Don’t let the title fool you: ONE STAR ROMANCE is actually a five star read.

While I like a carefree and fun rom-com, I’ve found myself gravitating towards those that can deftly tackle topics like career, family, and coming of age while delivering a love story I want to root for.

Natalie and Rob are polar opposites:a free-spirited writer and a rigid academic. The only thing they have in common is their mutual best friends who just got engaged. Despite their differences, Natalie and Rob have an undeniable pull, until Natalie discovers that Rob left a one-star review on her just-published novel. Luckily, they’ll never have to meet again, right? Wrong. Over the years, they reconnect every time their now-married best friends have a life event.

When I read this book a few weeks ago, I was on an Amtrak that was delayed by not one, not two, but three hours. The one thing that saved me while we were stuck on the train with WiFi that barely worked? The eARC of this book on my Kindle, which I promptly devoured, then had to hide my misty eyes from my fellow passengers because yeah–the emotion of this one truly sneaks up on ya.

It’s hard for me to verbalize exactly why I adored this book so much. On paper, it has everything I love—the aforementioned romance requirements, a main character who is a writer, a loooong timeline where we get to see our characters grow. We meet Natalie and Rob when they’re coming to adulthood and follow them through the messy parts of their 20s. Maybe it’s because Hankin tapped into the season of life I’m living through right now—the struggle of finding a career that you love, the question of where you’re going to live and who you’re going to spend your life with and the uncertainty of whether or not you’re doing it on the right timeline.

On a more tangible note, I was obsessed with the structure of dropping in on Natalie and Rob during important life events. I was shocked by how emotional the end made me because the rest of the book was HILARIOUS. Loved every second of it and want to reread it all over again.

REVIEW: One-Star Romance

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This book was an easy 5-star read for me. No question. My only question is: Why aren’t more people raving about this book?? It might just be the best second chance romance I’ve ever read! 💖

SUMMARY: Natalie and Rob meet when their best friends get engaged. There’s instant chemistry, but they stay friends until Natalie’s first book gets published—only for Rob to publicly slam it with a one-star review 😱. Over a decade, through life’s ups and downs, they keep crossing paths at their friends’ significant life events. So, is there a second chance for these one-star-crossed lovers? 💫

This book hit home for me because I’ve lived through that much time and seen how people can change over 10 years. I loved that these two had the potential to be a great couple from the start, but it just couldn’t happen until they both grew and evolved individually 🌱.

I ALSO loved that the story started with their first meeting and moved forward in chronological order. That’s what usually confuses me about second-chance romances—I get lost with all the jumping back and forth through time! 🌀

If you’re a fan of Emily Henry or Abby Jimenez, this is the perfect book for you! 📚✨

In some ways the journey of her finding herself was a positive but boy was she an awful friend and girlfriend. I'm not sure if her character was fully redeemed or if she was just less awful. How was Angus the true hero in all of this? Thankfully Rob had his friend's back but you know got distracted because his other brain was making decisions. Isn't it written though that you gotta hate someone forever if they talked trash about your bestie. Idk but they spend at least 95% of the book with other people and I kinda wished he didn't give her the benefit of trying 😒

Natalie is an aspiring author and meets Rob at her best friend’s surprise engagement party. They have accepted their roles as the maid of honor/best man at their friends’ wedding. When the wedding finally rolls around, Rob is short and cold with Natalie. A few hours later, Natalie looks at her GoodReads and notices a new review on her book, with a rating of one star. After discovering it’s Rob, she’s furious and wants to know why. Over the years, they teeter the line of fixing this impaired “friendship”, while they both work on their own personal growth in life, love, and their careers.

I am a big Laura Hankin fan. The Daydreams was one of my favorite books in 2023, so I was ecstatic to see this release on the horizon for 2024. I did beg Berkley to send it to me 😂, but requested it immediately from my library. I loved the set-up for this book and how it follows along Natalie’s best friend’s milestones, instead of her own, while she is struggling with career and unlucky in love. It’s the perfect depiction of how we are all on different timelines in life. While it was a romance, I loved the personal struggles and growth each character exhibited. We love character development 🤌🏼 I had no doubt Laura would hit this out of the park. I laughed, I cried, I loved. I can’t wait for the next one!

I absolutely loved this newest book from Laura Hankin - her books may not be for everyone but they seem to always hit the spot for me!

What would you do if you found out your best friend’s future husband and best man who you had to walk down the aisle with had given your debut novel a one star review?? That’s the premise of this book, but in actuality it’s about a whole lot more.

I’ll start by saying this: this book may be marketed as a romance, but it doesn’t read like one. This felt like a really beautifully written contemporary/women’s fiction book, and although it had romance elements, it was more about the journey that Natalie takes over the course of the story.

