I enjoyed TIABM and read it in two days but I must say it didn't have that usual Christina Lauren feel to it. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad just not what I expected.

I guess things were too easy; the insta love and the quick forgiveness. I wish it had a little more push and pull between Tate and Sam.

Overall a good read and I'm glad I got to read it early.

**Received ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed **

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada and netgalley for an advanced copy of Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren. Pub date: October 22, 2019.

Christina Lauren have such talent and I am so happy that I have discovered their books. I find their writing engaging and their characters are well thought out. I always feel for the characters and can connect with them even when we have very little in common. Secondary characters are also dynamic and I often find myself wanting to read more of their stories.
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Twice in a Blue Moon is a second chance romance. We get to see both time lines and I’ve discovered that’s how I like to read this particular type of trope and relationship. I like seeing relationships develop. Tate and ‘s relationship was a bit insta-lovey but at the same time felt realistic and I rooted for them!
I also loved Luther and Roberta’s story and their struggles and perseverance being in an interracial relationship.
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I love reading Christina Lauren books and I eagerly am awaiting their next novel!

Love the Time Jump
I really loved getting to see Tate and Sam at two different stages of their lives. The 14 year time jump was a great idea because it shows us Tate’s heartbreak and how these two characters have changed over time. I was really happy to find that a solid chunk of the novel was dedicated to when Tate and Sam first meet because it was important to lay the groundwork of how they fall in love before the jump happens. Without that time, it would’ve been easy to brush off Tate’s feelings as young love, but those first chapters were well built and my heart was broken alongside hers.

Cool “Behind the Scenes” of a Movie
I thought that Christina Lauren did a cute job of giving readers a "behind the scenes" of making a movie. While I know that it's all fiction, I honestly like believing that actors are friends behind the scenes that they have a good time making movies. There's a "magic" to moviemaking that is fun to imagine and Christina Lauren has given us that chance to feel like we're glimpsing behind the scenes of it without really hurting our expectations. It was a fun alternate reality to read about.

Secondary Characters were Underdeveloped
There were so many wonderful characters in this book, but I felt like we didn’t really get to know them. We know they are part of this world, but nothing really develops from them except as being there to prop up the story. While I don’t think every character needs to come with their own story (the book would be massive!), I do wish we had a chance to get to see some deeper interactions between Tate and her friends and family. It would have added some additional depth to the story and I definitely would’ve loved to know more about Charlie specifically! She just seems so cool!

Overall, I thought this was a really great book! It was a type of contemporary romance I’ve come to expect from Christina Lauren novels and I enjoyed getting to meet these new characters. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who’s enjoyed other Christina Lauren novels, to people who like contemporary romances or romantic comedies, or anyone looking for a fun read moving into the fall season.

Now this, was such an amazing feel good book! I love christina lauren's writting, funny, witty, and that keeps you wondering how eveything will finally unravel. I loved every minute of this book. I could not put it down.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and struggled between giving it 3 stars or 4. I settled for 3 only because of the ending. The first half of this book is amazing and really sucked me in. We meet 18 year old Tate and 21 year old Sam, who by the way, is the ultimate swoon-worthy character, hubba hubba! Complete strangers, while both vacationing in London, they quickly fall head over heels for each other. Until, a turn of events changes both of their lives forever. And in the same breath, rips them apart. Fast forward 14 years, Tate is now a thriving Actress who has landed herself the role of a lifetime. During filming, Sam enters her life all over again and Tate is forced to confront the only man she has ever loved and who left her heart in a million pieces. This is my first book by Christina Lauren's but it will not be my last. Her easy-breezy writing style makes you fall right into the story she has crafted and right in love with the characters she penned. Tate's best friend was absolutely hilarious! She is the friend we all want in our lives. A ride or die, tell it like it is BFF. The book unfolded at a great pace. A little slow in parts but totally worth it. The only thing that left me a little disappointed was the ending. Given the build up, it just wrapped up a little to quickly for me. However, it didn't deter me from my overall enjoyment of the book. I walked away loving the story I just read and the characters I met. I really look forward to reading more from this author!

Deja vu.......
Another childhood, second chance romance from CLO. Different names and setting. Lack of connection to the MC and LI. A little wonky timeline and romance. There was literally 10% romance in the present timeline. So that was unexpected and disappointing.
Readable as always. I really doubt I'll ever actively dislike something CLO writes. But this one was not my favourite. In all honesty, Love and Other Words is far superior and like I said the deja vu was strong in this one because of that.

Wow, this was such a sweet read! I mean, it does contain the heartbreak, but it also has them falling in love, possibly twice! And yeah, that was just adorable to read and I loved it! I adored these characters, and I rooted for them!

