it took me a minute of sitting with this one to decide if I liked it or not but I've decided that I LOVED this one. definitely would not describe it as your typical romance book... but I don't know what I would describe it as... the first books that come to mind when I'm trying to think about how to talk about it are Funny You Should Ask and Romantic Comedy. Not because of any Hollywood aspect but those feel like slightly more subtle romances that feature characters (specifically women) in their mid 20s, spanning many years. I think I struggled with this book at first because of the nature of the characters at the beginning of the book and how (quite frankly) annoying and self-centered they were... but looking back it makes a lot of sense. when we meet these characters they're in their mid 20s and struggling (relatable) while pretending that have it totally together and all figured out (relatable) but are really just grappling for a sense of identity and purpose and security (RELATABLE) but we get to watch them grow up and slip into their thirties and we see how much their life and expectations for themselves evolves with time and how much of their 20-something selves and actions are a reflection of their own insecurities and a front for the imposter syndrome they were facing. we watch them live basically a thousand different lives juxtaposed against the simultaneous life trajectory and timeline and accomplishments of their best friends who are following a very traditional marriage. promotions, kids, house in the suburbs kind of life.

this book is so thoughtfully written and executed those underlying themes of identity and purpose and "milestones" and failure beautifully and it is something I both struggled to read (hit too close to home - I don't want to begin to think of how embarrassed my 36 year old self is going to be of current 26 year old me) and really appreciated as someone in my mid 20s grappling with a lot of the same insecurities and identity crisies who just wants to know everything is going to be okay. watching where natalie and rob end up, how dreams evolve, and how life finds a way of working out for the best felt like a security blanket in many ways. and watching these two meet then live a whole lot of life in order to become the people they needed to be to end up together was beautiful

<b> Thank you Berkley for the free copy </b>

One Star Romance had an interesting premise - an author gets a 1 star Goodreads review from the Best Man at her best friend's wedding - the best man she has to walk down the aisle with. Unfortunately, the concept is about where my enjoyment of this book ended.

First - I would not call this a rom com at all. I think it's women's fiction / lit fic at best. The romance took way too long to happen - even the (very sparse) little moments between the leads throughout the years were not enough to justify calling this a romance. The leads also had no chemistry together - I wasn't rooting for them (in fact, I actively believe Rob deserves better).

Second - there were very few characters in this book that I actually liked. Angus was the only one that I was actively rooting for (and he deserved better than having Rob and Natalie as friends). Natalie was one of the most insufferable leading ladies I've read in a long time. She firmly believed she was the main character of not only her own life but everyone's lives around her, and then got upset when she wasn't the first person others characters thought of during major milestones in their lives. At every turn she would make the most selfish choices and her inner monologue was SO hard to slog through. Even as she got older, she really didn't grow out of this mindset.

Third - the writing just didn't do it for me. Something about the voice wasn't landing for me. I also think the pacing was inconsistent and jumped around too often for me to get invested in the emotional beats that I was supposed to care about.

Overall, this was just not for me and probably would have been a DNF if I hadn't been listening to it as an audiobook and didn't have any other options available from the library.

One star romance was set over the course of about a decade. It made you feel like you really got to know the characters. Once I got a few chapters in, I couldn’t put this book down, I had to know what was going to happen. Were Natalie and Rob ever going to get together. I will be recommending this to patrons looking for a beach read or romance readers.

One star romance but a two star read.

This wasn’t overtly bad, but I felt like so much of it was lacking and it really bothered me who the main FMC acted throughout all of this. From a holy terror of a 26 year old (who went to undergrad but had nothing to show for it because she’s doing nothing more than part time jobs and writing a novel that she couldn’t even complete until her friend was happy and engaged) to being a 30 year old that was upset that someone called her out on something she did as a 26 year old. She acted like a child and was mad when her peers called her one.

In that same vein, she was so mad that her friends and rival was “growing up and being adults” as if she wasn’t also an adult??? “My mom said something about love when I was 22 and that really ruined my outlook” like what?? The author wrote her so young sounding that she just wasn’t ever going to be able to get a good review from me.

Also? The CHEATING?? Girl bffr

Very entertaining this made for a delightful vacation read. I don’t seek out enemies to lovers romances but I might now!

