I loved this book SO much, not only for the amazing second chance love story but also because it was set in my hometown. Reading about Guerneville, the Russian River, Lark's Drugs...I could not contain the perma-grin that was attached to my face whilst reading this one. This dynamic duo always delivers for me. I have yet to read a book of theirs that doesn't keep me connected and smiling the entire time. I highly recommend not only this one but ALL of their stories.

I loved the newest Christina Lauren book, which is no surprise! I will say this one had a slightly different, tamer feel to it. Not a bad thing, just different. Didn't make me enjoy it any less! I loved to see the character growth from their teenage years to adulthood. It was the perfect blend of humor and seriousness. Loved!

Tate Jones has a secret. Her name is not actually Tate Jones; it’s Tate Butler and she is the long-lost daughter of legendary actor, Ian Butler. After she got tired of Ian’s cheating ways, Tate’s mother filed for divorce, changed hers and Tate’s last names, and relocated to a remote community. From those moments up until her eighteenth birthday, Tate has lived a completely sheltered life and, for her mother’s sake, has done her best to keep her true identity hidden. When her Nana takes her on a two-week trip to London, it’s a much-needed taste of freedom for Tate and she decides to make the most of it. She meets a handsome young man named Sam Brandis and over the course of those two weeks, she falls hard for him, so hard in fact that she confesses to Sam who she really is. Imagine her surprise when Sam and his family abruptly checks out of the hotel without saying goodbye. Then imagine her even bigger surprise when the paparazzi unexpectedly descends on her. Tate unfortunately learns the hard way that her trust in Sam was misplaced. Her world is irrevocably turned upside down.

Fast forward nearly fifteen years and Tate has followed in her father’s footsteps, becoming a successful actress in her own right. She has signed on to play the lead role in a film that is so incredible on paper that she’s sure it will land her an Oscar nomination if she does her best work. When she arrives on set, however, who does she come face to face with? Sam Brandis, the young man who broke her heart and her trust all those years ago. And even worse, he’s the writer who penned the script for her movie. How does Tate confront Sam after all of these years? Can she forgive him? Does he even deserve to be forgiven? And how is all of this awkwardness going to impact her work on this potentially career-making film?

*****
Christina Lauren’s latest novel Twice in a Blue Moon is a slight departure from the other books I’ve read from this amazing writing duo. My prior experiences have been of the lively rom-com variety, filled with laugh-out-loud funny moments, while Twice in a Blue Moon comes across as a much more serious story.

While it wasn’t the light and funny story that I was expecting going in, Twice was still an entertaining and engaging read that features one of my favorite romantic tropes, the second chance romance. After reading about Tate and Sam’s adventures in London as young adults and watching Tate fall in love for the first time only to have her heart broken, I was fully invested in seeing what happened when Tate and Sam met again and whether or not Sam could do anything to redeem himself and get Tate to forgive his betrayal.

I also just really liked Tate and felt tremendous sympathy for her. I can’t even imagine living a childhood where I had to hide who I was from everyone. And then to finally confess your secret to someone, only to have them sell you out to the highest bidder? All of that has got to take a psychological and emotional toll on a person and I thought Christina Lauren did a fantastic job of letting us into Tate’s headspace to experience all of her conflicting emotions, both of the moment of Sam’s initial betrayal and then again when they come face to face after so many years. Sam was a great character too and so complex. I loved that he was so genuinely likeable in those early London scenes that his betrayal came out of left field and had me anxiously flipping pages waiting for him to turn back up and give me a darn good reason for why he did what he did.

The one area of the book that didn’t work quite as well for me as I would have hoped was the filming of the movie. Acting doesn’t really interest me so I got a little bored reading those scenes and the pages of script that were included. The high point of the movie scenes were actually the secondary characters who were working on the film. They were a lot of fun and I would have loved more time with them. I’m sure the issue with the acting scenes is just a me thing though and even with that issue, I still really enjoyed the story overall.

