One-Star Romance was a surprisingly emotional slow burn romance about friendship and love.

Natalie is a young aspiring writer; she and her best friend Gabby are in their early twenties and ready to chase their dreams. However, everything comes to a crashing halt when Gabby unexpectedly becomes engaged.

Natalie likes Angus, Gabby’s new fiancé, well enough, but she believes that Gabby is too young and full of promise to settle down at such an early age. Deep down she also fears what Gabby’s marriage will mean for their friendship.

Rob is Angus’ best friend and despite their initial attraction, he is a serious academic whose personality is the opposite of Natalie. While forced to work together as the maid of honor and the best man, Natalie discovers that Rob has given her debut novel a one-star review. This is the catalyst for the hate-love relationship they embark on over the next ten years.

Rob and Natalie come back together year after year to celebrate Angus and Gabby’s life accomplishments and each time their attraction is as strong as ever, but so is their dislike. However, as they transition from their twenties into their thirties and live through various highs and lows, they also mature and begin to realize what is most important in life.

This one was great!! It was a romcom but it was so much more than that. It was sweet and heartbreaking and I really enjoyed it. Thank you Berkley Publishing for the free book! #BerkleyPartner

I also loved that we got to see Rob and Nat go through so much in their lives before they came together as a couple and we got to see how much love and admiration they had for each other and their friends. I also loved the dynamic with them as a friend group with Gabby and Angus. At points, I felt like it was dragging within some of the points in time it chronicled. I also liked that too, we got to see Rob and Nat’s interactions through the big moments in their friends’ lives because their best friends were married. And thus the readers learn about those certain points in everyone’s lives. It was very well written and all of the characters were great and developed well.

One-star Romance by Laura Hankin is a perfect slow burn romance. This book is five-stars because of how the characters go from I-can't-stand-to-be-with-you to I-miss-being-around-you to I'm-in-love-with-you phases. When it comes to real life we do not always instantly connect or have the aha, you're it for me.

The woman is struggling to make her dream career and find the joyous pride that should come with it. Then, there's the hero is a freaking all academic genius who lets little things irritate him. Like the fact that the heroine wrote a book whose character appears similar to the hero's best friend but it's not. However, he cannot let it go and let's it drive a wedge between.

He takes it further by giving her a one-star rating for her book just because of that. Then, they go back and forth like that...until one of them realizes feelings for the other has developed but it's too late. The other seems drawn to the nemesis but doesn't realize what the feelings are until it consumes him. It was hard not to like these characters. The other characters helped show the depth of these two protagonists as they grew older. It's entertaining, hilarious, and downright charming!

Only giving feedback for 25% of the book.
I’ve decided to not finish it. The first 25% dragged for me, there wasn’t enough conversation. It was mostly just a lot of content, a lot of telling but not enough dialogue. I got bored. The book did not hold my attention.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I tried to get into this book but I couldn't. I was expecting more romance between the two main characters but we never really got it. The pacing was also super slow and weird and it failed at keeping my attention.

I really loved this book. It had me all in my feelings. The premise of this book alone was an immediate yes for me - having to walk down the aisle with a man who you thought was hot, then finding out he gave your book a 1 star?!? Sign me tf up. When I did get into reading it, at first, I did not think that I was going to enjoy it because I was hesitant on our FMC Natalie's voice, but the more I read it, the more I fell in love with both our MCs and it was history from there.

Our story follows Natalie and Rob, who meet through their best friends and subsequently keep being thrown together through the years through life events through their best friends.

I really liked how this book was laid out into seven parts - I liked seeing the progression of Natalie maturing through the years, and seeing the different phases of life - parts of Natalie's story felt immensely relatable to where I am in life personally right now and I liked that aspect. I thought Hankin nailed capturing through Natalie's POV the feeling like everyone's life is going somewhere when you are stuck in the same place and I related very heavily. I really liked the tension there was between Rob and Natalie and I appreciated that the burn was sloooow. I have seen others say it was too slow but I think that it was perfect. I loved the romance in this book, but I really think this story was so enriched by the almost coming of age feel for Natalie and Rob and their self actualization.

This was the first book to make me cry in a long time. I think this book really is more lifelike and realistic in the sense of relationships to friends and family and i think that even though there are a bit of tropes thrown in, it did not feel gimicky or romcommy and I appreciated that- it kept you feeling like maybe there even wouldn't be a HEA and that would be okay with me because this is real life, and for these characters, I think finding the HEA in themselves was the first most important thing and for this book, I think that really worked (though, of course, we did get our HEA and I was really really happy about that 😜.) I think that the characters felt very authentic and I just cannot say how much I enjoyed this book. The banter, the romance, the heart- it was all there. Loved.

Thank you Berkley for the E=ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin

Natalie, an aspiring novelist, is messy in more ways than one. Rob, an academic crushed by the expectations of his successful father, needs his life to be orderly and controlled. Two people could not be more different and they see the world and the people in the world differently. For instance, Rob will do anything for his best friend, Angus. Natalie wishes Angus was out of her life, and more importantly, out of the life of her best friend, Gabby. Instead, Nat and Rob are the bridesmaid and best man at the wedding of Gabby and Angus, right after Nat's first (and possibly only?) novel has been published. And guess who gives Nat's novel a one star rating! Thus starts almost a decade of hate with a dose of lust and pining between Nat and Rob. They had been friends, Nat thought...what had she done wrong for Rob to turn on her?

