Title: Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
Release Date: October 22nd, 2019
Format: Kindle Edition (358 Pages)
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Blurb: What happens when your first love reenters your life when you least expect itâŚ
Sam Brandis was Tate Jonesâs first: Her first love. Her first everything. Including her first heartbreak.
During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tateâthe long-lost daughter of one of the worldâs biggest film starsâever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.
Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, heâs the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if itâs possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason⌠and whether âonce in a lifetimeâ can come around twice.
This book had just the right amount of angst, humor, sadness and romance. I was hesitant to read it because early reviews were not favorable, but I am so glad that I finally did. This book started off like a YA/NA but towards later half, it felt more like an adult contemporary romance. This love story spanned 14 years from innocent teenagers to adults working in the movie/entertainment industry.
Tate and Sam started off as naive teenagers who met on vacation but after a shocking betrayal separated them, both of them grew up fast. The Tate we meet 14 years later was jaded towards love. I understood why but I didn’t like that the issue was left out there for over a decade before they addressed it. The roles the supporting characters played added depth to both the plot and the character as we came to understand why Sam and Tate made the decisions they made pertaining to each other. I love the progression of the characters, the excitement of first love, the pain of the betrayal and the redemption of Sam. I really liked them together both as teenagers and as adults with careers. I also love when authors do second chance love/redemption stories well.
This is a book that I will recommend often since I was engaged from the beginning all the way to the last page. This was a good one.
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This book started immediately with a traumatic incident. Serenity and her twin sister Savannah Washington were kidnapped and tortured by the serial killer Michael Black. It was suspenseful and angst-filled in the first few chapters. Serenity escapes but her twin sister didn’t survive the ordeal but the killer was captured.
Each character from the protagonists to the antagonists evolved as the book progressed. Just following them navigate their lives as outcasts was emotional, yet informative especially concerning PTSD. I appreciated the lesson that they needed a little more than love to heal from their trauma. I am a firm believer in therapy and love so I am thankful that the author didn’t sugarcoat the work that must be done to become whole again.
The story was writing so well and this narrative was so authentic as it drew on current issues/events pertaining lands considered sacred to Native Americans. My only issue was that there wasn’t enough romance in this first book to balance the heaviness of the controversial themes.