While not my favorite book from Christina Lauren (that honor still goes to Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating), Twice in a Blue Moon is still a lovely read that fans of second chance romance are sure to enjoy.

Twice in a Blue Moon is the second book written by Christina Lauren that I read. Having read My Favorite Half-Night Stand, a story that I enjoyed a lot and that surprised me, I had good expectations about this book. Perhaps I was expecting too much from it, but I have to say, and I hate to say it, I felt a little disappointed by the story.
I liked the characters. Tate was an interesting character but there was just something that did not let me connect with her completely. Maybe it was because the context of the character and the story, I have never felt quite into the Hollywood thing, but I just could not feel a connection with her. I liked Sam, although I think more Sam was necessary and I liked Charlie and Nick as well. I hated Ian, of course.
The story is interesting and enjoyable. It is fast-paced and easy to read. However, there was something missing. Something to make it awesome.
I did like it and I enjoyed reading the book, it is a sweet love story and I liked reading about the before and the present. I liked the idea of Milkweed as well. I finish reading it quite fast, but I guess I just needed a little bit more.
I will definitely keep an eye on the upcoming books by the authors, though. In addition, I will try to read a couple of the other available books that are on my pile, because I know they will be good stories.

I enjoyed this book. I actually really liked how much time was spent on the backstory. Most times books just do flashbacks or shirt snippets. However, I felt the current day story was much more rushed. Especially the ending. It seemed too abrupt to just be back in love. It seemed like the heroine reverted back to her 18 year old self. Overall I enjoyed the sweetness of this story and the unique setting

When I finished The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, I honestly couldn’t wait to dive into another delicious novel by this dynamic duo. That being said, my expectations for Twice in a Blue Moon were really high….and you know what they say about high expectations.

The beginning of this story makes you think you’re reading a YA/NA novel. The story opens with 18 year old Tate vacationing in London with her grandmother. While out dining one day in London, they meet 21 year old Sam and his grandfather, Luther. In a span of a week and a half, Tate and Sam embark on a whirlwind romance, and Sam is Tate’s first. They quickly fall in love. Tate confides her deepest secret to Sam only for Sam to betray her.

Jump ahead 14 years, and now Tate is a famous actress who has moved on her with her life. Everything comes to a crashing halt when Tate has to face Sam after all these years. There’s still so much pent up hurt and anger, but after talking to Sam, she realizes that she may have judged him to harshly for his betrayal considering he had a good reason to do so. Can these to find a way to get bury the hatchet and give their love a second chance?

Okay, as I am sitting here writing this, I am actually getting more and more frustrated with how this book turned out because I wanted to love it so much! Tate and Sam’s instant love was not for me. I get that they were young, but they went from being complete strangers to bearing they’re secrets and lovers in the span of days. I get that it does happen, but I just couldn’t connect with them or that plot line. I definitely found myself rolling my eyes more often that I should’ve.

When we see Tate and Sam 14 years later, I became more invested in the story. While I wasn’t so keen on the pining after all those years, I really enjoyed watching the two of break through the mounds of assumptions they’ve built up and actually start communicating. I also enjoyed that Tate goes through a metamorphosis where she’s able to resolve her issues when it comes to love as well as her father.

Overall, this definitely didn’t read like a typical Christina Lauren book, which I was a bit disappointed by, but I will continue to read books by the authors in search of the next one that I love by them.

Thank you to Gallery Book and NetGalley for the eARC. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I just love Christina Lauren and their novels. There are a number of them that I was absolutely crazy for, including Love and Other Words and Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating. They write so seamlessly together that it's hard to tell that it is two authors composing a novel together. While this novel was still a great read, it was not my favorite of their novels. I just didn't get as emotionally attached to these characters as I usually do. I think part of my problem was that the whole book was in Tate's point of view. And while that was relevant to many pieces of the book, it didn't really allow us to see enough of Sam's inner thoughts and how wrecked (I'm hoping) he was when he saw her again as an adult. I can understand why he ended up making the decision he did in London but it still was just awful. Only hearing her point of view made it a little harder to forgive Sam later on. And I also had a little trouble with their later life romance since it wasn't as well developed as their first relationship. I didn't feel like I knew Sam enough as an adult. When they did come together the chemistry exploded off the page and just set everything on fire but there wasn't as much of an emotionally connection. I still really enjoyed it and I didn't want to put it down, it just wasn't one of my favorites of theirs. I'd still definitely recommend it!

