⭐️✨ | DNF @ 36%

The One That Got Away
Charlotte Rixon

Publication date: august 15 2023

A story of first love and first heart break.

This story is told in two different time lines from two different povs. Benjamin and Clara meet at university in 2000 and instantly know that they are meant to be together until one night ruins their relationship. 20 years latter Clara has it all the husband the career but she knows part of her heart still belongs to Benjamin.

Let me start off with what I liked about this book:
- [ ] multiple povs & multiple time lines
- [ ] The narrators

What wasn’t my favorite:
- [ ] The miscommunication
- [ ] The “cheating”
- [ ] I couldn’t stand either character

Overall I would not recommend this book. On top of some of my less favorite tropes this book also had very unlikeable characters which made it impossible for me to get into.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for gifting me this ACR in exchange for my honest review.

This is a great story, but at times I had trouble keeping track of all the back and forth. This novel covers a first love and a first heartbreak. The characters are well-drawn, and the story is fast-paced. Hats off to the fabulous narrator.

I'm a sucker for stories about lost or unrequited love, so this one immediately appealed to me. Benjamin and Clara meet in 2000 while attending university in Newcastle. They have an instant attraction and connection. Twenty years later, they're no longer together, but Clara feels drawn to find Benjamin, worrying for his safety after a terrorist attack occurs at the stadium of his favorite team. I loved the dual timeline, in the early 00s when they were together and 2022, when Clara goes to search for him. The characters are very sweet and charming. It highlights those loves we have in our lives that we never lose affection for. I listened to the audiobook, which was wonderfully narrated by Carl Prekopp and Katherine Press. They brought wonderful life into the story.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ebook / audiobook ARCs. All thoughts are my own.

This book takes turns and places you couldn't imagine. You learn all about the different characters and players in this life altering thing that happens. We do not know about what happens to make this couple fall apart. It seems like they were soulmates that got torn apart. It really is an amazing story that takes you to places with unmistakable situations.

Overall: 4/5
Story: 5/5
Spice: 3/5

3.5 stars for The One That Got Away by Charlotte Rixon.
Here is the publisher's synopsis of the story:
Two years together.Twenty years apart.One day to change their story.
2000. Benjamin’s world is turned upside down the night he meets Clara. Instinctively, he knows that they are meant for each other, but a devastating mistake on their last night at university will take their lives in very different directions.
20 years later, Clara has a high-profile job and a handsome husband. But despite the trappings of success, she isn't happy, and she knows that a piece of her heart still belongs to Benjamin, the boy she fell in love with years earlier. The boy whose life she fears she ruined.
When a bombing is reported in the city where they first met, Clara is pulled back to a place she tries not to remember and the first love she could never forget. Searching for Benjamin, Clara is forced to confront the events that tore them apart. But is it too late to put right what went wrong?

This was a unique story. I would not call this a romance, although it is a story about a boy and a girl who loved each other. I thought this was about the variety of relationships in life; romantic relationships, marriage, parent/child, friends, etc. There was an emphasis on individual growth (or lack there of) and how people move on or stay stagnant resisting change. At times I found Clara quite irritating but I believe she was supposed to be. The story had peaks and valleys, but it kept me interested. I especially liked the dynamic and characters from the all male, multi-generational household of Benjamin and his family. The father/son relationships were well-developed and thoughtful, especially with a teenager in the mix.

Both narrators for this audio book were very good.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance audio book copy in exchange for my honest review.

DNF - I really, really tried, but I could never get into this book. It sounded great to me in its description, but I just didn’t like it. The hard part is that I can’t really pinpoint what I didn’t like, except that it never drew me in.

Themes: ❤️💔🇬🇧🗣️🗣️

My thoughts: 😞

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This book was as heartbreaking as it was romantic and I was here for all of it! This one had me in such a chokehold I couldn’t wait to finish it!

“… her beloved boy. He vanished into the ether when he vanished from her life.”

Me 🤝 emotionally unavailable fictional sad men

Alone Eith You in the Ether meets Before We Were Strangers meets Fleabag. This serves the gut punch that Normal People hits you with. If you enjoy the melancholy of any of the aforementioned books/shows, I think you’ll enjoy this read. Side note: this reads like literary fiction and I wouldn’t classify it as romance; it’s more about life choices and the innumerable ways that things may turn out.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect going into this one but I was pleasantly surprised by everything about it! I wasn’t sure if I could get into the narration but it made the story all the better.

The One That Got Away is a heart wrenching, beautiful, love story! It begins with a “ love at first sight” moment that slowly introduces the main characters, Clara and Benjamin. They are written so that it feels as if you know them, that you are right there with them. They are young and full of hope for a bright future together but they come from such different backgrounds that in spite of their deep love, they struggle to understand one another.