Honestly, I just wanted to speed through the beginning, the 14 years ago, because I knew it was going to go wrong, even if I didn't know how. I didn't want to go through their happiness to her heartbreak, to this possible happiness again, I just wanted to skip to the possibly finding their happiness again! I'm weird like that, because conflict is what makes books interesting to read!

Tate was put in an uneasy situation. Lead in a movie that isn't her typical genre, and her first time acting in a movie with her dad, which whom she has an awkward relationship with. And then it turns out the writer of the movie is the one person who betrayed her and broke her heart.

I would've loved a little bit more at the end, to get a little more closure, to deal with the big reveal. After they went through, that would've felt satisfying. But the ending was in a good place, and I really enjoyed it!

This was another amazing book from this duo, and I can't wait to read more!

Twice in a Blue Moon was such an easy read about first loves and family dramas in Hollywood. It reminds us of all the things that make first loves so easy and sweet, and the heartbreak that comes from it. It makes us think about whether the people who wronged us in the past, really had the worst of intentions or was it all just a misunderstanding. It tells us that people can make mistakes, but we have to forgive and never forget.

I don't think there is a Christina Lauren book that I don't like. They are an auto-buy author for me, and I'm very excited for this new release.

The premise is fresh, but also heart breaking. I grew to love the main characters and I felt the conflict was relative and relevant. The setting a movie shoot for part two of the book really made me want to join a movie set!

All in all, this felt like the perfect cozy Fall read.

4.5 ⭐️ I really liked this one - probably one of my favourite Christina Lauren books to date!

The first (almost) half of the novel is a young Tate and Sam falling in love and I was INTO it. I thought this part of the story perfectly captured what it’s like to fall in love for the first time, especially at a young age; the nerves, excitement, and stolen moments. My heart burst and subsequently broke for Tate when new broke in London.

As an adult, I was so sad to see that Tate hadn’t fully healed from her heartbreak, and still had such a strenuous relationship (or lack there of) with her father. I thought the familial relationships throughout felt genuine and real - Tate’s friends on set and family back home were all such great side characters. The slight side storyline with Sam’s grandparents were great too.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more interaction and build up between the H and h as adults, but I overall I found this to be a very enjoyable read!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As far as Christina Lauren books go, this one was more along the lines of Love and Other Words than similar to Josh & Hazel or My Favorite Half-Night Stand. It's not a funny book, but it was well-written and I gobbled it all up in one sitting and loved the characters so it was still wonderful in that sense. I could have easily read another 50 pages ish about the whole plot and especially towards the end, I felt like it wrapped up a bit earlier than I wanted it to - but that's life!!

I’ve read a handful of other Christina Lauren books, and I was surprised at how completely different this book was! Don’t worry, it’s all in a positive way.

The first 30% or so takes place when our protagonist, Tate, is 18 and on a holiday in London with her grandmother. All of these scenes very much read like YA, which I wasn’t expecting. It was an absolutely perfect way to kick off Tate’s narrative.

I don’t want to spoil anything here so I’ll just say this: the rest of the book mostly takes place on a movie set. So if you’re like me and DEVOUR novels about Hollywood and movie/tv sets, then you won’t be disappointed. I love it when passages of scripts are included. It makes it all feel so real and that you are living the character’s life.

The one thing that surprised me the most about this book was that the “romance” is a bit of a back-burner compared to the other books I’ve read by Christina Lauren. The focus of this story is Tate and her life, her relationships with her friends and her family.

I can see it’s possible that some people might be disappointed when you’re expecting a heavy-on-the-romance book and that’s not what you’re getting here. So instead, go into this book knowing that what you’re getting is a beautiful character-driven story about a girl chasing her dreams.

I think I’ll be spending the next fortnight occasionally tearing up when I think about the perfection that was the final chapter.

This book takes a slight detour from the road we've seen the writing duo Christina Lauren take over the past few books. How much did we heart Roomies, Josh & Hazel, Unhoneymooners and our Favorite Half-Night Stand?

For me, the best part of their books is the witty writing. The zings. The one-liners.

All of which were missing in their latest book, Twice in a Blue Moon.

The first 30% of the book is a YA novel. Young love - meet cute in a London hotel, soon they are inseparable. Hearts all over the place and then... betrayal. Heartbreak.

Flash forward 14 years and there's another meet, and this time it's not so cute. But as grownups forced to work together, they somehow come together again and again.... get all the feels.

But I wasn't feeling it.

Instead, I will go back and read one of their older books, and laugh at Hazel's crazy antics, or fall in love with Ethan in Hawaii.

Oh summer nostalgia! I was hooked from the start though I could see people liking one half and not the other. Lost a bit of momentum near the end.

