To be honest, I typically do not listen to audio books, but the excerpt of this one grabbed my attention. First of all, kudos to the narrators Nancy Wu and Kyle Tait as well as OrangeSky Audio. The storyline by Audrey J Cole coupled with the narration kept me engaged from the first page to the last page, so much so that I hated it to end. Audrey J Cole is a skilled storyteller, weaving twists, and turns throughout. The story of Sloane, her husband Ethan, and Brody will keep you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what will happen next. I would definitely listen to this again! Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me to review this audio book.

I generally enjoyed this book. The storyline started off slow, but provided a lot of backstory that I appreciated later in the book. I did not feel the connection as strongly between the characters as I would have hoped. For me, the pace was a little slower than I'd like.

The main characters were intentionally unlikeable. <spoiler>However, overall I like how the book ended. As I suspected, this is not a feel good ending and not all the characters had to reconcile their wrongs. I knew there was ineviteably going to be a twist and there was. I didn't quite pinpoint the ending but I had a hunch during the last 25% of the book or so.</spoiler>

This one felt a little....flat...to me. I feel like all of the characters needed more development because I couldnt understand the appeal of Brody and felt that attraction was very random. I also would have liked to understand his marriage a little better. The same goes for Sloane & Ethan. I felt like this story had a ton of potential when I started it. I wish the story had centered around "The One" app because I feel like this would have been a better story and much more exciting if it had. Instead, it just felt a bit jumbled and all over the place. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The One is a fun, fast pace thriller that reads very quickly. I enjoyed the plot although some situations seemed to be very convenient at times. I really enjoy Audrey Cole’s writing and look forward to reading more this author. Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

ER Doctor Sloane Marks must forgive her Seattle Homicide husband’s affair in order to save their marriage. Instead, she tries a more tempting option—settling the score. But will it prove to be a deadly mistake?

The description sounded intriguing at first. Little did I know the entire book was about her sleeping with another man to get even with her husband, and all the damage that came with it. I didn't realize how much talk about infidelity there would be. It really bothered me and seeing as it was the entire premise of the book - not something that I was really engaged with. As awful as the active cheating parts were, the worst part was the miscommunication and total disregard for other people.

The narration for this book missed the mark as well. The voice actor sounded much older than the character in the book and sounded very snooty instead of sexy and intelligent (as the character was written).

As bad as I feel saying this, there wasn't much I liked about it. I could tell the writing style was adequate and I felt like there was a lack of detail and I'm still not sure what the setting looked like. I can't picture it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I loved this book! It definitely deserves more attention! It’s about a couple that are struggling after the husband had an affair. The wife decides to have an affair to get back at her husband. The man she has an affair with becomes accused of killing his own wife. It becomes a tangled mess that kept me guessing the entire time!

I felt that this book was engaging enough to keep me listening until the end. However, I feel that it was also very predictable. I continued to listen hopping that I was wrong in my assumption of what was to happen.

Was hoping this book would be as unputdownable as The Pilot's Daughter, but unfortunately, it fell short. Sloane and Ethan are both in love with their careers (ER doctor and detective), when Ethan has an affair with his partner. Sloane doesn't know how to get past it, until she runs into Brody, her college lab partner who is now a billionaire dating app developer.

What would you do to save your marriage? Sloane’s husband cheated, and she has to find a way to forgive him, so she devises a revengeful plan, but will it backfire on her?

I have mixed feelings about this book. The storyline, cheating spouses, not so great. Revenge? Also not so great, BUT, with that being said, I still thought it was a good book. I felt that the storyline was very rushed - it was either that or the book just flew by. It definitely kept my interest and I finished it really quickly because I had to know what happened. I listened to the audio version, and I liked the narrator, which is always a make or break for me with an audio book. If you like domestic thrillers, it’s a nice quick, fast-paced read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you OrangeSky Audio and @NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Married couple - the wife is an ER doctor, and the husband is a detective. The book opens with the wife recovering from her husband's affair. Before we know it, the wife bumps into her old lab partner from college. He is a billionaire who made his fortune by founding a Match.com kind of site named The One. Sparks fly between the Doc and Mr. Big Bucks, and they begin an affair that doesn't last long because his wife dies in an accident; I've told you too much already. This thriller is fast-paced, with just the right amount of twists and turns, and well narrated.

