One Star Romance by Laura Hankin is a standalone enemy to lovers rom-com novel. The story focuses mostly on Natalie, who has just published her first book; she lives with her bff, Gabby. Natalie meets Rob, who happens to be Angus, bff; and during a party, where Angus asks Gabby to marry him. Natalie learns that one person gave her book 1 star, and after a bit of investigation, she realizes that Rob was the one who gave her the 1 star. From that moment on, both of them got off on the wrong foot, and as the years passed, both Natalie and Rob, only saw each other only due to their respective best friends.

At times they were forced to be together, such as when Gabby and Angus got married, Rob was the best man and Natlie was the maid of honor. Throughout the passing years, they met at their friend’s parties, housewarming, birth of baby, life changing or another milestone; as both of them dealed with their own life and ambitions.

This was a slow burn romance, with years having passed, and a tragedy will bring both Natalie and Rob together. The friendship between the foursome (Gabby, Angus, Natalie, Rob), as well as other secondary character was lots of fun, and wonderful to get to know them over time. It was very well done, as we got to see the journey between the four of them during that period. I got a kick out of Christina (Gabby/Angus) daughter. I did like some other secondary characters that played a nice part in this book. I did in time enjoy the love-hate relationship between Rob and Natalie.

One Star Romance is a fun story that focuses on friendship, romance, growth and humor over a number of years. It is a charming, witty, fun story that seamlessly combines life’s complexities and growth, as we change over a period of time. If you enjoy slow burn romances, with lots of humor; you should read One Star Romance, with was very well written by Laura Hankin.

This was cute, but it didn't do anything to grab my attention. The main characters were charming enough, but I didn't feel much chemistry between the two of them and it was all just OK for me.

A struggling author is forced to walk down the aisle at her best friend's wedding with the man who gave her book a one star rating... and now they keep running into each other throughout the years and their relationship evolves throughout it all. Natalie and Rob are polar opposites, Natalie is a chaotic author while Rob is a rigid academic. The only thing they do have in common is that they absolutely love their respective best friends... who just happen to be getting married to one another. When Rob and Nat first meet (pre engagement) they hit it off but when they meet again during the wedding.... and Nat has just published her book only to discover that Rob has left her a one star review... things are awkward as they have to both walk down the isle as the maid of honor/ best man. What started off as friendship is now something frosty as Rob can't stand Nat for how she characterized Angus and Nat doesn't see what she did wrong. Nat and Rob keep running into each other throughout the years, as they both end up attending parties and events that their respective best friend throws.... and as they grow so does their relationship. They were never meant to meet again yet as they go form their twenties to their thirties, they keep finding each other, going through hardships and success, and finally maybe addressing the feelings that have been between them all along. I'll be honest, I was so excited to read this book, the premise sounds like so much fun.. however I just felt lukewarm about the entire story. I just couldn't stand Nat all that much, she kept getting on my nerves and the fact that Gabby and Angus kept her in their lives was truly a testament to their kindness. The story definitely was more chick-lit than an actual romance book. The story deals with Nat's career growth and Gabby's health scare and how they grow as the years go on. I just found the book to be boring and the romance just didn't feel like it was there for me sadly. If you enjoy slow burn stories that focus on growth and life I would say this is definitely for you and that you'd probably have a better time with it than I did.

Release Date: June 18,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Loved this one so much! It was a fun and quick read. I loved the slow burn between the two MCs, and loved the side characters. It did need some trigger warnings for the ending but overall loved it!

Read if you like:
⏳ Books that take place over 10 years
😠 Enemies to Lovers
👯‍♀️ Pivitol Friendships
🖤 Fade to Black
🐌 Sloooowwwww burn
🥵 Tension & Chemistry

I didn’t quite know what to expect from this one as I read and loved the daydreamers last year and loved it, and now I have to say, she nailed this romance!

I also really loved that we got the author narrating the audiobook as that felt so special and it was so well done!

Now, with the story, I loved how the jumps in time were done and how the story was broken up into sections coresponding with those time jumps and the will they or won’t they that happened over the years with the undeniable tension and chemistry between our main characters.