I'm still trying to progress what I've read and try to form the words to adequately express my feelings for this book. Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren has been my first book by the writing duo in a while. To say I was elated to have been accepted for an early e-ARC by the publisher is an understatement (just haven't been lucky previously). I have nothing bad to say about this duo's writing. As always their writing is phenomenal and cohesive, feeling as if one person were writing the story. But this story was not what I had been hoping for.

I have to agree with many, the first part of the story is truly captivating. Tate Archer is 18 and young. Spending her summer in London with her Nana before she heads to college. On this trip she meets Sam Brandis. The two fall and embark in a sweet, angsty summer love until heartbreak occurs and the person Tate trusted the most betrays her. Fast forward 14 years and this is when the story started declining for me. Just when I thought Tate and Sam's reconnection would be filled with passion, and angst it never came. There is barely any romance between them and their moments together aren't as thrilling. Overall, I just needed more, especially from Sam. Those rare and small moments from him left me feeling resigned. And the ending, well the ending felt rushed. Sigh. That being said, I ask you to go completely blind into this story and experience it on your own. You may just end up loving it!


*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Gallery Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren, is a beautiful love story, that I just loved. Sam Brandis and Tate Jones feel in love one summer, and spent two wonderful weeks together. Tate told Sam that she was the long lost daughter of a famous movie star who abandoned her and her mother. Sam betrays her by the end of the two weeks, and her heart is broken. What happens fourteen years later when they meet again? You will have to read the book and find out. I have enjoyed several books by this author, she is quickly becoming one of my favorite. I strongly recommend this book.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

Cute, funny, smart romance. Love these two authors and will read anything they write! I recommend this.

Thank you so much to Gallery Books and NetGalley for letting me read an early copy of Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren! I’ve been on a HUGE Christina Lauren kick recently (I read 6 of their books in less the two weeks), so being able to read this one right now was so great!

Twice in a Blue Moon 5/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:
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.

I loved this book- from the characters to the premise to the way it was executed, I loved every part! It’s different from some of their other books- it’s told 100% from Tate’s point of view and there’s less chemistry between Tate and Sam- but somehow, it still worked.

Overall, I loved this book and I can’t wait to read more Christina Lauren books when they come out! Twice in a Blue Moon comes out on October 22, so be sure to pre-order it now so you get it on the 22nd!

I liked the original romance between Tate and Sam, but as much as I enjoyed this book and found myself unable to put it down, the present day part of the story really dragged for me.

Same betrays Tate in the worst way and getting to the explanations and rekindled romance took way too long. The new romance almost felt forced because their was too much focus on the scenes in the movie being filmed. I would have loved to have gotten an epilogue to really see how it all truly turned out.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

The cover for Twice in a Blue Moon could very well be one of my favorites of Christina Lauren’s. The book, however, is a slightly different story.

Let me preface this by saying that I didn’t dislike the book. I was just left feeling very underwhelmed. I really love Christina Lauren – they’re on the list of authors that I auto-buy and they’ve written some of my favorites. I’ve always been able to count on them to write really great books.

To be fair, life has been busy, and it took me a month to read this book and I think that could have really contributed to my enjoyment of the story. I think I would have been a lot more emotionally invested if I’d been able to read it quicker so that I stayed a bit more connected. The argument could also be made that if I were really drawn in by it, that I would have had a difficult time putting it down, but who’s to say.