This fast paced mystery is full of flawed characters trying to navigate their mistakes in life. I found most of the characters grating, but the story itself wasn't bad.

Narrated by Nancy Wu, Kyle Tait ⭐⭐⭐
The One by Audrey J. Cole ⭐⭐

**please note due to low rating I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.**

Although I've been a fan of Audrey J. Cole's previous works, I regret to say that "The One" did not resonate with me. While the writing style and overall concept were adequate, I've come to realize that stories revolving around toxic couples are not to my personal taste.

A thrilling story about a married couple, Sloan and Ethan, who are hiding secrets and weaving webs of deceit from each other and involving others. Quite a suspenseful ride, with so much background of each character that it was hard to like either of them! It’s hard for me to get into a story on an audiobook if I’m not a fan of the narrator, so this one took a bit to get in to. Overall, I’m glad I stuck it out since, though an abrupt ending, it was good.

The One by Audrey J. Cole is about the Marks' failing relationship, and the steps Sloan, the wife, takes to correct coarse. After her husband's infidelity, Sloan can't move past the betrayal, and decides to get even by having an affair of her own with someone from her past. What follows is a slippery slope of obsession, backstabbing and secret-keeping that grows in intensity as the noose tightens around the couple.

This book is my first work by Cole though she has written quite a few thrillers. I was initially interested by the premise, but I didn't realize how reading about infidelity would affect me. Any parts where Sloan is actively taking part in cheating on her husband were painful to read and quite a struggle to get through. Unfortunately, when the active cheating scenes were over, it was followed by many misunderstandings and lack of communication between Sloan and Ethan. I wanted to strangle both of them to be honest. Sloan is also supposed to be a brilliant doctor, but the entire time we see her at work, she is a distracted mess who is on the verge of killing all of her patients (if not actively killing them). Ethan should have recused himself of the investigation immediately upon hearing who the deceased was. I digress, I am getting too close to spoiler territory. Needless to say, the only reason I finished this was due to it being an audiobook I could listen to while driving.

The narrator for Sloan's parts was a poor choice. Sloan is supposed to be a 42-year-old woman but they voice actress they chose sounded much older. Sloan is supposed to be sexy and intelligent and cunning but I got none of these impressions from the voice actress. She would be much better suited for a different role. The male voice actor did a sufficient job and honestly left very little of an impression, which is not a bad thing. I could focus on the story better for his parts.

The plot of this novel honestly needed further tweaking, the reasoning for Sloan to cheat on her husband doesn't feel sufficient, especially as she is repulsed by the person she is cheating on him with. Brody's desire of Sloan was also questionable when he was married to a young Australian model. Why would he want a 42-year-old doctor over a young model? The ending was also a disappointment. Nothing felt like a twist and it came off as a poor attempt to rip off the ending of "Gone Girl".

As for the positives, The writing quality itself was fine, and the novel was well-paced. I never felt super immersed in the settings, but it was described adequately enough that I could get a little bit of a sense of place.

Sloane Marks's husband cheats on her and she wants to get even. She meets up with Brody, her old college lab partner who's now a billionaire app designer. She chooses him to be The One. But when Brody's ex-wife is in a diving accident and brought tho the ER where Sloane is the doctor, things get crazy. Was the accident a result of foul play? Did Sloane have anything to do with it? Sloane's husband is the detective assigned to the case and it only gets more twisted from there.

This is my second book by Cole and I had a hard time putting this one down! She's written another 5 five star and I need all her books!

Thank you Netgalley for the copy of this book!