I also really loved the way the friendships between the girls was done and the rift and how they came back together and how the male friendship was written as that element to the story truly made me love it so much as it was more than ‘a romance’ and there was so much depth of emotion for the characters together, as friends, and with their families, as well as how time changes things and paths.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for my ARC and to PRHA for my gifted audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

Oh boy! This book was such a story! I was lucky enough to be invited to a presentation that featured this author and this book is ACTUALLY based (a little) off her personal experience when she had to walk down the aisle (MOH and Best Man) with a man who rated her book 1 star on Goodreads! While some of the story was a bit of a slow burn for me, it was personal to author which really makes me appreciate everything that was poured into this! I had a good time reading this one and I am so grateful to have received it! This is for those contemporary fictions slightly romantic readers!

Laura Hankin sure knows how to rub proverbial salt into an emotional wound. I mean that in the best way possible, because what Hankin achieves in One-Star Romance is a dissection of friendships, romance, and adulthood that will pierce you directly in the heart. If you’re anticipating a cute romcom, be prepared to adjust these expectations. I read this story with a nostalgic ache in my chest while resisting the mounting desire to call my friends and tell them how much I love them.

Natalie and Rob meet when their best friends Gabby and Angus get engaged. Their initial encounter goes swimmingly, and the two take up their respective roles as best man and maid of honor. But, on the day of the wedding, Nat finds out that Rob gave her novel a one star review on Goodreads and she vows to avoid him forever. So begins years of Nat and Rob circling in and out of each others lives as Gabby and Angus reach different relationship milestones. From housewarmings, to christenings, Nat and Rob find themselves thrust together, challenging one another while attempting to avoid their electric chemistry.

While a love story at its core, One-Star Romance heavily explores the shift in friendship dynamics as we evolve from post college twenty-somethings into our thirties. As someone who has entered the latter end of this timeline, this aspect hit me very hard. I was moved by Natalie and Rob’s growth, especially when it came to their devotion to Gabby and Angus. There is truth in the saying that friends are the family we choose and Hankin exemplifies this beautifully in One-Star Romance.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When Natalie’s best friend gets married, she walks down the aisle with Rob, the best man. Rob is attractive and there’s chemistry, until she learns he gave her recently released fiction book a one star review.

Another romance that I really enjoyed! Are my tastes changing? However I would really say that this is more of a women’s fiction than a romance considering they pretty much hate each other the whole way through. Friendship and how it evolves over time was the major theme of this book and I loved it. Natalie was an intelligent and creative person, but also hilarious and fun to read about.

“Hatred and passion shared such a fine line. And she hated him, this man who had made her doubt herself and had never apologized for it. Who still thought that he was in the right.”

One-Star Romance comes out 6/18.

3.5 stars rounded up!

This book took me by surprise and was not at all what I expected. Told over the course of 8 years, One-Star Romance follows Natalie, Gabby, Angus, and Rob through all of life’s ups and downs. Although there’s plenty of it, romance was a background character in this book and instead we got to watch these characters grow together, grow apart, and find their way back to each other. I usually don’t cry much while reading, but this one got me good on multiple occasions. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the month and it delivered!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This reads more like chick lit than romance. It’s slow-paced, and honestly, the first four chapters could have been cut without losing anything.. Natalie is bright and chipper, but at the same time incredibly insecure. This book might appeal to a new adult audience, but it’s not for me..

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Headed into the city for ThrillerFest but first I had to post this review for One Star Romance. It is the exact opposite of one star, this was such a great read. I loved these characters and I was completely immersed with Natalie and Rob’s chemistry. I laughed several times and was smiling the rest of the time. This was such a fun book.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC!

This book was such a beautiful exploration of life in your mid twenties to early thirties, and I could not have loved it more.