Not quite the romantic comedy that I went in expecting, but so much more. This is a tale of friendship and love, and growth. When the FMC finds out that the MMC wrote a 1 star review of her first novel it sets off a complicated relationship of the best man/maid of honor - who are best friends of the bride and groom. This relationship is one of brief meetings over the years as they attend major events in the bridge and groom's life. I really enjoyed how complicated and messy this was and will definitely seek out the author again.

Laura Hankin’s books have a way of pulling you in with a fun hook (What if you had to walk down the aisle with the man who gave your book a one-star review on Goodreads???) but then grounding you in relatable characters going through big-yet-everyday changes written in beautiful, approachable prose.

Thank you @berkleypub & @berkleyromance for my copy of ONE-STAR ROMANCE! I loved it so much. #BerkleyPartner

I was curious to see how Laura Hankin’s writing would change with the switch to the romance genre, and I’m happy to share that ONE-STAR ROMANCE feels very in line with her other books. The story follows Natalie, a writer living in NYC with her best friend Gabby. As their lives change, Natalie grapples with feeling left behind in her professional and personal life as she watches Gabby cross things off her list. She also grapples with her lust-hate relationship with Gabby’s husbands’ best friend Rob, a linguistics PhD who very rudely rated Natalie’s first book one star.

This book follows Natalie and Rob over a decade, and I loved watching these characters grow and evolve. The romance was a satisfying slow burn, but just as satisfying to me was Natalie’s relationship with Gabby and the exploration of maturing female friendship.

If you love authors that split the women’s fiction/romance divide like Ashley Poston and Elissa Sussman, absolutely add this one to your list!

"I mean...there have been moments when I've read something in a book that feels like it was written just for me. Like the author reached inside my brain, took all the thoughts I didn't know how to express, and put them into a perfect paragraph. And in those moments, I've felt so utterly connected to a person I didn't know that it made me think, 'Yes, the world can be hard, and people can be awful to each other.

But there is also such beauty in the fact that we can recognize each other like that.”



This one really snuck up on me. My wife and I are traveling for a couple of weeks in Europe and our first stop is the Azores I think most European flights are evening flights and ours left at 9pm. I started this one while the flight was taxing and while my seat mates and other passengers around me where dropping like flies, I was legit holding my eye open with my fingers to keep reading this one. Definitely going to be a favorite romance of the year.



I don’t know what I was expecting but I was not expecting a book with such depth, one that made me miss my best friend, and one that continues to live rent free in my head. While this story does have a lot of lighthearted moments that made me chuckle, it also had a lot of tender more thought provoking moments too. I loved the themes of timing really can be everything and friends are the family we choose.



I am in this beautiful place with the most beautiful scenery and I couldn’t wait to get back to this story. I really enjoyed Natalie’s character a lot. She transforms as the story goes on in a very relatable way. She talks about feeling behind the rest of her friends and that is so common to feel. I also loved her banter with Rob. This story takes place over many years and those are my favorite kind of stories.



If you’re looking for a book about love, friendship, and finding your place in this wild world, grab this one!

“I mean . . . there have been moments when I’ve read something in a book that feels like it was written just for me. Like the author reached inside my brain, took all the thoughts I didn’t know how to express, and put them into a perfect paragraph. And in those moments, I’ve felt so utterly connected to a person I didn’t know that it made me think, ‘Yes, the world can be hard, and people can be awful to each other. But there is also such beauty in the fact that we can recognize each other like that.”

I loved this more than just for its romance but the friendships. It really reminded me of my best friend, literally the trajectory of Gabby and Natalie’s span of friendship. However, I vowed to love my best friend’s husband from the start where clearly Nat had hesitancy. I thought it was WONDERFUL storytelling and it played like a romcom. Laura is a gifted writer! Rob and Natalie were giving me Nora Ephron vibes. Also it was so uncanny that I’m from Arizona and Rob was there and now Natalie adopted a kitty during a COVID like I did. Just so many things that were hitting the nail. I mean Natalie’s agent is named Iman. That’s my sister’s name! It’s like this book was trying to give me a million signs.

Most of all what stood out to me with this story, is how I related to Natalie on the level of stages in life. How everyone feels like they’re getting married, having kids, finding a footing in their career faster than you and feel so behind because comparison is the third of joy. How people use your dating life like it’s a game to them and “you’ll find someone when you least know it!”. Let me just share the quotes below that I loved that resonated.

P.S I absolutely loved Angus!!! May he be my favorite character!

