No one-star rating from me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

On the night Angus Stoat proposes to Gabby Alvarez in a NYC midtown bar, Gabby’s best friend Natalie Shapiro meets Angus’ best friend Rob Kapinsky for the first time. Their banter is fun and flirtatious, there’s a definite vibe, but Natalie has a boyfriend and Rob has a plane to catch so they somewhat reluctantly part ways, but occasionally text over the next year and a half. 

Their second meeting at Angus and Gabby‘s wedding is decidedly less friendly, in fact it’s downright hostile. Natalie now hates Rob because he had the nerve to give her first novel a one-star rating on Goodreads. Rob feels justifiably disappointed in Natalie after what he discovered she’d written on page 28. 

But, over the years they keep crossing paths, unable to avoid each other because of their shared connection through their best friends. And every time they come into contact, they can’t help being drawn to one another, and unwittingly an attraction is growing between them. Will Natalie and Rob ever admit that they have feelings for one another? 

Out of all the contemporary romantic comedies that I have rated five stars this year, and this includes Katherine Center’s, The Rom-Commers and Emily Henry’s, Funny Story, Laura Hankin’s, One-Star Romance is my top favourite for 2024. I would even go as far as to say that it’s one of my top romances of all time. I loved it! If I had to compare it to anything I would say that it shares commonalities with the Katherine Heigl 2010 movie, Life as We Know it, and the TV series Love Life (2020) starring Anna Kendrick. 

One-Star Romance contained several of my most favourite romantic tropes including enemies to lovers, hate to love, slow-burn, forced proximity, forced to share a bed, love triangle, and open-door (although not quite all the way 😉). The book was sexy, sweet, emotional, touching, hilariously funny, and the author nailed every character's reactions, emotions, and dialogue in all situations. Due to the time jumps the plot never grew stale, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ways these brief windows into their various life stages furthered, stalled or derailed, and eventually cemented Natalie and Rob’s relationship. The timeline took place over a ten-year period (2013-2023) and also (briefly) included COVID. Natalie narrated more chapters than Rob with the occasional third-party chiming in. 

I adored Natalie and Rob, both together and separately. Yes, Natalie was a hot mess at times, and she didn’t have her head screwed on as much as the other characters, and her harsh treatment of Angus was unwarranted, as was her possessive jealous streak towards Gabby, yet her flaws only endeared her to me more, and as someone who is also resistance to change, I found her hugely relatable. Furthermore, Natalie was only twenty-four at the beginning of the novel, so of course she didn’t have it all together. 

Getting back to Angus, I adored him. How could anyone not love Angus, Natalie? 😡 I would be forever indebted to Laura Hankin if she wrote an Angus like character as a male romantic lead for a future plot. Not that Rob wasn’t amazing as well, I adored him just as much as Angus, but it was refreshing to enjoy a secondary romance as much as the main one. There was also a third romantic pairing that was all kinds of awesome as well but that one needs to remain under wraps. 

One-Star Romance was also a novel about the enduring power of friendship – the highs and lows, the unwavering loyalty, the strain and toll of maintaining a close bond when one is out growing the other, and lives are moving in different directions – separated by geography, career, marriage and family. 

The author read her own audiobook and if she ever decides she needs a back up career (based on this book my vote is no) she would definitely excel as a narrator of contemporary romances. Flawless! 

Honestly, I never wanted this book to end, I even put off listening to the last 20% just to prolong it. Every moment I spent with these characters was gratifying, and I will definitely be re-reading this one to experience it all over again. 

I cannot wait to pick up Laura Hankin’s backlist. 

P.S. I adored Gabby and Angus’s invitations. They were so fun and unique. Not like the boring ones I come up with. 

P.P.S. I suspected this was going to be a spectacular read when the author’s epigraph was a quote from Dodie Smith’s, I Capture the Castle.