I just didn’t fall in love with the characters the way that I expected to. For the first half, I was pretty invested. I liked the characters, I mostly felt their connection and spark (though it could have been better), but then there’s a big leap in time and that’s sort of where it started to lose me.

Tate’s character was fairly likeable, though I felt like she was pretty dense. Basically, one of the main plot points that I think was supposed to be some big reveal by the way it was drawn out was so glaringly obvious the entire time to me. So, by the time that she finally figured it out, I just felt like she was kind of dumb for not figuring it out sooner. It wasn’t exactly rocket science. And again, it took me an entire month to read the book, so it’s not even like I was always super familiar with details.

Sam was also just fairly likeable. He made questionable choices, and just never really won me over in the end. Overall, all of the characters in this story are just kind of lackluster and left something to be desired. There were even characters that ranged from mildly to extremely unlikeable that never got their “due”, so to speak. It felt sort of like a letdown. Why have these just truly terrible characters be nasty the whole time for nothing?

All of that to say that this book was just okay. I think I’m even more disappointed simply for the fact that my hopes were so high. If you’ve never read Christina Lauren before, I highly recommend starting somewhere else. The Wild Seasons series is fantastic. And if you are a fan of theirs, then maybe just manage your expectations a little before diving into this one.

Because of her famous actor father, Tate Jones has been sheltered her whole life. Ever since her parents split when she was young, Tate’s mom has gone above and beyond to keep Tate out of the spotlight. When her mom surprises her with a trip to Europe with her grandmother, Tate is over the moon excited. She isn’t expecting to meet anyone for the few weeks she’s abroad, so when Sam Brandis and his grandfather show up at Tate’s hotel, she can barely process the rush of feelings she has for him. The two hit it off quickly, and Tate takes a chance and reveals who she is. Sam is nothing but accepting and caring, so when he outs her to a media outlet just a few days later, Tate is destroyed. Not only is she completely unprepared to be in the public eye again, she is positively heartbroken at Sam’s betrayal.

Flash forward fourteen years, and Tate is now a famous actress in her own right. She’s set to start shooting one of the most important films of her career, when, who of all people is on set but, Sam, now a screen writer. Tate is determined to ignore him and conceal her conflicted feelings, but Sam seems desperate to tell her his side of the story. Tate has to give the best performance of her life, all while trying to decide if she can trust Sam again.

I love a good Christina Lauren book. These women really know how to write fun and slightly steamy modern romance novels. And, for the most party, I really enjoy their stories. Twice in a Blue Moon is a solid read. Not my favorite from them, but definitely better than their last book, The Unhoneymooners. I don’t love books about actors, but this one was surprisingly heartfelt. I thought the relationship between Tate and Sam was developed nicely. The story made sense and flowed well. Tate’s father was a real scumbag, and it was fun to hate him so much.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it was hard for me to believe that Tate could EVER get over what Sam did to her. He betrays her on the deepest level, and, for me, that’s not something you can move past, no matter what the motivation. So even though this book was quick and entertaining, it didn’t totally ring true, and I had trouble fully connecting. Still worth reading, though.

I always love Christina Lauren. They have "voice" in their stories that attracts them to you. Twice in a Blue Moon has the same feeling, but I didn't think we got to dive as deeply into the characters as we normally would in a CL book. It was still entertaining and I can't wait for their next one

I chose TWICE IN A BLUE MOON quite easily for the #ReadForGrace event I organized on 10/14. I wanted to read something from her TBR and a book by one of her favorite author duos. I'm really glad I did, but it makes me sad to think of the discussions I would have liked to have with her on this story when we both finished instead.

I really enjoyed this! I think early reviews have been a bit mediocre so I didn't have the highest hopes. I also should probably mentioned that this is only my second book by Christina Lauren - the first being THE UNHONEYMOONERS - so I don't have much to compare it to. I know that many people who have read more of their backlist have been disappointed by the lighter books (meaning less steamy) lately, but that's all I've known... and I've enjoyed them both! Their earlier series (like the Bastard books) aren't necessarily up my alley so I think I'll continue with these new books as they come out instead of diving TOO far into the backlist. Maybe some like JOSH & HAZEL or other recent ones.

