Review: One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

One single mom. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You 

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight-in-shining-armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages . . . maybe ever.

One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You’ll laugh, you’ll weep, and when you flip the last page, you’ll want to start all over again.

Annnnnd she does it again.

I've made no secret of my love of all things written by Jojo Moyes.  She is at the very top of my must-read-author list and I recommend her books every chance I get.  Her stories are well-written, her characters are magnetic, but I think one of my favorite things about Jojo Moyes is that all of her books are different.  Me Before You is nothing like The Girl You Left Behind which is different from The Last Letter From Your Lover which is different from One Plus One.

I had the opportunity to hear her speak at an author event back in September where she read from what was then her latest project, One Plus One.  Now, keep in mind that I had recently finished reading Me Before You and still reeling from that incredibly emotional ride, so I wasn't sure how I felt when she said that her newest title was going to be different.  Why mess with a good thing, right?  I think she had managed to read three or four paragraphs before I fell in love.  BOOM.  That fast.

Three or four paragraphs.  That was all it took for me to connect with Jess.  Now, Jess and I have very very few things in common.  I'm a happily married, college-educated, Volvo-driving SAHM living in NC.  Jess barely finished high school, has a deadbeat  absentee husband, works 2 low-paying jobs, and lives in a tiny coastal village in England.  But Jojo Moyes knew what she was doing when she was standing behind that podium reading...the passage she read took those differences and obliterated them and all I knew was that Jess and I were both mothers who would do anything for our children.  Even if the choice before us is a bit sketchy.

 I absolutely loved this book.  Loved it.  This book has everything I look for in a good read.  I laughed.  I got angry.  I sympathized.  I smiled.  I wanted go junk-punch Jess's husband and I wanted to hug Ed.  I wanted to take care of her two kids like they belonged to me.  I wanted to tell Jess that everything was going to be okay.  I wanted these characters to be real and when I turned the last page, I wanted more.  Not because I felt like the ending was missing something, but because I was just THAT connected.

Definitely add One Plus One to your to-read list if you haven't already.  You won't be disappointed.   

**Many many thanks to Pamela Dorman Books and NetGalley for providing the arc of One Plus One in exchange for an honest review**

 
  

Review: Whisper to Me (Between Breaths #3) by Christina Lee

SYNOPSIS:

A hot and consuming New Adult romance about a wayward musician and the one girl who keeps him grounded…

At college, Rachel has a reputation for being a sarcastic flirt with a thing for star athletes. No one at school knows that she’d had her heart ripped to shreds by her high school sweetheart, who’d driven them both off the side of the road on a borrowed motorcycle, and then abandoned her. No one knows the real Rachel Mattson—except one person…

Ever since he helped nurse his sister’s feisty best friend back to health, pierced bass player Kai Nakos has been head over heels in love. But the supposed bad boy can’t risk letting Rachel know the truth—especially now that the two of them are back in their hometown for the summer, together for the first time since the months following that fateful night. Never mind that Rachel’s ex is back, groveling for her forgiveness.

Shaken by her ex’s return, Rachel finds herself turning to the one guy she knows she can trust. Kai is willing to hide his feelings for her, just to have Rachel touch him again. After all, this is only a temporary fling. Until it becomes something more. But maybe it had been more all along.

MY THOUGHTS:

4 out of 5 stars

After reading and enjoying the previous books in the Between Breaths series by Christina Lee, Whisper to Me was everything I had hoped it would be and maybe even a little bit more.

This book tells the story of Rachel and Kai.  And while I have to admit that it took me a little while to remember how Rachel fit in with the series, once I placed her, I was excited to learn more.  As the more...ahem, social...of the trio of friends (Avery and Emma being the other two), I didn't feel a strong connection with her as a character, so it almost felt like I was starting completely over from the beginning.

Not unlike Rachel.

What I really liked about this story was the fact that Rachel and Kai had a history even before the story begins.  Friends since childhood, there were no real secrets between the two, aside from their developing attraction towards the other.  In fact, there were more secrets between Rachel and Dakota (her BFF and Kai's sister) than there were between Rachel and Kai.  They just "got" each other.  They were friends before and they were so determined to remain friends that their chemistry was really the only speed bump on the path towards the next step in their relationship.

I mean, what a tough problem to have, right?  </sarcasm>  No lies, no deceit, no cheating...seems like an easy obstacle to overcome, right?

You'd think.

But is a summer romance with somebody that knows your heart and soul worth the risk of losing them forever?  

As the story progresses, I started to realize that Rachel was so much more than she seemed in the other two books.  While in the previous installments, she never seemed to have a care in the world and seemed so certain of her path in life, the truth is actually the opposite.  The only real constant in her life has been Kai and it is only when they are together that she starts to realize that she isn't being true to herself or to her friends.  He allows her to feel safe and face the reality that she has been trying so hard to change.  

As for Kai, he has always been a bit of a lost soul.  The "bad boy" that really wasn't.  The brother who lived in the shadow of an over-achieving sister.  The musically talented son that always felt that he was disappointing his parents by not wanting to run the family business.  I found myself rooting for him from the very beginning.  

Simply put, I loved these two characters together.  I loved watching them travel down the friends to more path, all the while growing as individuals.  Their solid history as true friends allows them to support the other completely without having the issues of a brand new relationship getting in the way.  To me, they are about as real as two fictional characters can get and I truly enjoyed their story.