Review # 6 - 'The One Before the One' by Katy Regan

The One Before the One - Katy Regan

To Do List

Make something with Quinoa.

Do something ' cultural' every week.

Dump married boyfriend.

Thirty-two year old Caroline Steele is a woman in denial. After calling off her wedding to teenage sweetheart Martin, she should be moving on. Instead she's racked with guilt, downing her sorrows with Pinot Grigio and has developed a penchant for dressing up in her never-used wedding dress.

Add to this the fact that she is head over heels with the delectable, but unavailable Toby Delaney and it's clear her life is not going to plan.

Then her little sister Lexi comes to stay for the summer and life gets even more complicated. How is Caroline supposed to advise her on matters of the heart when she can't even come clean about her secret lover? In order to find The One, Caroline needs to deal with The Ones before...

I've been looking forward to this book ever since I've read Katy Regans first novel One Thing Led to Another , a warm and funny novel about an unexpected pregnancy. So I was very excited when The One Before the One finally arrived on my doorstep (the book, not a guy :( ) and I had to start reading it immediately. I was sucked into it from the start. I already had tears in my eyes after the prologue, I could feel the heartache and the guilt.
The actions of the main character, Caroline, would normally make me dislike her, she's dumping her fiancé and boyfriend of fourteen years right before their wedding, she's involved with a married man and she's lying to her family. But Caroline is human, she's hurting. The lists she's always writing are her desperate ways to get control over her life. She's lost and unsure of herself and also a bit naive. Caroline is warm and funny and totally likeable despite her actions.
The second character, her little sister, Lexi, makes the book interesting and keeps you reading .It's the relationship between those two, its development and the role Lexi plays that makes this book an entertaining and wonderful read. I really liked how Regan added so many layers to Lexi, and how she was nothing like she seemed to be from the start.

I really enjoyed this book, I liked to read about the emotional journey these two women made, how they changed and developed.
I wanted to read on forever, I was sad when I reached the final page. It is written beautifully, the words flow, its pace is exactly right, the emotions feel real.

4.5 stars from me!

New Books # 24

These are the books I've got these past few weeks.
And I have a few books waiting for me at the postoffice, but due to tremendous amounts of new snow falling yesterday afternoon, I didn't have the chance yet to get them :(

The Book of Luke - Jenny O'Connell; That Summer - Sarah Dessen; The One Before the One - Katy Regan; Christmas Eve at Friday Harbour - Lisa Kleypas; Beachcombers - Nancy Thayer; Getting Away With It - Julie Cohen

Aren't these covers just gorgeous?

ReRead #5

I've probably just had the worst day of my life..or at least it feels that way. I guess it always feels like this when ones body is hurting. Anyway, it was not all bad ( I just feel sorry for myself when the painkillers are wearing off). I spent some time curled up on the couch watching some movie..but most of the day I spent in bed reading (or sleeping). I couldn't get through yesterdays ReRead..I remembered EVERYTHING and I don't like that, so I guess it was too soon to pick it up again. But I still love it, I still think it is a wonderful book!
Anyway, today's little ReRead I found behind a dusty stack of books and I thought I'd give it a chance:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Men I've Dated by Shane Bolks.

Yeah, well, it looks like my "new" books are going to take a while, what with the ash-cloud and all ......

ReRead #4

I'm sick again..Quelle surprise!

Between short bouts of fitful sleeping or simply staring at nothing I alternate between writing my final paper (which is/was due today) and reading. It seems though that it is a lot easier to read than to write when you can't think coherently. Anyway, I just finished One Night Stand and I have to say it is as good as the first time I've read it. I love it! The characters are likeable, I developed a huge crush Hugh (must be because my body is weak from fever), the story is fast-paced and interesting and the writing is wonderful. It made me laugh and my eyes got wet now and then :)

So..I've decided to stay with the pregnancy theme and move on to this book:

ReRead nr. 4 is One Thing Led to Another by Katy Regan

(I'm running out of rereadable books..hope my new books will arrive soon!)

Chick-lit, my favorites

Well, I read a lot, and it's mostly chick-lit I read, so I thought I start off with a list of my favorite chick-lit books. Because I don't read just any book, I really don't. And I don't read the typical chick-lit. I hate everything that has to do with shopping, make-up and shoes! Shoes in particular. I hate shoes (oops, maybe I shouldn't out myself like that). And I don't particular care for books with titles such as "A Singles Guide to...", and I really don't want to read about women working at glossy magazines and so on. So, even though I'm a girl and read chick-lit, I'm not so girly after all.
Books I read have to have something, that difficult to define it, most of the time it's something that is personal to me, and other readers just don't understand why I liked a particular book, because for them there was nothing special about it.
I like reading as an entertainment on lazy afternoons when there's nothing much to do. I like to read on a break from my studies, to get my mind to think about something else. I use reading when I'm angry or sad, because all my negative emotions disappear when I read, and I use reading when I'm happy because reading just makes all my positive emotions so much stronger.

Reading for me is a constant quest for that special feeling in my stomach/heart, some call it butterflies, but I'm not sure if it is that what it is, but it certainly makes life worth living!!!

It's difficult for me to say just exactly why I like a certain book, sometimes it has nothing to do with the book or the plot, but with how the book makes me feel!

My favorite chick-lit books: (Without any particular order!!!)

1. Conversations With The Fat Girl - Liza Palmer This is a favorite, not because of the weight issue but because Liza Palmer is an exceptionally good writer. I wasn't a fan of the "I" style before this book, but now I just can't get enough of it. I love the suspense I get when I don't know what everyone else is thinking, when I know exactly as much as the main-person in the book. When the author isn't playing God, and when you don't read phrases like " She didn't know that this wasn't the worst thing happening to her this day, more was to come..."
2. Be Careful What You Wish For - Alexandra Potter Well, the title says it all. The book really makes you start thinking about the small and big things in everyday-life. Wonderfully written.
3. Life's too Short to Frost a Cupcake - Rosie Wilde
   
4. Out Of The Blue - Belinda Jones Perfect Summer Read! You can litterally smell the ocean!
5. English As A Second Language - Megan Crane There's a lot of drinking in this book, which could cause a problem for some readers, but it's about college/graduate school, and which student doesn't drink?
   
6. Best Day Of Someone Else's Life - Kerry Reichs It's about weddings, a lot of them, which's normally not my thing, too girly. But this is a smart book, very entertaining, many deep insights, it has everything I look for in a book!!
7. One Night Stand - Julie Cohen
8. Flirting in Cars - Alisa Kwitney It was a warm sunny day, when I was reading this book on the balcony. I got so immersed in the story that when I finally was interrupted several hours later, I was very red and sun-burnt.
   
9. The Nearly-Weds - Jane Costello
10. Desperately Seeking - Evelyn Cosgrave
11. Playing James - Sarah Mason
12. The Nanny - Melissa Nathan
13. The Boy I Loved Before - Jenny Colgan
14. I Heart New York - Lindsey Kelk I actually didn't care much for the plot. It has too much shopping, too many clothes and make-up and a few fairy-taily things in it, but the writing, the writing is wonderful! Once picked up, I couldn't put it down again, the emotions were so real. Heavenly :)
    
15. Knitting under the Influence - Claire LaZebnik
16. Truly Madly Yorus - Rachel Gibson
17. It Should Have Been Me - Phillippa Ashley
18. Smart Casual - Niamh Shaw
19. One Thing Led to Another - Katy Regan
20. Farmer Needs a Wife - Janet Gover