destroys them all?

Jennifer Ryan shares a story of love, friendship, and forgiveness that comes from tragedy. She shows us that anything can be possible if you just try and be the best version of yourself. Wondering how things would turn out and if happiness and forgiveness can come from tragedy made you want to keep turning the page until you realize that you have reached the end of the book and you are left wanting more.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I would like to thank NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager Avon for this privilege.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of The One You Want, by Jennifer Ryan. I am a fan of Jennifer Ryan and looked forward to reading this love story between Rose and Gray. The premise of the book was one I had never read before. Best friend is marrying someone you had a one night stand with before - I was really ready for a great read. I didn't get one. I was annoyed that it took Rose so long to come clean and I didn't like the insta love in the book either. Maggie was wishy-washy and Marc was just an awful person. I really wanted to stop reading the book, but I did enjoy the back story of Rose's family life. At first I thought it was some unnecessary drama, but it actually became the part of the book I liked the most. It was the only part that felt well thought out and handled well. I just didn't like ANY of the love stories in this book, none. 3.25 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rose is back in her hometown for her best friend Maggie's wedding as the maid of honor and meeting the groom-to-be, Marc, for the first time after their 8 month whirlwind romance. She hasn't seen photos of the two on social media (red flag) and soon realizes it's because her and Marc had a one night stand about a year ago before the happy couple met and he didn't want the bride to find out. Chaos ensues with red flags all over the place, while Rose strikes up a romance with the best man, Gray, essentially the moment they meet. There is also a back story with Rose's father recently passing away after a lifetime of being an abusive alcoholic to her mother and her sister Poppy, and multiple cliche conversations about healing and moving on, and repairing relationships between them.

This book came across as very unrealistic and soapy to me, but I enjoyed the drama a little bit and wanted to see what happened which is why I ended up finishing it. The ending was a little too perfect and lovey dovey, much like the entire book. Maybe I'm just a cynic but the use of the word "sweetheart" throughout just kind of gave me the heebie jeebies and the relationships between the characters all just seemed over dramatic and too good to be true.

This book was great. It truly gave insight on how some feel when recovering from abuse and the different ways people cope. I love the bond between Rose and Maggie. This book is definitely a good read. I also think Gray may now be my new book boyfriend.

I'm beginning to think Jennifer Ryans books just are not for me. I'm not a huge fan of her writing, characters, plot, anything in any of the books I've read.
I"m sure some people will enjoy this type of writing, but it's really just not for me and there's a lot of room for improvement. Perhaps I'll try her books again in a few years.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read and the characters were well developed. It has some serious spice but I like that. This is my first book from this author. I’ll be getting more of her work.

Trigger content *** domestic violence

Jennifer Ryan has given us a book that follows the consequences of marrying someone when all the signs are there to say that this will not be a marriage made in heaven. She looks at it from two different angles--one is before the marriage and the other after the marriage. This novel is about two people who have been best friends since kindergarten.

The book begins with Maggie being a week from marrying her fiancé and her best friend Rose has come to town to serve as her maid of honor. Rose grew up in an abusive household where she could not wait to escape. After years of working on herself, Rose has become self-confident and knows what she wants out of life. We soon find out that Rose has a secret that might upend Maggie’s marital dreams. How this secret is handled is the catalyst for the events in this novel. It is a good read because it delves into some complex behavioral issues. For myself, centralizing a book about secrets, lies, etc. is not one of my favorite tropes but the book was entertaining nonetheless.

This is a contemporary romance that fits perfectly on hallmark or lifetime channel. It involves love, hurt, relationship problems. Perfect for viewers who love that type of genre. I enjoyed it but for some viewers may find it boring.

Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse

I was gifted this book as an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was certainly a page turner. Lots of angst was felt. What I thought was an easy romance turned out to be an emotional roller coaster. I really enjoyed reading this book. Certainly not for the faint of heart or a light read but an excellent story.