The book starts out with 24 year old Natalie, an aspiring writer living in NYC with her best friend Gabby. The two of them are inseparable, and Natalie is invigorated by all the possibilities that fan out before them... until Gabby's funny boyfriend Angus proposes and she says yes. Natalie is sure this isn't what she wants, that she's settling-- after all, they're 24 years old! But Gabby seems happy, so Natalie endeavors to support her, even though she's harboring her own doubts about the situation and is worried for their friendship. At the engagement party, Natalie meets Rob, Angus's best friend. They butt heads, but ultimately hit it off. Until the next time they meet, at their friends wedding, and Natalie finds out Rob has given her first published book a one star review on GoodReads (YIKES!).

The story follows Natalie and Rob as they are brought together over the years to celebrate the big life moments that their friends are going through-- a wedding, a job promotion, a baby, etc. Each time, Natalie feels further and further away from her best friend, and more and more like she just can't seem to get her own life together. And each time, Rob is there with some infuriating comment and a deep understanding of her that causes a fluttering feeling in her stomach. As the years span, the two of them orbit each other as they orbit their two best friends.

This book is so heartfelt and real. As a 25 year old myself, I related so hard with Natalie's experience of suddenly being in a different place than your friends and feeling left behind (as Taylor Swift once sang: "all my friends smell like weed or little babies"). She is a relatable protagonist who wants so much and never seems to get it. She makes mistakes, she self-sabotages and she has misguided- good intentions. She's witty and loves hard. And Rob is the perfect match to her, misguided in his own way and confused about his place in the world. It was so beautiful getting to see their love story unfold across the years, but this book was way more than a traditional rom com. It was about finding your place in the world and accepting change as necessary facet of life. It was about dealing with hard things, and messy feelings, and relationships, both romantic and platonic. I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially to young women just trying to figure it all out-- this is a love letter to your life, the good and the bad. I sincerely hope we see more rom coms out of Laura Hankin because this one won't be enough for me.

This reminded me a lot of One Day. The story takes place over years and we truly get to know these characters inside & out.

This is definitely a book that is going to hit you in the feels. While filled with humor, the author also handles serious topics with care and consideration. The characters really go through some tough situations. I really sympathized with them and rooted for them to succeed. I would say this is an enemies to lovers with a very slow burn. If you love angst and slow burn romances, I would recommend this one. The HEA is hard earned.

ONE-STAR ROMANCE

Romance — 4.5⭐️

Natalie’s and Rob’s best friends are marrying each other. Minutes before the ceremony Natalie learns it was Rob that gave her book a one-star review. He’s the last person she wants to spend time with but their friend situation doesn’t make that easy.

Don’t let the cover fool you into thinking this is just your next fluffy romcom. While I get why this book is labeled as a romance—it had a mix of romcom & emo romance elements—it’s a very slow burn and only a fraction of the plot. Instead this is a story of life, imo, and navigating adulthood, missed opportunities, evolving relationships, and finding yourself. (Which I loved and found SO relatable!)

However, if you like the right-guy-wrong-time trope like me, I think you’ll fall for both the characters as individuals (flaws and all) and then as a couple.

The premise was fresh and fun, but I was not expecting such an emotional journey. I laughed, I cried, and I appreciated the deeper reflections. Definitely recommend!

Slow burn, adult friendships, non traditional enemies-to-lovers.

While the title and cute cover led me to believe this book would contain quite a bit more romance than it actually does, I feel like the romance aspect takes a bit of a backseat to the friendships and even family relationships in this story. The book is divided into parts with year-plus gaps in time, so it felt like the slowest of slow burns, and while at first I was frustrated with Natalie being extremely unlikeable, (though in the end I realize she’s just flawed- aren’t we all?) the romance being essentially non-existent, (but a slow burn is still a burn…) and wanting things to just get moving, after the halfway point I stopped thinking of it as a light hearted rom-com and started enjoying it for what it actually was -much deeper, in fact.

I adored this book. I was expecting a laugh out loud romcom and did not having sobbing into my pillow at the 80% mark on my bingo card. I love romances that dive into heavier themes and One-Star Romance beautifully captured the transitional years of your 20s and 30s and all of the nuances that come with it. Individually, Rob and Natalie were such dynamic characters and I really loved their development throughout the book. The slow burn of their hate-to-love relationship felt well-done and realistic, making it so much more satisfying when they finally get their HEA.

