Book Review: A Romance Novel For People Who Don’t Read Romance Novels

Publication date: October 2018

Review, short version: Four roses out of four.

Review, long version:

I love to read novels.

But I don’t read romance novels.

One Day in December is a romance novel.

And I loved it.

Unexpected.

I don’t recall where I heard/read about this book, or why I paid attention to it – I don’t read romance novels.

But something about the storyline caught my interest.

And, surprisingly, the story held my interest, right up to the last page. About half-way through I thought, “I don’t know where this is going – and that’s good.” At three-quarters through I was tempted to skip to the end and satisfy my craving to know, but I resisted the temptation.

It was a struggle, but I’m glad I waited.

According to an interview with author Josie Silver (left), “I had always wanted to write about love at first sight. It opens with a missed opportunity and then across a decade we see what happens to them and how it all plays out.”

So, not your usual bodice-ripping-uber-macho-male-and-fairly-helpless-female plot.

In fact, Laurie, the lead female character, is far from helpless, and Jack, the lead male, is more of a sweet, hunky, but uber-confused kind of guy. We hear from both Laurie and Jack as first-person narrators, but the third side of the love triangle – Sarah – makes her presence felt on every page.

Along the way we’re treated to Laurie’s wry observations, like this one:

“I’m not a bitch, though; or maybe I’m just a quiet one inside my own head. Isn’t everyone?”

And…

“He has this intense way of looking at me that makes me feel the need to glance over my shoulder just to check if Jennifer Lawrence is lurking behind me.”

I find the story about the book as interesting as the book. Silver had been writing novels and getting published under various pseudonyms for 10 years, but One Day in December was her breakout book. Paperback rights have been sold in 26 countries, “there has also been some film interest,” says Silver, and as of February 10, 2019 the book had been on The New York Times best seller list for eight weeks:

There’s talk of several “six-figure” deals, and Silver has already sold her next – as yet unfinished – book, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, due out in the fall. “It’s about a girl who loses the love of her life and then gets him back again in a very unexpected way…and that’s as much as I can say for now!”

“Unexpected.”

That’s how I felt about One Day in December.

Love at first sight comes in many languages!