This isn’t my usual genre….I’m not a romance reader…so I may be judging this too harshly. I found it rather predictable, trite at times, and the main character was an insufferable narcissist. It was hard to root for a happily ever after for someone so entirely self-absorbed. With that said, I’m sure there will be readers who are moved by the melodrama. Just not my cup of tea.

The setting is Chicago in the 1960’s, featuring Dani, a young woman who has fallen madly in love with John. When John is sent to Vietnam, Dani’s world falls apart. What remains is a vengeful, self destructive personality, a woman who cannot form normal relationships. As the book progresses, an experience of growth, understanding and bouncing back from tragedies is evident. I liked the writing, the time period, and the evolution of Dani from an immature love struck teenager, to a mature, accomplished woman. Recommended, and thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

“𝑵𝒐, 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑴𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆. 𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏.”

I was born in 1975, the year the Vietnam War ended, but it echoed for years after with so much senseless loss. For fictional character Dani Marek, it took away her future and love of her life, John Nagy. Thirteen-years-old in 1965, Dani first sets eyes on her soulmate and seals her love with a glorious kiss at her first make out party. Throughout high school she spends more time becoming a part of John’s family, Hungarian immigrants who moved from Tennessee to Chicago, than her own. While John works afternoons in his family’s car repair business, she happily spends hours in the garage alongside he and his father. Adored by John’s mother Mrs. Nagy, who endearingly calls her Lánya (her daughter) she feels just as loved as a true daughter ever could. Upon meeting this young man who has their daughter’s complete devotion, her own parents believe it’s only ‘puppy love’, that it won’t last a week. Little do they know Dani’s heart is in it for a lifetime.

Dani isn’t concerned about what is happening in the rest of the world, preoccupied as she is with passion. She gives herself to John never imagining what is waiting around the bend, ready to upset all their hopes and dreams. As she is planning for her future, her own family crashes and burns forcing her to get a job if she is ever going to go beyond high school. With her family drifting from each other, a great divide opens. Worse, John’s won the worst sort of lottery, his number is called for the draft. She bides her time with work, school and endless waiting. As it happened to so many men, John is killed in action. This love will haunt Dani and infect her future relationships.

As her mother and sister Paige try to pull Dani from the depths of her grief, she becomes Paige’s project. Pushing her into modeling, forcing a social life upon her and encouraging her to meet men. Dani has a heart of granite now, a dead zone in the center of her chest. Her young heart only ever beat for John. What is the point in love now? She will be a hard woman and to hell with any man who comes her way expecting devotion. Then she meets a man whose middle name should be persistence, chasing her until she dates him. His arrogance is vile, it’s no surprise she shuns his love, tells him lies. Other men are fun for a while but are deceptive, and the bar scene gets old fast. Worn down she finally accepts his offer of marriage, the financial help is a reality she must face, needs even. Like most gifts, it comes with strings, making her feel like nothing but her husband’s possession. He isn’t who she thought he was, his family isn’t the warm nest that the Nagy’s home was, not by far. This spouse will never warm her heart nor measure up to her memory of John. In her quest to harden her heart, she bites off so much more than she can chew, dooming herself to an abusive marriage. A black cloud settles over her life. So much between she and her husband is forced, not even the birth of their child can soften his heart. No amount of pretending can make this life tolerable. It’s brutal, the years that follow and again fate deals her a shock. The aftermath will leave her a widow at 24 and a single mother caring for her baby girl.

Facing the wreckage of her life, Dani must own what she believes is her rightful guilt to bear. Money is no longer a worry, and she is able to have a career but the woman she has become is not the Dani John loved. It’s time to confront herself, to be better for the one thing that means the world to her, her little girl. Dragging ghosts from the past, can she let go and love anew? Can she forgive herself for each step that led her on such a damning journey? She isn’t the only who has changed, the dynamics in her own splintered family has altered roles. Old hurts, jealousies no longer singe her soul. Bridges are being built, but will she ever be open to love, will her granite heart ever melt again?

The time period this takes place was loaded with change, on a grand scale. Dani, like every single one of us, must take stock of her life, every choice, every mistake and decide if she will choose happiness or sorrow. A tale of love, loss and the trajectory of grief- how it burns everything it touches.

Yes, read it.

Published June 24th, 2021

Available Now

Black Rose

wow! This is a solid story about the broken dream of romantic bliss. This is a coming of age story that appeals to everyone, I think. Very well written and most importantly, it made me feel.

I am a fan of Joanne Kukanza Easley. She has an immersive style of depicting characters and settings. I loved her first book, Sweet Jane, and Just One Look didn’t disappoint me. Her rendering of Dani is deep and compelling. The book opens in the Vietnam era and it brought back all my memories of those turbulent and painful times. Dani’s love and grief are palpable. This was an absorbing read.

In 1965 Chicago, thirteen-year-old Dani Marek declares she’s in love, and you best believe it. This is no crush, and for six blissful years she fills her hope chest with linens, dinnerware, and dreams of an idyllic future with John. When he is killed in action in Viet Nam, Dani’s world shatters. She launches a one-woman vendetta against the men she seeks out in Rush Street’s singles bars. Her goal: break as many hearts as she can. Dani’s ill-conceived vengeance leads her to a loveless marriage that ends in tragedy. At twenty-four, she’s left a widow with a baby, a small fortune, and a ghost—make that two.

Set in the turbulent Sixties and Seventies, Just One Look explores one woman’s tumultuous journey through grief, denial, and letting go.

I just adored this novel. Everything about this book is captivating. This novel is impossible to put down.

Set against the backdrop of war in Vietnam, teenage Dani falls in love with John, a new boy from Tennessee. His Hungarian family settle into multicultural Chicago, the city where Just One Look is set. Dani’s commitment to her first love contrasts with the turbulent love life of Paige, her younger sister and the marriage break up of her parents. The narrative is punctuated by national and world events, including conscription. John joins the 101st Airborne but never returns leaving Dani to steel herself for a future without him. Bereft, this young woman navigates family responsibilities, educational and employment challenges, unexpected events and much more to come out the other side ready for a proper new relationship. This character-driven novel is filled with wonderful period, cultural and culinary details that enliven the story. Read this book and experience the tumultuous emotions of a young woman.

Having read this authors first book, and loving it, I immediately dove into this one. I’m so happy I did.
Dani and John meet in Chicago 1965. She is 13 and he is 15. “ I fell in love at 13, full-blown, knock your socks off, lifetime commitment, soulmate love.”

Dani has their future all laid out that is until John is drafted into the Vietnam war and doesn’t return home.

Dani begins a downward spiral, determined to never find love and all along comparing everyone to John.

This was one amazing read. I loved these characters and their families and the evolution of Dani was one we were cheering for because we know her heart.

I am forever a huge fan of this author and she will be forever on my read first list !