“They were just “so curious” to see what was out there, because they’d never had to go on the apps themselves. Being the dating jester had grown exhausting. She was tired of opening every coffee with her coupled-up friends by reciting the gory details of her love life. She hated checking for a wedding ring every time she met a man, was exhausted from forcing herself to go to parties when she’d rather not just in case the love of her life might be in attendance.”

“— a more general sense of loss that came with getting older, as the people you knew committed themselves to others and the wide world of possibility began to narrow.”

“She had a lot of joy in her life, and she’d keep finding joy even if she never had a partner to experience it with her. She could discover moments of absolute ecstasy in taking herself to dinner alone, savoring the cold brine of a martini, exchanging life stories with the bartender if she was in a social mood, or sitting silently with her own thoughts if she wasn’t. People said that joy was sweeter when you shared it, and maybe that was true. Perhaps she’d always have a pang of regret.”

“No, I just need something comforting and warm.” “I’m not a book, but I can try to be those things”

“You and I both, we’re maybe more devoted to our best friends than the average person.”

WOW! I devoured this book. 10* stars. What a wonderful slow-burn romance. One of the best love stories I have read all year. It's raw and perfect. A must read.

Unfortunately, I struggled with this one. It dragged and dragged until I had to DNF it. I had a very hard time connecting to either of the main characters. It was also marketed as a romance (the title itself??), and romance was definitely a subplot in my opinion. Misleading marketing never makes for a good read in my eyes.

Cute! This was a very entertaining read by Laura Hankin. The first half was hilarious and made me laugh out loud multiple times while the second half had quite the emotional punch that caused me to tear up. It's definitely not a traditional romcom, but I really enjoyed getting to know the main characters aside from their relationship. Natalie was such a relatable woman as she tries to figure out her life while everyone around her seems to have it together. I loved the forced friends trope as Natalie finds herself constantly around Rob AFTER he gave her book a one star review. I did find it moved a little slow in the middle, but all in all a great book from Hankin. I have a few of her backlist I still need to read after enjoying yet another book by her.

Every time I picked up "One-Star Romance", I was whisked away with this emotional enemies-to-lovers romance!

Laura Hankins writing is full of so much heart, and her storytelling is engaging, detailed, and moving. From the first page to the last, I was drawn in to the story, and found myself so hoping for a beautiful happy-ever-after throughout.

(Possible Spoilers!):
Natalie and Rob are in one another's lives as their best friends are married to one another. However, right before Natalie and Rob walk down the aisle together at their friends' wedding, Natalie learns that Rob has written a one-star review of her book (oh gosh!). As the years pass, they are brought together more and more by their friends lives, and Natalie and Rob start to get to know one another better and on a deeper level. I do not want to say too much about the plot itself due to spoilers, but, I will say, this novel truly has so much in it: funny moments, deeply emotional moments, romance, character growth, ups and downs in life, family, friendship, and much, much more.

If you enjoy Contemporary Romance, I highly recommend this book! I so look forward to reading what Ms. Hankin writes next.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of this novel, and thank you so much to Berkley Publishing Group for having me on the blog tour! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I absolutely devoured this book. The writing was engaging and easy to read. The friendship portion was definitely portrayed correctly for people in their late 20s. It went through the aches and pains of best friends in completely different life stages. And then the romance was cute. I really liked Rob.

But then this brings me to the romance part… which was like 5% of the book lol Listen, I really enjoyed the book, but this was hugely misleading for someone who wants to read a rom com. Yes there was some romance, but there was no com. This was definitely women’s fiction. That won’t stop me from knocking down my rating though….unlike a character in this story 😆

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙’𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙜𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙤𝙣𝙚-𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.

📍 Read if you like:
• Enemies To Lovers
• Opposites Attract
• Slow Burn Romances
• Adult Friendships

I’m so glad this book title wasn’t accurate for me, I would’ve been so bummed if this was a ‘one star romance’ 😂

I actually really enjoyed this book - more than I was expecting to?! At times it felt so emotional and it wasn’t overly romantic, which is why I think it worked so well for me.

I really liked the writing of this author, I found it flowed so well with the pacing. Rob and Natalie were splendid characters, though I’m not sure if their relationship would be last-longing?

Rob was by far my favorite character in this, he was so witty and serious… while Natalie made some questionable decisions. I did love the detail to depth between the two, it was far more astonishing than the typical romances I pick up.

