𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary fiction📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
Such a realistic and dark romance.

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Unique romances
Second chance romances
Books that cover heavy topics
Complex and emotional reads
Alternate POVs

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Short chapters
The unique plot

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
I didnt really feel the chemistry
I found the characters unlikable

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “A simple life with people I love. That's all I've ever wanted. “

The kind of romance that I love -- second chance with a young love. Loved this story!! Thanks for the opportunity to review.

I was really looking forward to this read but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. Which of course made it difficult for me to get into the story. I also thought this would be an easy romance to read but this book had tons of heavy topics. As a mood reader maybe it wasn’t the right time to read this or maybe this book just wasn’t for me.

This was quite the heavy read for a second chance romance. I also feel like it was more of Clara having a midlife crisis than romance. I actually really disliked Clara which made it hard for me to connect to the story. The timeline writing was off and it was too much back and forth to enjoy it. I didn't want to have to think while reading a romance.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I loved this book. It’s a great second chance romance book.

Thank you, Netgalley, and the publisher for the eARC! This book was about a couple in college and their story after college. The story jumped back and forth between present day and the past, and longer chapters made it choppy at times. There was a twist at the end but then the story ended- it would’ve been nice to read more about the characters during present day and even in the future. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book- it held my interest throughout the entire story.

If you're reading this book thinking you're getting a lighthearted second chance romance, you're in for a wild ride. There are so many content warnings that were never mentioned in the synopsis--suicide, self harm, mass bombings--just to name a few. I'm not someone who looks into warnings, but I do think they may be important to mention in a book that's seemingly so innocent.

The story takes place over 20ish years and is told from two perspectives in dual timelines. I did like the setup, and I found it easy to follow. I just didn't get anything from it, even though I don't really have much bad to say about it. I did enjoy the ending. The rest was just fine.

Wow, this book by this new author to me was a roller coaster ride of epic proportions.
Brimming with all sorts of emotions, there was a lot happening in this book and the trigger warning about them ought to have been announced early on in the book!
This is Clara and Benjamin’s story is a very compelling, unique and heart wrenching romance story. Told in dual POV, theirs is a painful, tragedy filled journey that left me thinking whether or not they could have a second chance. I found the characters not to be the most likable but they were portrayed realistically considering the content of the plot.
Second chances are put to the test in this read and it’s worth checking out.

This is not your typical romance story, but it is a love story. I enjoyed the realistic viewpoint of a relationship and co-dependency once I got used to it. I would have liked a bit more exploration of Clara's mental health issues and how they affected her relationships. It would have added more depth to her character.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Told between 2 time periods, the love story of Clara and Benjamin is tragic but also lovely.

During the first period, their love story unfolds when they meet and brings them through university years. Unfortunately, a misunderstanding leads to their break up.

20 years later, when tragedy strikes, Clara rushes to where Benjamin lives (their old stomping grounds), where they reunite.

Can time heal all wounds?

I read this in just a few hours, I loved it so much! Highly recommend!

If you loved “Normal People” then pick this book up!

Watching Clara and Benjamin’s lives unfold in this dual timeline story was heartbreaking and healing all in one.

This book demonstrates how it’s never too late to reshape and learn who you are. How people from your past can be forever present even when they’re no longer actively in your life… and how one tragic event can cause the present and the past to collide. This is not your average love story, it is not a romance, but it’s exactly what a reader needs. Cheers to a great ending.


**Trigger warning (mentions SA)

I enjoyed this love story, but I think I had higher expectations than I should have for it. I was expecting it to make me feel the same way that "The Light We Lost" by Jill Santopolo did. And though it had a similar arc - I felt a bit let down by the characters. I honestly just didn't think that Clara and Benjamin seemed like a very good fit for one another. They actually seemed fairly toxic, and eventually, their behaviors lead to one of them spending time in prison.

However, even with all that - I did find this story interesting enough to earn it a low spot on my would recommend list. I actually would love to see how the story progresses between the two as adults.

2.5 but rounding down

Unfortunately this one didn’t really work for me. It started out strong with such potential but by the end it had lost me. I didn’t love or connect to any of the characters. While meant to be somewhat likeable, both Benjamin and Clara bothered me and I found very annoying. Their love and chemistry was far from believable. They honestly didn’t seem matched well to me so it was very hard for me to believe that they’d hold on to those feelings for 20 years. They didn’t seem well suited for each other so I struggled to connect to their relationship or longing. A lot of the story was also pretty predictable and didn’t leave me with strong feelings or emotions about the drama that occurs. The strongest emotional pull came from the last 30 minutes of the audiobook but overall it didn’t leave me feeling satisfied.