Anyways, I do think this book focused a bit too much on the couple themselves without fleshing out AS much when it comes to side characters. Quite insular. Family dynamics were important to the plot but the story essentially takes place over two chunks of time and not much else is developed, if that makes sense. Overall, enjoyed the romance, settings, and Hollywood-orientation. I'm a sucker for those books! I don't want to say much about that piece though, as the summary for the book primarily focuses on the early chapters instead of the other 3/4 of the story.

I love a good heartache! Elizabeth @ Carolina Chic's Read

Sam and Tate's Journey into love is not an easy one. It's filled so much wonder, intrigue and heartache. Tate takes a chance at trusting this man with her desires, heart and body for the first time in her life, then experiences the crushing heartache of betrayal from him. When she see's him more than ten years later she is rocked to her core. You can feel that with one look that he still wants her, but she does not know if she can trust him. She feels pulled to him thru the entire story, has so many conflicting emotions. Will hearing his side of the story change everything for her? Her heart still belongs to this man.

I loved that we felt the same conflicting feelings as the characters. This was an amazing story.

3.5

Tate Jones meets Sam Brandis when she's eighteen while on a trip to London with her grandmother. Tate and Sam immediately click. I'm talking first love kind of clicking. Tate finds herself opening up to Sam in ways she's never opened up to anyone else. Tate confides to Sam that she's the daughter of screen idol Ian Butler who suddenly disappeared from the public eye after her parent's tumultuous divorce. Sam is one of the only people (minus her grandmother, mother, and best friend) that Tate has felt comfortable enough to reveal this part of her life, a part that her grandmother and mother have always encouraged her to keep secret. So when Sam betrays her and leaks her identity to the press, the consequences are far reaching.

Fourteen years later, after being thrust into the spotlight, Tate is a TV and screen star much like her father, and the role of a lifetime has just landed in her lap. A role that will push the limits of her acting ability and move her past her father's sphere of influence. The problem: the script writer is none other than Sam Brandis. Being confronted with the person who, literally, changed her life, all the conflicted feelings she's had over the years about Sam and what happened between them comes to the surface. Will Tate be able to reconcile the love she felt for Sam before she was betrayed? Or will that betrayal hold over everything they could have together?

It had to happen at some point. With a string of reliably funny, sweet, romantic, and sometimes heartbreaking novels, Christina Lauren has finally released one that didn't work so well for me. Maybe that's not completely accurate, but Twice in a Blue Moon definitely gave me pause before writing this review. I got to the end, and thinking about everything that preceded it, I took time to, hopefully, formulate a review that will stand for a read that, to me, was full of really interesting ideas about family and forgiveness, opportunity and betrayal, but I felt like it fell just short of really committing to any of them.

I mean it's a pretty heavily loaded story. I think possibly more pages would have given more time to flesh out a few of the story threads.

I'm really a sucker for the second-chance romance trope. It's this idea that initially drew me to the story honestly. I appreciated the fact that Christina Lauren took a good amount of time to build up the "Then" portion of the story as it's so important to how things have happened in the "Now". I could feel the connection between young Sam and young Tate. The pangs of first love the tentativeness in every interaction. The sting of the betrayal wasn't as cleanly felt as much of the fallout takes place in the intervening time between the Then and Now and through the lens of older Tate do we truly see the consequences of Sam selling her out to the press.

The story is told only in Tate's point of view so it was readily apparent that she wasn't getting the full story as to why Sam would do something so detrimental to her. Obviously there's more to the story than meets the eye as I think any reader looking at things from the outside will be able to quickly discern.