This was a fresh and fun complex with such great characters & chemistry. I loved the serious and quirky moments. I was hooked early on and kept reading until I had eventually finished it.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Berkley for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was an amazing contemporary rom com. I do not usually like the enemies to lovers trope, but it worked so well. Full review to come once I fully gather my thoughts!

Thank you Berkley and PRH Audio for the gifted copies!

Laura Hankin’s novels are always such a delight to read. ONE-STAR ROMANCE is the third book that I’ve read from the author, and it did not disappoint. If you like your rom-coms heavier on the com, rather than the rom, then this is the perfect book for you. The premise of this one is absolutely genius:

“𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥’𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘯𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

Gah! Can you even imagine!? Of course she hates his guts, and of course she’s forced to spend time with him as their paths are always crossing. Their best friends are married to one another other, so it’s inevitable! Ha! The tension, drama, and chemistry escalates all throughout!

I loved how there was such a good mix of comical and serious moments in this novel. I experienced a whirlwind of emotions. One second I was busting a gut over the groom’s entrance to his own wedding, and the next I was holding back tears to some news that breaks near the end of the novel. Expect a lot of ups and downs!

Like all romance novels, I swore, yelled, and shook my head at the characters multiple times. They frustrated and annoyed the heck out of me. But I eventually fell for them pretty hard, and couldn’t help but root for them.

READ IF YOU ENJOY:

- Enemies to lovers trope
- Closed-door romance
- Friendship fiction
- Found family storylines
- Witty banter
- Writer/author life
- Memorable characters

Overall, Hankin delivers another winner! Definitely pop this one into your beach bag this summer! 4/5 stars for ONE-STAR ROMANCE! It’s out now!

I think this had a lot of potential but unfortunately, didn't work for me. First of all, this is barely a romance. It's more like Women's Fiction, which isn't a genre I enjoy. Had I known that I would not have requested this one. I think the story had a good setup and unique storyline. Unfortunately, I did not connect with these characters at all. I was not rooting for them in the romance department either. So, it was just kind of a miss for me. But, I'm definitely in the minority.

Sometimes I need to sit for a bit before I review a book I loved because I feel like once I review it, it kind of closes the door on that story for me and I just wanted to keep this one in my head for a little longer. That being said: I loved this one!

When I first started it, I was a little nervous because I thought it was gonna move too quickly for me to enjoy as an enemies to lovers, but once I read the first couple of chapters I realized that would not be the case and I was hooked! One of my favorite things about this one is that both MCs aren't perfectly settled in their lives, careers, romantic relationships, etc. even in their late twenties/early thirties. Both have best friends who do seem very settled, getting married young, mostly happy in their careers, and I just feel like it's important to show that everyone has a different path and people find happiness in different things and prioritize different things and that is totally fine! People get to where they want to be on their own terms and in their own time. Natalie and Rob are also both not perfect characters, they mess up and self sabotage and don't always have the right answers or make the right calls but they try and they truly care about the people in their lives.

There are a lot of emotions and tough moments/topics in this one so it's not a super cozy romcom or romance but it's a realistic portrayal of ups and downs in life and it's exactly what I didn't know I needed. There's a lot of growth for our characters which I love to see and the little time jumps give the reader a better idea of the journey each character is going through without feeling rushed or unrealistic. I've been reading a few books recently with this writing style and really enjoying it. It truly adds to the story and lets the reader feel closer to the characters as we read more about their lives over years rather than just a quick snapshot.

I love Natalie and Rob because of their imperfections and how they grow throughout the novel, but I really LOVE Angus from the start. He is the ultimate goofy golden retriever character and just so wholesome and positive. I don't think I'd love him as much as an MC but as a side character, he had my heart. I'm fully aware that Natalie isn't the most likable of characters because of some of her actions but I prefer that because it's so unlikely for real people to all be 100% perfect, nice, unemotional, making no mistakes and fully aware of their flaws. I think the character portrayals and development, the writing, and the plot of the novel were all A+ and I would recommend this book to any fiction readers!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a digital ARC from Berkley and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Laura Hankin knocked it out of the park with this one. I don't know what she put it in this book but I could not would not put it down! I have read all three of her previously published novels - I like her writing style and especially enjoyed happy and you know it and a special place for women just because they were so unpredictable. That being said, I LOVED this book. I think Laura Hankin was born to be a rom com author. This will be one of my favorites of the year. It was heartfelt, not overly unbelievable or cringey, hilarious, and so so so engaging. Loved the plot, loved the characters, and had the right balance of depth and humor.

5/5