I was looking forward to a new release from Christina Lauren I LOVE THEIR BOOKS!! So I'm sad to say Tate and Sam just didn't do it for me. The story starts out a sweet young love story. But it's slow and a tad boring. There is quit a bit of their young love and not so much of their second chance together. It literally wraps up in the last chapter. I'm not sure why authors do that.

In a positive note I loved Charlie's character she was feisty and funny. Nick as a secondary character was great too. I felt more connection to these two then I did the main characters.

Overall it was just an ok read for me.

I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting. I really liked how you can see the relationship of the two characters develop through the conversations between Tate and Sam. Loved the story of young love turned enemy turned co-workers. This was a very cute story and the characters were very loveable and relatable.

3.5 rounded up.

I recieved an EArc from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. I wanted to love this one so much...it's Christina Lauren!!! But something was missing. I enjoyed the book, but would have liked an epilogue at the very least with how they dealt with the drama instead of it just ending. I would have loved to see Tate confront Ian.

Twice is a Blue Moon is a cute romance that you will devour quickly.

Twice in a Blue Moon follows Tate as she goes on a European adventure and meets Sam where they fall in love in a whirlwind romance. Sam then abandons her only for them to meet years later.

What makes Twice in a Blue Moon work as a second chance romance is the time Lauren takes to develop the romance in the beginning. Readers spend a considerable amount of time with Tate and Sam as they explore London and quickly begin to fall for each other. With many second chance romances, the connection and chemistry between the characters is assumed and not earned. Fortunately, the chemistry between Tate and Sam is instant and all consuming.

The first half of the novel was my favourite and the reason I rated it four stars. However, the second half of the novel that follows Tate and Sam’s reunion years later fails to deliver palpable chemistry. Hence, the four star rating.

Tate and Sam in the future lack the chemistry they had when they first meet. Tate spends a lot of time in her head second-guessing and musing on what Sam is thinking, etc. There are too many hurtles for them to pass that would have been easily cleared had they spent a little more time talking to each other. I understand, for the sake of tension, that they can’t immediately fall into each other’s arms, but a long drawn out affair with hurtle after hurtle is tiresome.

Overall, Twice in a Blue Moon is a solid second chance romance with a Hollywood twist!

What can I say I’m a sucker for Christina Lauren and this one lives up to past books!! Do you know what else I’m a sucker for? FIRST LOVES!!! This story of Sam and Tate was a whirlwind in the best way possible. Should I go to London with my Nana and find my forever love only to have him betray me!?!?! Also loved the behind the scenes Hollywood look that we got in the current day section. The description writing had me wishing I could visit this fictional place. What can I say I loved it, but of course I did because it’s Christina Lauren!

*Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with a free arc in exchange for a honest review*

4.5/5 stars

I am obsessed with Christina Lauren. This book was amazing! However I am very glad that I went into this book blind. If you love this duo then do yourself a favor and don't read the book blurb. IMO it spoils a lot of the story. And I know that I wouldn't have liked this book as much if I had known most of what was going to happen before reading it.

I love these authors and have really enjoyed their last few books. So I was beyond excited to read their newest book, Twice in a Blue Moon. This book is a contemporary romance. But it's not a romantic comedy like some of their recent books (I think that it's important to know this so you don't go in expecting something super funny).

The narrator of this book is Tate (female - 1st person POV). The book is divided into Then and Now. It is not my favorite when authors decide to alternate chapters between the past and present. However, for this book the authors decided to have the first section of the story take place in the past (when Tate is 18) and the rest of the story takes place in the present (14 years later). I am extremely happy that the authors chose to do the story this way, as it worked perfectly for me.

In the past Tate has just turned 18 and she goes to London with her grandmother. I can sometimes struggle with past sections of books. But in this case I adored it. I loved getting to know Tate as a young woman. And even though this part of the book had a very Young Adult feel to it I think that it added so much to the story.

Tate grew up in a small town (an hour north of San Francisco). She lived with her overprotective mom and grandmother. But they all had a secret. I loved how this played out. I was sufficiently intrigued. And was dying to figure out her story. Also I was extremely curious to find out what Tate's life would be like in the present.

Something happened at the end of the past part of the story that impacted the rest of the book. I thought that this was a very strong way to end this part of the book.

The present part of the book was also very interesting. I loved the setting. And I liked the career that Tate ended up pursuing. I had a strong idea what she would do with her life. But it ended up being even more special than I expected.

The romance in this book was good. I really enjoyed Tate as an eighteen year old. But I also really enjoyed seeing her more grown up. There was also some really good family drama that added a lot to the story.

I do think that this book could have used an epilogue. The ending was good. but I wanted more. But overall this was another strong story from a great writing team.