While not the twistiest of stories, it maintained my interest the whole time. I originally thought the story was going to go one way, but it ended up going in another direction. It was easy to follow and tied everything up neatly - though there were a few unanswered questions - such as when some characters started planning their actions (vague so as not to post a spoiler). I know authors sometimes intentionally leave some aspects unanswered but my personal preference is to have everything wrapped up in a bow with all the answers! On that note - I appreciated the epilogue for providing a clear ending. Although I could see that as the starting point for another novel!
I wasn’t very invested in the characters and while interesting, I had no problem setting the book down for breaks. I give it a 3.5 rounded up to 4. A light story that doesn’t require a lot of focus, but has enough action to keep the story going. It was not a slow burn, which I appreciate.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an audio copy of The One, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sloane and Ethan Marks have a problem. Ethan had an affair and it is tearing their marriage apart. Both Sloane and Ethan have demanding careers- her a physician and him a detective- and that isnt helping the situation. Sloane decides that in order go forgive she must get even, and decides to start an affair with a multimillionaire dating-app creator who used to be her college lab partner, Brody Carr. Brody, however, falls madly for Sloane. The problem is he is also married, though separated. His wife dies soon after in an accident which Ethan ends up investigating. Sloane is going to have to decide who to trust all over again.

This book has, what appears to be a straightforward plotline, but ends up being very convoluted in a good way. The story grabs ahold of you and doesnt let go. The flawed characters made you hate then with their actions, but they were also understandable because of the hurt they were going through. I was eagerly awaiting the resolution while not wanting the story to end. This is definitely a "recommend" in my book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance reader copy of this book

This was a complicated story. Not hard to follow but everything kept shifting keeping me on my toes reading/listening.

Sloane is an ER doctor and husband Ethan works homicide in Seattle. They want to start a family but it seems everyone is just too busy to make it happen. And, Ethan’s sleeping with his partner sure doesn’t help the situation. Now Sloane must forgive her husband's affair if she wants their marriage to work. Or she can even the score by sleeping with an old college buddy, Brody. That wasn’t a good idea either.

Now Brody’s wife has died in a tragic accident where Brody is the main suspect and Ethan leads the investigation and, get this, Sloane is the doctor who pronounced her dead! The more Ethan learns about the affair, the more he feels Sloane may have been involved in the death.

There are no good guys here.

Really good story and I highly recommend.

I liked the narration of Nancy Wu, bit felt Kyle Tait’s voice was stilted, almost robotic at times. But then he was the voice of a homicide detective and that may be their demeanor

Domestic noir is one of my favorite sub-genres and The One was as psychologically thrilling as I hope it would be! Reading it was addictive.

We are introduced to Ethan, a homicide detective, and his wife Sloane, an ER Physician. They have a toxic marriage and their main interests are on spying on each other and avoiding each other’s company by saying “There’s an emergency at work and I’ll be home late. Don’t wait up.”

Sloane makes calculated decisions that she predicts will bring Ethan closer to her. Instead, her actions bring about dangerous consequences for both of them and for others. Soon, Ethan is investigating a crime in which Sloane is a suspect.

What I really liked about this book is how well the author describes what’s going on in each of the main characters’ heads. Told alternately from Ethan’s POV and Sloane’s POV, the story builds suspense by revealing how little the husband and wife understand about each other. They each keep assuming they know how the other will react to problems. Then they keep getting surprised when their spouse does things that they never thought they would be capable of. I thought that was interesting.

At times the narrative did get repetitive and towards the very end I wanted it to hurry up and end.

I’m giving The One 4.5 stars and I always round up. I recommend The One to anyone who likes contemporary psychological thrillers dealing with themes of marriage, infidelity, and trust.

Thank you very much Netgalley and the publishers for giving me a free audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This thriller kept me on a ride of suspense the entire book. Simone and Ethan are married but hiding things from each other. An ER physician and a homicide detective, will they be able to keep each other from the truth? This was a great listen, the narrators really helped capture the characters.