This is, at its core, a story about love in all its forms. It’s a story about two people who may be right for each other, but can’t seem to get the timing right. It’s about friendships and the way they morph and change over the course of our lives. This book takes place over the course of 10 years as we follow Natalie’s career, love life, and friendship with her best friend Gabby, and I loved getting to know her and witness her progression.

I loved how full of humor this book was while also unexpectedly hitting me right in my emotions. I also loved how fully fleshed out these characters were: Angus needs to be protected at all costs!! We need more Angus!!

At the end of the day, I loved this story and the way it was told. I loved the self-discovery journey at the center of it and the way the romance elements fit so seamlessly within it. I highly recommend this book!

This was a fun book, and I really appreciated the opportunity to read it! I will recommend this book.

Though romantic comedies aren’t usually my go-to genre anymore, *One Star Review* managed to hold my attention and deliver a satisfying story. The dynamic between Natalie and Rob, from their initial clash to their gradual understanding of each other, is engaging. Their journey from adversaries to a potential match is filled with humorous and heartwarming moments, capturing the essence of how love can be found in the most unexpected places.

The book explores themes of personal growth, the impact of criticism, and the complexities of relationships, making it more than just a typical rom-com. While it may not have reignited my passion for the genre, it was a fine read that offered a pleasant escape and a reminder that even imperfect matches can create a perfect story.

Natalie is a writer struggling to make ends meet. She works a multitude of jobs so that she could pay the bills while squeezing out spare moments to write. When her best friend/roommate Gabby gets engaged to Angus and quickly moves out, Natalie is concerned he may not be the right guy. At an engagement event she meets Rob, Angus’s best friend and humorless academic. Easy on the eyes, she considers a little harmless flirting and looks forward to seeing him at future wedding events. Natalie then pours her lonely heart into her writing and miracles do happen - her novel gets published. At the wedding, confident that her real career has finally begun, Natalie is excited to see Mr. Smarty Pants again.When she figures out that Rob left her a one star review on Goodreads, Natalie is consumed with rage. As the years pass through home celebrations, holidays and children, Natalie is brought into the fold of Gabby’s new family, which often includes Rob. Even though the chemistry between them is unavoidable the bitter truth slowly unravels. For me this story was less a romance and more about the evolution and meaning of female friendship as life changes. None of the characters were very likable and even though it was a quick read I was not invested in the outcome. It definitely deserves more than a one star, but the best I could offer is three.

I'll admit I read this about 2 months ago and it was one of my favorite romance reads of the summer. I personally loved the timeline centered on their mutual friends' relationship milestones. The writing is witty and the character development for Nat and Rob kept me turning the pages. There is an enemies-to-lovers trope, but it's better developed, in my opinion, and the emotions that this book wades through carry enough weight to bring the reader along but not so much as to bog them down.
This is great for someone who likes books by Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, or Katherine Center.
Thanks so much for the ARC! I'm looking forward to some time where I can reread this now that is released.

I am not a fan of romance novels but I do read them once in a blue moon. I haven’t found the formula that I enjoy yet. This was ok for me. I actually never felt invested in both Nat and Rob story. It might be me, but the story line of main characters in their late 20s complaining and crying about what their lives are and what are they doing with their time is not my cup of tea. Thanks for the copy!

I don’t know what people are raving about this book. Honestly, I don’t love this book as much as other readers did. I felt that this book needed more than what we were given. How am I supposed to care about the main character's progress or their relationship when it’s a few chapters every few years? Explain to me. Like, seriously.

I can’t connect to the main character when I just get bits of her throughout the years with a few chapters in between. Like, how am I supposed to know her? We only get a glimpse into her character while she mainly talks about her friendship with her best friend instead of her.

And the relationship is literally a joke. They barely talk to each other. Just a few conversations in between. And they are supposed to be in love even if they were opposite of each other? I’m confused and speechless.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance, Netgalley, and PRH Audio for providing an advanced copy of this! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

This is definitely one of those contemporary stories that won't work for everyone. In the vane of You Again by Kate Goldbeck, this story spans many, many years. You follow these two characters as they meet, fall apart, reach highs, and some very low lows. All against the backdrop of their mutual friends' big life events (engagement, wedding, housewarming, baby shower, etc).

While this has a wonderful, slow burn romance, this definitely has a contemporary feel given how much character growth we get from both MCs throughout the years.

I loved how this story explored the evolution of relationships throughout adulthood. Not just romantic relationships, but familial and platonic as well.

One of my favorite aspects of this entire book was the female friendship between our heroine and her best friend. For so much of their early 20s they were on the same path. But at the start of the book, the directions of their life start to diverge and you get to see the evolution of that platonic love across time. The hardships, the work, the support, every messy bit. And the heroine really emphasizes that her love for her best friend is not less important than romantic love. Which was a discussion I absolutely loved.

This is definitely a slow, slow burn with the romance (we're talking in decades here). But watching these 2 find their way together was so worth it in the end.

