The One That Got Away by Bethany Chase

338 Pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
Release Date: March 31, 2015

Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance

Sarina Mahler is an architect in Austin, Texas. When she was 21, she had a fling with Olympic swimmer Eamon Roy. Now she is seeing Noah, but he has been stationed abroad and it is putting a strain on their relationship. Eamon comes back to town after recovering from a severe car accident that made him retire from swimming. He approaches Sarina to renovate his home. At first, she is hesitant but after speaking with Noah, goes ahead with the project.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in third person point of view. I liked Sarina and but at times she waffled too much. As a woman who worked in construction project management, I liked reading about a woman architect. If you like Hallmark movies, you will enjoy reading this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed this delightful story about a woman who gets the answer to that “what if” question when a former flame reappears in her life years after he abruptly departed from her life.

I was prepared to dislike Eamon but I just couldn’t. He has a great vibe about him and though he broke Sarina’s heart, I knew he wasn’t a creep. Sarina comes off very wishy-washy regarding her feelings for Eamon and I struggled a little bit with the fact she is in a relationship of four years with Noah and needed to address that long before she does. I didn’t think Noah was a bad guy either, but just not right for Sarina. I also resented his parents interfering with life plans and goals for Sarina. I would not have been as polite or patient as Sarina, however, especially when Noah does not defend her choice to work after marriage and childbirth. So, yes, I was not a fan of the Noah / Sarina relationship and felt it had run its course long before this story begins.

The author’s voice, style and humor drew me into the story so completely, I felt like I knew these characters personally and would love spending time with them at Danny’s bar or hanging out on Sarina’s couch with her cat, Newman. I will be looking for more of this author’s work and would love to revisit these characters in a sequel.

My Final Verdict: Readers who are suckers for romance and fun will enjoy this feel-good story that will leave them with plenty of smiles.

Attracted to the book because of the cover, I found this to be a pleasant romance. Its moral that life may not go as planned and may turn out to be even better is so true.

Similar to Emily Giffin's books, Sarina is close to being engaged to her (now long distance) boyfriend of four years, Noah, when Eamon walks back into her life. He was a guy she spent one night with eight years ago and she never understood why he didn't feel the connection she did. She starts working with him and still feels that connection and doesn't know how to keep things going with Noah when she feels like she is crazy about Eamon.

I read this in two nights after my toddler went to bed, and anyone with a two-year-old knows that might as well be two hours in normal person time. The story follows Sarina, an up-and-coming architect who finds herself working on the home of Eamon Roy, a retired Olympic swimmer who is a close friend of her roommate. It should be her dream job, except for the small detail that she happened to have slept with him years ago. Even though she's on the verge of getting engaged to the guy she thought was the one, Sarina's always wondered about that night with Eamon (I loved her description of him being the one you Google at 2 a.m.) When Eamon moves back to Austin and they start working together, she can't stop her crush from coming back ... or questioning whether her own relationship is as perfect as she thought. This was one of those books I expected to be a lighthearted, fun read, and although it was, I also found myself moved to tears at certain points. Definitely a title to put on your must-read list!

It took me longer to get into this book than I first expected - I think I was expecting a different tone and it took me a bit to reconcile expectations with what Chase wrote.

However, after about three chapters I was HOOKED. Characterization is great, plot twists are complex, romance is prevalent in just the right way, and soon I was thinking about this book until I completed it. I loved the pacing and heart. There are several characters in this book is like to hug. Well done Bethany.

I loved this one, but it got frustrating for me towards the end. Around 3/4 the way into the book, there was some major miscommunication that I felt was unnecessary for the story, and just served the purpose of dragging out the book. I can handle a little angst and back and forth between the H and h, but this pushed me over the edge into rage territory. I was invested, though, so I pushed through and was glad I did.

BOTTOM LINE

Some minor complaints, but overall a really wonderful story and definitely worth a read.