What really got me for the main idea of the book is how one moment - in this case one tip to the press - can change someone's life irrevocably forever. Tate always secretly harbored thoughts of becoming an actress but we don't know if it would have come to fruition had she not been thrust into the public eye. She was set to start college soon after her return from London, but all of that was derailed the morning the press found out she is Ian Butler's "long lost" daughter. There's also the fact that, despite becoming a star, Tate's personal life has been at a standstill for all these years. With such a huge betrayal in her past, and at such an impressionable time in her life, she finds it difficult to trust. It's maybe this idea of trust that left me unsatisfied in the way the story went forward. I felt like it was almost too quick that Tate was pulled back into Sam's orbit once they reconnected on set. Too quick that the feelings they left behind resurfaced, but I didn't feel like the trust was earned back. And yes, I feel like in this circumstance trust needed to be earned back on Sam's part.

I think what truly left this bad taste in my mouth - so to speak - was the idea that Tate has never been given the opportunity to speak her truth. Except when she spoke it to Sam but look how that turned out. No, Tate has always been required to go along with a narrative. Whether it's playing a role on TV or in movies to the still tense relationship with her father that she must present to the world as close and loving. She's hindered by needing to keep things looking happy and shiny for the public - no scandals here please - in order to be marketable and, I supposed, bankable to the fans. I wanted to see Tate take her own life into her own hands, but I don't think it's something she'll ever be able to do at least out in the open. But that brings up the question of: is Tate's personal life really anyone's business?

The book provides this interesting quandry, but like I said I didn't feel like it really fleshed it out well enough. This is a read that I may come back to at some point because maybe I missed something this first time around, or maybe circumstances in my life influenced how I read and interpreted the story. I think Twice in a Blue Moon is one of the more thought-provoking reads that Christina Lauren has given readers recently and while I like the more somber tone, I just wanted a little something more from the story itself.

I still look forward to whatever Christina Lauren has up their sleeves next. Despite my on-the-fence thoughts in regards to this book, they've always been authors that I can count on to deliver, and if this time they deliver something that sticks with me days after finishing, that has me questioning my feelings about the book, I think they've done their job fantastically.

I'll be honest, whereas I was highly anticipating Christina Lauren's previous releases like The Unhoneymooners and Josh & Hazel, my excitement for this one was pretty low. Turns out, my hesitation had no grounds because I actually thought this was beautiful, soft, and had a lot of heart.

I like that this book was told in a then-and-now format, but those sections are entirely separate rather than frequently jumping back and forth. It was almost like two stories in one where you got to see their relationship develop at each stage in their life, both written exceptionally well. I did prefer the first half of the novel just because it had a Just One Day vibe (and also I'm not a huge fan of books about the film industry, so the second half lost me a little). But the two halves flowed seamlessly and played off of one another.

Even so, I feel like this book had an opportunity to be more than a second chance romance. The scope of it is HUGE with so many littler side plots, and I could see this book being so much more substantial if the authors hadn't only focused on the scenes where the two main characters were on page together. I know the authors intended to write this as a romance so I shouldn't be judging it as a different genre, but this book's conflict felt so surface level and basic compared to where I feel like this story could have gone in exploring character relationships deeper than just the main character and the love interest. It doesn't help that this book ended abruptly as soon as the relationship was sorted out and I wish we could have had some closure with the book's characters/plot lines other than the main relationship.

This book is different from other Christina Lauren books in a way that I can't pinpoint, and in a way I also can't say if I like better or worse. It was enjoyable to read and CL's writing continues to evolve and grow more and more beautiful, but I didn't feel super attached to the main character. It's difficult for me to sum up this review in only a few paragraphs because I have a lot of little things to say about it. It was sweet, just not my favorite of theirs.

I am kind of on the fence on this one…I didn’t connect and enjoy the characters as much as I normally do. Too many things just needed to be developed more and Tate was too blind and oblivious about too much. I really wanted to like this one more, and I could see many people really enjoying it, but for me it was just “OK”. I will still pick up the next book from this duo, because I have really liked most of the books from Christina Lauren. I just didn’t get the “feels” that I normally do after reading a book of this type. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.