Author: Christina Lauren.

Length: 358 pages.

“I don’t know why people think permanent denial is better than temporary disappointment.” 

Goodreads Synopsis

Sam Brandis was Tate Jones’s 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 Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world’s biggest film stars—ever 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, he’s 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 it’s possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason… and whether “once in a lifetime” can come around twice.

With Christina Lauren’s signature “beautifully written and remarkably compelling” (Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author) prose and perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner, Twice in a Blue Moon is an unforgettable and moving novel of young love and second chances.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners and the “delectable, moving” (Entertainment Weekly) My Favorite Half-Night Stand comes a modern love story about what happens when your first love reenters your life when you least expect it…

My Thoughts

I am soooo sad that I didn’t love this book. I usually really enjoy reading books by Christina Lauren, but this is definitely not my favorite.

** Spoilers ahead… **

Let’s start off with Tate. She was a good character, but honestly… I don’t understand her. I mean, she spent her entire life with this huge secret and always did what her nana said. Really? For some reason I just don’t buy it. Then they go to the UK, and the romance begins. I did enjoy the conversations and all the scenes between Tate and Sam, I think they were really fun and sweet. I really liked how they portrayed the trip and most of what went on there. I understand why Tate decided to tell him everything, I understand that she fell in love… I understand all of that. I don’t really have that much of an issue with young Tate. Young Sam is also really great, so I won’t really elaborate on him.

Then, the shoe drops.

Everybody finds out who she truly is because Sam sold her story. Now, I also understand why he did this, but it happened way too fast. I guess the authors did this to surprise us or something? I don’t really know.

After all this, we go back to real time. Tate has built a career and is living a good life. She’s about to start shooting an amazing movie that will really show off how good of an actress she is. And then she finds out that Sam is the screenwriter. I really enjoyed the scene when they reunite. I think it was very well done and realistic. Tate was very shocked and Sam was obviously conflicted and didn’t know how to act. It was all very awkward, but that’s how it’s supposed to be.

Then we see this whole thing about shooting the movie and parts of the story and all that. And here comes one of my biggest issues with this situation. How in the world did she not know that the movie was the story of Sam’s grandparents????? Really????? I know that she heard those stories a long time ago and she was not thinking about it when she first read it. That’s understandable. But after seeing Sam and realizing that he wrote it I cannot believe that she didn’t realize straight away what the movie was. Even Sam thought that she had figured it out.

After that, the last part of the book was incredibly rushed. I honestly feel that she found out the truth and everything was resolved in the blink of an eye. I think that it was too rushed and the situation wasn’t given the importance that it needed. I mean, we’re talking about an actual betrayal here. That is not that easy to overlook.

One of the best things overall was what Ian did towards the end. And just so you know, this is where my book ended. Literally, my book ended. I apparently bought an incomplete copy that was missing about 30 pages. But its ok, I was able to get the book digitally and I resumed my reading.

I enjoyed that they included that betrayal on Ian’s part, but, once again, it was incredibly rushed. All of this mess happened in like 10 pages and then that was it.

I had such high hopes for this book and I really wanted to love it. I am used to laughing a lot when reading Christina Lauren books, but that didn’t happen here. Twice in a Blue Moon is not bad, its ok, I just expected more.