Synopsis:
Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn’t exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic…and then her bus drives away.
Certain they’re fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn’t find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they “reunite” at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It’s Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.
What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.
My Review:
“It’s a look of Hello you, and Oh my God, it’s you, and I can’t believe how good it is to see you, all in one.”
This was a funny, bittersweet and totally delightful novel! Perfect for a holiday read. I loved the British humor and Josie Silver’s breezy writing style. And when I realized that she also writes under name of Kat French, I loved this book even more!
Laurie is a young, ambitious, hard-working woman, searching for her dream job when, after a particularly rough day, spots a handsome man though her bus window. He sees her, too, but misses the bus. This sounds cliche but the moment worked and served as the launching point for the story.
“For onlookers, it must have been an Oscar-worthy sixty-second silent movie. From now on, if anyone asks me if I’ve ever fallen in love at first sight, I shall say yes, for one glorious minute on 21 December 2008.”
Laurie and her best friend Sarah spend months searching for her dream man. But Jack turns up in Laurie’s life in the most unexpected way. This book is not a love triangle and the central relationship to me was actually between Laurie and Sarah. They are loyal friends and both were extremely likable and relateable characters.
The story unfolds over several years and is a lovely tale missed chances, love and friendship. New relationships come and go and Laurie realizes she must get on with her own life and put her fantasy of her dream man behind her. Josie Silver created a wonderful book about real people and real friendships, mixed in with lots of humor and romance. I loved how loyal Laurie was to her best friend Sarah. Yes there are unexpected twists in this book but it was a wonderfully poignant and bittersweet story.
“Sarah is my best friend in the entire world, and however much and for however long it kills me, I’ll never silently, secretly hold up signs to tell Jack O’Mara, without hope or agenda, that to me he is perfect, and that my wasted heart will always love him.”
‘One Day in December’ is a light, unexpectedly warm-hearted novel that ends on a perfectly romantic note. I love stories about “what might have been” and this was beautiful.
‘Sometimes you just meet the right person at the wrong time,’ I say softly.
‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘And then you spend every day afterwards wishing that time could be rearranged.’
(With thanks to the publisher for a review copy of ‘One Day in December.’)