Their relationship pulled at my heart. I wanted them to succeed. Charlotte Rixon writes their romance as it happens in the real world. It’s not a magical, ever after story. I think that’s what I liked the most; The raw emotions and the truth that it takes work to keep a relationship alive.

The book has some hard subjects, child abuse, rape and murder, of which I usually won’t read about, but these were not detailed. This is a beautiful book that I will think about for days to come.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio via NetGalley for the arc.

This audiobook was ok. The premise of the novel was good but the book flipped back and forth between two different timelines and two different characters’ povs that felt disjointed at times. It took a long time to get to the reason the two weren’t together anymore and the bombing seemed kinda random to the main storyline. There was a lot in this book that felt kinda random like they were throwing different things in. I liked the story ok but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend to someone.

The One That Got Away by Charlotte Rixon is a beautiful love story that reminded me loosely of Normal People by Sally Rooney. I loved the multiple POVs and the different time lines that help show the characters’ journey as they grow from college students into adulthood. This book was beautifully written as well and I could not put it down. It made me smile, laugh, and totally feel what the main characters, Clara and Benjamin. I will be recommending this one over and over again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nice story, but it was a little slow... The timeline was confusing, and I didn't really care for the characters. Another romance with a ton of miscommunication.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Benjamin and Clara fell in love and thought that they would be together forever and then it went wrong and they went their separate ways. Years later there is a horrible explosion at the Soccer Game where Clara knows Benjamin may have been attending as he was an avid fan. Clara needs to find him and find out if he made it out alive. This was a good story about first loves, first heartbreak and how one never seems to get over that one special love in your life. The story spans 2 decades and is told back and forth in time going through how and when they met in their younger days and moving forward to the current time as Clara desperately tries to find out if Benjamin was involved in the deadly explosion. Enjoy!!

Gosh I wanted to like this one. I really wanted it to get better. Truthfully, the ending was probably my favorite part. I loved how they just stayed as friends and meshed their lives back together. Yo until that point though, things just felt kind of forced.

🌀Synopsis
Benjamin and Clara meet in college. It’s a tough time in Ben’s life because his mother is dying but that doesn’t stop him from falling wildly in love with Clara. The problem is, she’s young and insecure in their love. While he was away Clara was convinced he didn’t love her and she slept with someone else. The guilt causes her to accuse him of cheating even though he is not. They fight and Clara goes out with her friends. It’s a normal night until the same guy starts forcing himself on her. Ben happens to walk up at that moment and hits the guy. The guy dies and Ben ends up in prison. Their relationship is over.
Clara is in a marriage that she isn’t committed to. Ben has a son with a woman who abandons them both. One twist of fate, a bomb, brings them back together. As soon as Clara finds out about it she rushes to find Benjamin again. The tragedy helps them bring out more truth from the past and also gives them confidence to face the future together.

I really wanted to like this one. The cover is beautiful and the blurb sounded SO good. I think a big part of my dislike was the narration. I just didn't enjoy their voices enough to want to continue with the book and DNF'd about 30% in. (I struggle with accents and that's my fault for not realizing these narrators before requesting to listen) Maybe if I chose to read the kindle version and not listen to the audiobook then I would have had a better chance of finishing the book.

Severely disliked both main characters, which made it hard to root for them. I finished this book, but just barely.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

When her newsroom erupts with activity and reporters start rushing out to the scene of a bombing at the local football stadium, Clara can't just run out..... and one of the people being interviewed in the early minutes is a man she hasn't seen in twenty years.. A man who happens to be the love of her life.

Right off the bat I loved that this was one of the more unique situations for finding each other again that I've seen in second chance romance. It's pragmatic and a little gritty and it really grounded the book and made it less like a Hallmark Channel movie and more like a real story. I absolutely loved that! I also loved how the present day story line remains realistic and complicated, rather than having two people just bump into each other and move on like the intervening decades didn't happen. It was all just very believable, which as a cynic I really appreciated.

This book did drag for me for a little bit in the middle, and I did find Clara to be annoying at times, but overall it was awesome! I'm not sure I agree with recommend it for Colleen Hoover fans since there's next to zero shock or sex, but the Jill Santopolo recommendation is spot on. HIGHLY recommend for her fans as well as those of Renee Carlino!

This book took a minute to get excited about. Charlotte Rixon, thank you for writing this book, I would love to know how much of this book relates to your real world experience just as much as the characters in the book. The beginning started out slow and I got the feeling it was like Clara, learning how to write her first novel, it drastically improved as the book progressed. I enjoyed the story line of how family holds tight no matter what and how true love always has a very special place in your heart. Thank you #NetGalley and @MacMillan Audio for giving me the opportunity to pre-listen to this publication. I Loved the narrator of this book, worth the read - or in my case - listen.

Second chance romances are a fun trope. I have definitely wondered what happened to someone in my past. Not necessarily a love interest but there are other lost relationships I have wondered about. This book gave a fun perspective on lost relationships. It was a quick entertaining read.