This was fine. A solid book but I felt like it didn’t really go anywhere throughout the entire book. I enjoyed it but didn’t love it. I liked that there wasn’t forced romance and I like it conceptually, the writing just wasn’t there for me

This book was suppose to be something I adore: twenty years of friendship and a chance at love. So I'm super sad to write that One Love didn't reach the expectations I (maybe a bit unfairly) had put up for this story.

The timeline was all over the place. Jumping through years is something I love, but author's creative decision to write super short, and I'm talking 1-minute-reading short, chapters and then jumping 20 years foward had me confused most of the time. On top of that, constantly switching POVs were hard to follow and made it difficult to get into the story.

I might hate both Danny and Guy a little. Not the characters themselves, but how they were presented. Danny and his 20 years of same insecurities, pining and getting sad, them angry at Guy, falling into same bad habits. As for Guy...well, he was, simply put, an awful person. Also, the third time Danny realized that his timing to confess his love for Guy felt through, because Guy ONCE AGAIN found a new boyfriend right after breaking things off with his ex, had me rolling my eyes. That repetitive scene was probably my most hated in the whole book.

Please don't get me wrong, there were things I actually enjoyed and loved white reading One Love. Like the support of a parent. Danny's mom was hands down the best character in the book. Her unconditional love for Danny had me tearing up at times and I wish, from the bottom of my heart, that there were more parents like her.

Friendship and second chances. Even though I saw no real friendship between Danny and Guy, I found it in their friends group. Even after so many years, Emma had kept in touch with everyone and the storyline with Lindsey showed major character growth. Really enjoyed reading that one.

The LGBTQ+ scene and its change over the decades. The Manchester Pride chapters were so full of love and diversity, happiness and joy. Loved it. Back in the year 2002 when Danny and Guy were students, the young men felt scared and oppressed, but their acceptance of themselves and more and more people coming to accept them, support them, made them flourish.

I had hoped that One Love would be something like One Day, so the big reveal and the ending got me by surprise. I don't think I liked it, however, I do see what M. Cain was trying to say with this story.

I was given the pleasure of reading this ARC curtesy of Netgalley.

This is my first ever Matt Cain book and this book really didn't disappoint, i actually feel like i could of done with this book way before it was published as for ages i struggled with self-love and self-acceptance, i really related to this book especially when it comes to previous relationships it's unbelievable.

I also really enjoyed the romance aspect to this book too and how the story spans over 15 years.

I also really loved how the book is based in manchester (uk) too.

There's honestly not a bad thing i can say about this book and if you are gay or queer like myself, i'd highly recommend you pick up this book today!

Massive Thank you to Matt Cain and Kensington Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will definitely check out more of Matt Cain's works in the future

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!

This was a good one! I really enjoyed this book. I had a hard time putting this one down. I really enjoyed the writing style and the characters chemistry was great. This was a first for me by this author but will not be my last!