The audiobook was perfectly narrated and overall I just had a really fantastic time reading this romance.

I definitely can't wait to see what this author does next in the romance sphere!

I've heard the best things but this book was too good. It was the perfect balance of humor and honesty! I loved it.

This one follows Natalie and Rob, who are “thrown together” after their best friends get engaged (and later married). This book spans over several years, through the respective main characters 20s and 30s. And while it is a romance, the characters have a lot of growing to do through the pages.

It starts off with a cute “meet-cute” 😉 between Natalie and Rob, while Natalie is still an aspiring writer. It then jumps to the wedding of their respective best friends, where Natalie finds out that Rob left her a very public 1 star review on her book. As these two are thrown together as the years go on there is a lot for them to work through, both together and separately.

I both read and listened to this one. I thought it was awesome that Laura both wrote AND narrates this one. She does a fantastic job with the narration and bring her characters to life.

I hate admitting this, but this actually was pretty close to a "one-star romance" for me. Not at all because the book was <i>bad</i>, moreso because 1) I hated Natalie from the very beginning, and 2) this didn't feel like a romance; it felt more like women’s fiction. I fully admit to being catfished by a title/cover.

First and foremost, I have to say this: Laura Hankin is an excellent writer. She crafted a story I was fully invested in (even though Natalie made me want to throw things). I loved her characterizations—every player had their integral part in the grand scheme of this novel (Angus will forever be #1 though, he gets five stars for being the bear we all want). In the end though, while Natalie did earn some points by finally getting her life together, and ultimately growing up and “getting the guy,” I was underwhelmed by it all, and will maintain what a lot of other reviews I’ve read mentioned: Rob deserved better.

This one made me wonder if authors really think the way Natalie felt after reading her first one-star review she receives. How it made her question herself. How it made her want to find the one-star reviewer. What would an author say if they were ever met with their one-star reviewer face to face? Natalie meets her reviewer, and over time falls in love with him!

I enjoyed the explorations of the 2 main character’s issues within themselves that they dealt with along the way! Natalie with her commitment issues and Rob with his family issues that affected him. I also enjoyed their friendships and how it kept the two connected and within reach of one another which ultimately brought them together over time!

I enjoyed listening to this one overall, following Natalie and Rob’s journey. Their relationship wasn’t insta-love thank goodness, but… it was a slow process. These two never spoke their minds and always had these inner thoughts or feelings and made me want to say “just say how you feel!!!” I enjoyed the rom-com, but felt as though it was drug out a tad and could have been wrapped up a bit faster. That’s just my thoughts, but I do feel as though this is another good summer romance/ beach read if you’re looking for one.

What to Expect:
⭐️friendships evolving over time
⭐️trials & tribulations of adulthood
⭐️story takes place over the years
⭐️despise-to-lovers
⭐️MOH and best man
⭐️slow burn
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🫶🏽What I enjoyed
This had a strong start with good banter and making me laugh. I did like the development of Nat and Rob’s relationship over time, and thought that made it more authentic given that they didn’t see each other much. Most of this book revolves around friendship though, with romance being almost more of a subplot.
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🤷🏻‍♀️What didn’t work for me (minor vague spoilers)
Unlikeable characters and seriously cringy moments ruined the book for me. Natalie makes some pretty insensitive choices and the conflict was really glossed over due to a medical crisis. I kinda thought that was a cheap way to move past Natalie’s past behavior of being a shitty friend.
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⚠️CW: cancer & dementia

I am a sucker for a slow burn, enemies to lovers story and this book delivered on both those fronts. Rob and Natalie are so honestly portrayed.I loved getting to see the growth from their mid 20s to their mid 30s and how their interactions changed over those years. Of course from the start their chemistry was palpable but they tragically embodied the 'right person, wrong time' concept for so long.

It felt like I could not put the book down because I was so desperate to see what happened next in their lives. Because of that intensity, the last 20% or so of the book was very difficult to read and emotional for me. Gabby and Angus were such a beautiful couple to watch over the years as well and to see what they go through was hard. And after those troubles, it felt like there wasn't enough time left in the book to really bask in Rob and Natalie's 'honeymoon phase.' Other than that pacing concern, I thought One Star Romance was incredibly well-written, beautifully emotional, and compelling.

This is a really fun and creative idea for a book, and so well executed! A free-spirited young author, Nat, is in her dearest friend's wedding, and she has a crush on the best man, who comes off as kind of a stuffy academic -- a college professor. She decides she hates him, however, when she discovers that HE is the one who gave her first (and newly published) novel a withering one star rating. He has his reasons, as it turns out, and the two of them just have to work things out. Great, fun wedding setting, lots of great supporting characters and a brisk plot make this a fun read.

This was a sweet book that brought out the realities of life. I didn't really get into it until almost 50% of the book. I thought the main male character was hard to connect to or like but can see how the author was taking us on a journey with him where he eventually grew.