Thank you to St. Martins Press, Charlotte Rixon, and NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really was glued to this book. The author did a wonderful job of creating a page turner with this one and I simply had to know what would happen next and how everything would be resolved.

Ben and Clara meet in college and quickly fall in love. However, there are some secrets between them that seem harmless but eventually cause serious damage. One such secret leads to a mistake that sets them on a path away from one another that will last for twenty years. They both live their lives without the other person directly being a part of it and know that something is missing but can't seem to fix the issue. Then something drastic happens and Clara rushes to see if Ben is okay and their world is again turned upside down.

Even though as a reader I was often frustrated by the things which kept them apart and felt they were things that could have been overcome sooner, I also realize that isn't necessarily the case. People don't always have the courage to put their true feelings on the line when they feel threatened or as if they don't live up to expecations. This could easily have led to misunderstandings and heartbreak.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: A very well-done audiobook that kept me glued to it from start to finish. It was a wonderful storyline with solid narration. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook.

I just finished The one that got away by Charlotte Rixon and here is my review.


The year 2000 was the start of the end for Benjamin and Clara. One mistake sends them both in very different directions and so far apart from each other.

20 years on, Clara has a great job and a handsome husband but she never got over Benjamin and the life they could have had with each other. She feels responsible for what happened and the guilt eats at her for years….

Until a bombing happens in the City where they loved and lost each other. A bombing at the stadium where Benjamin religiously went every single weekend. Clara can’t help worrying about what may have happened to him and it sets her on a new path…. One where she maybe, can right a terrible wrong but that is only if she isn’t too late.

This was one of those books that jumped from year to year from Clara to Benjamin’s POV and I understand the logic of doing it but I found it a bit of a pain personally. I would have liked a little less jumping around but I think that is just me.

I found the character development, however excellent. Both Benjamin and Clara were hella irritating when they were younger and the more they grew, the more they grew on me. You could really visualize how much time had changed them for the better and they could both see the mistakes they made in their youth.

I found Benjamin’s story so heartbreaking and he really did right by his son Aiden. I really did enjoy this book even with my gripes about the timeline.

This book does have one heck of a trigger…. Child sexual abuse and alcoholism are both weaved into this tale so please be advised if these might be your triggers.

The book was really well written and I loved the second chance at love undertones that the book had weaved throughout the 20 years.

If you love women’s fiction, you should add this to your TBR

4 stars! Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my gifted copy

This was a compelling, quick read. The writing was approachable and fast-paced (I appreciated the short chapters!) While the writing wasn't necessarily profound on a prose-level, it was a very well-told and immersive story.

I kept hoping this book would get better, but it did not. We open with a bombing at a stadium in 2022. Then, we go back to 2000. Clara and Benjamin meet at club when they are both in university. They have a night together where Clara tries to get him to sleep with her. He declines and asks if they can see each other again. This sets off their relationship, and how they got together and fell apart. Told in 6 parts over 23 years, it goes between the past and present.

Benjamin and Clara were insufferable. She was practically assaulting him for sex, and throughout the book he loves when she gets angry? I don’t know. Maybe this book just wasn’t for me.

Clara literally married a man she wasn’t in love with, and pined for her college love the entire time. It’s no wonder that their marriage fell apart. She really hated herself. I get that she had trauma, but instead of asking for help she withdrew into herself and then acted out. She was incredibly jealous and suspicious. Relationships shouldn’t be built on that. Benjamin as well… he hides his mom dying. He is “the good guy.” I just didn’t connect with him.

I don’t typically leave bad reviews. I try to find something I like about the book. I liked that it discussed vaginismus which is something most people don’t know about. I like the storytelling of past and present, but this story was not good because the characters were so unlikeable.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

We are a soccer house through and through. The One That Got Away starts off in present day with a bomb going off at a soccer (really football because it is Newcastle) and then proceeds to go back in time and tell the story of a couple who met in college and had a series of ups and downs. This is all while not fully explaining how the explosion impacted them other than the guy was a massive Newcastle fan. This book was just so good. The storytelling and character development was so intense and well crafted. All the emotions jumped from the page and I really felt like I knew these people. I was so invested in their lives and I needed to know what happened. I loved how information was slowly revealed. It had some vibes of High Fidelity when the guy was such a super fan.

This was an interesting, well written but difficult book to read. Charlotte Rixon has captured the overwhelming emotion of first love experience by two young, inexperienced adults. There were many topics addressed throughout the couples relationship and separation including alcoholism, bullying, sexual abuse and assault, infertility and mental health. Thanks #NetGalley

Darker than I expected. Lots of heavy themes. Truthfully, I didn't really feel like I liked the main characters that much. Maybe that was the point? This one just kind of drug for me. The premise was good, but the execution felt lacking.