Highly recommend to all fans of romance! Especially if you love enemies to lovers, forced proximity, finding yourself, authentically written friendships, and slow burns that spans a decade.

I truly enjoyed this book!! I don’t know that I would call it was rom-com, so I get the mixed reviews there, but I don’t care…I loved the heart of this book. The laughs were cringy at times and the book deals with some more serious themes. But I really related to Natalie feeling left-behind, even if I didn’t agree with how she went about managing those emotions. The story really nails that in-between stage in your 20s-30s when some friends are getting married and others are just living day-to-day. I loved Rob and the chemistry her and Natalie had. I thought it wrapped up nicely and made my cry several times.

Read this if you enjoy…
⭐️ slow burn romance
⭐️ introspective rom-coms
⭐️ opposites attract

I adore the concept of this book. Natalie’s best friend is engaged to Rob’s best friend. While the pair could not be any more different (Nat’s a starving novelist and Rob is a stuffy academic), they are united in their love for their respective best friends. Minutes before the wedding, Nat learns that Rob wrote a one-star review of her debut novel. They argue and vow never to meet again. However, the pair is drawn together over the years to celebrate milestones in their best friends’ relationship. As they move from their twenties to their thirties, Nat and Rob wrestle with their life choices and how to find the happiness they’re missing. Could it have been in front of them all along?

Nat and Rob have excellent chemistry! Their dialogue genuinely made me laugh out loud. They come to know each well over the years, able to deliver incisive advice and painful barbs in equal measure. It felt like watching a tennis match, so it was hard to put my Kindle down!

This is definitely a SLOW burn in its truest form taking place over nearly a decade. If you’re into insta-love, this isn’t the book for you. Watching Nat and Rob grow over years was cathartic and the author did a great job of revealing just enough after each time skip without it feeling like an infodump. I will say though that Natalie matured MUCH more slowly than Rob and I got a little annoyed with her over the years. Girl, everything is not about you!

One-Star Romance is marketed as a rom-com, but it’s also an emotional punch in the gut. It’s about more than romance… it’s about finding out who you are and what and who is most important. One of the final sections will probably make you cry. This book is also about the dynamics of female friendship and how it changes as we grow, a plot point I found to be particularly poignant at this stage of my life.

Regarding the spice level, here is my take: I’d call this a cracked door romance. There’s a bit on the page but it does black out eventually. It did start to show more than I was comfortable with, so I skipped a couple paragraphs. While I wouldn’t call it open door, it is not a clean read as there are frequent mentions of s*x. I know it is the nature of ARCs to not know the content ahead of time, so I can't necessarily dock a star for it even though it is not to my taste or comfort level.

All in all, I would give One-Star Romance 4 stars. It was quirky, full of life, and a nice rom-com to add my repertoire of recommendations. I definitely feel the irony of rating a book that features a Goodreads-obsessed main character, but all’s fair in love and book reviews I suppose.

Thank you to NetGalley and @berkleypub for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There is lots to love in this modern day romance. It’s not soppy, the main characters don’t fall madly in love at first sight and they don’t hate each other at first sight either.
Nat is passionate, opinionated and very insecure. Rob is measured, sensible and opinionated too. They both have a strong loyalty to their best friends who just happen to be marrying each other. Misunderstandings and assumptions keep these two apart even though their bodies are screaming at each other to be together.
Yes, this novel is about love but not just romantic love. There is the love of your ride or die friends, the friend who you wish was your sibling, the parents who drive you insane but you would drop everything to be at their side when it’s needed. I felt warm and hopeful and happy at the end of this.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Natalie and Rob circle each other for years - like an updated When Harry Met Sally trope. Their best friends meet, fall in love, marry and build a life. Natalie and Rob see each other at their big events.
A writer and a linguist, both with their own issues, struggling to recover.
Funny and held my interest. Natalie was kind of hard to like - they were both real characters with real issues. And I like that.