Most of the time I was pretty much team everybody but Nat. Nat's a hard worker but she is also teeming with jealousy. Others seem to find their soulmate so easily, Nat thinks. Others seem to know what they want to do and get to do it. And if Nat is honest, she'd be thrilled to get to live with Gabby forever, thrilled to be the center of Gabby's world the way Gabby is the center of her world. Now Angus is taking Gabby away from Nat and their friendship will never be the same. Loneliness and envy rule Nat's life, along with all the part time jobs she has to work to support her writing career that is going nowhere.

Over almost a decade, Nat and Rob are just blips on each other's horizons and then they come together again and again for special occasions, each thinking of the other but not wanting to admit it out loud. How can Nat think of Rob so much when he betrayed her? How can Rob think of Nat so much when she's betrayed someone he cares about? I love the romance, the real romance between Gabby and Angus, who show how it's done without even trying. Luckily Nat grows over the years and that is what had me hoping she could find her soulmate someday, even if I wasn't sure I wanted her to latch onto someone who might not be right for her.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley & Berkley Romance for this digital ARC! I enjoyed the banter & tension between the two characters, but it gave off some friends of friends wedding vibes like the Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, and also “coming back around” kind of like November 9th by Colleen Hoover. Also add in that the FMC is a romance author & a shared bedroom trope & you have the one-star romance! Liked, but didn’t love. Would probably suggest this to some romance readers who enjoy the friends-of-friends trope & enemies to lovers.

A fun read with great moments and a great premise!

Struggling writer, Natalie, is forced to walk down the aisle at her best friend’s wedding with the man who gave her book a very public one-star rating. As the years go by and they're forced to come together over and over again because of their best friends, sparks fly.

This one was a pleasant surprise! I really enjoyed the premise and execution.
From the blurb, I didn't expect such an expansive read that encompasses a decade of time, but watching the character grow and evolve was great. We get these characters as bumbling twenty three year olds with a lot to prove and immature takes, but leave with well adjusted 30 somethings that feel at peace and ready to take on the world.

While I enjoyed this from a woman's fiction perspective, my main issue with this read is I struggled with the idea of this one as a romance. Although there is quite a bit of tension and a few stolen moments in the years that go by, the couple doesn't get to get together officially until the last 5% of the book. While I'm glad they were able to grow and be in better headspaces when their time came, I still didn't buy into their endgame. It felt very lust base versus you are "the one". As individuals, love. Together, I could take it or leave it.

And also, this book kind of centers around their best friends a lot to the point where the romance feels like an after thought especially during some particularly hard times.

I also struggled with the side characters at time. Taking a ridiculous character named Angus seriously was difficult, but Gabby, although she apologizes for it later, never felt like a great best friend. The miscommunication there was hard to stomach, especially because I truly liked Natalie.

Overall, this one was better than expected and we leave these characters better than we find!

Read For
- Found Family
- Time Jumps
- Will They or Won't They?
- Strangers to Enemies to Lovers

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my free advanced electronic reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars. (Please don’t come for me, Natalie!) This is a romance but it’s more a story of friendships—the ways they change, the problems and pitfalls, but also the joy. Hankin does a great job of making mid 20s Natalie insufferable, to the point that I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep reading. But I’m glad I did, because watching all four of these characters grow up was a delight.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I was going into this book expecting a cute rom-com and I while there were moments it was absolutely that, I felt like this was more a story that explored all types of love (familial, romantic, friendship) instead of an actual romance book. So much of the story was dedicated because our main romantic plotline, which is not a problem, but I wasn't exactly expecting that going in.

Early in the story, I was having a really difficult time liking our main character, Natalie. There were so many moments of very selfish behavior that were hard to get through and her inner-monologue was a tough hang.

I will say, the last 25-30% completely hooked me. It's where we see the most character growth from everyone and I absolutely cried a few times. Overall, while I liked this it's mostly because of the last quarter of the book that saved the whole story for me.

3.5 out of 5 – The very long burn timetable of this enemies to lovers is wonderful to go through, I kind of love that its decades in the making, very When Harry met Sally. It is predictable but lovely. My other qualm other than the predictableness of this is that I really hate miscommunication tropes and this has it in spades. Its a cute quick read that is going to be great for the beach!

Cute storyline, good use of conflict. Still, it felt like I was reading a bunch of short stories that happened to be connected.

There's nothing Hankin can write that I won't try. This one contains some of the bite of her previous books, but since its a romance it lands a little weirdly for me. This feels like a misuse of cover art for me, but Hankin has a great voice and I always enjoy her work.

So funny and smart and good. I wasn't expecting the structure of the book, but found it wonderful, a different kind of slow-burn approach to romance than I've read before. Also, just so ambitious in its scope and approach to the love and life stories of its characters. I really enjoyed this and will recommend it.

Humorous, realistic, and loaded with feels for BFFs and finding the one you love to hate or is it hate to love…
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the first time I have read this author, plus I love a great enemies-to-lovers story. I have to say that this author knocked it out of the park.

Told in seven different parts, this slow-burn romance takes on adulthood, best friends, and the dynamic that comes through growing and changing relationships.

Sometimes books that include a best friend’s narrative become a story about not being able to function without the other person. This story is not that at all.

While the friendships are long-term, we get to watch their growth and unfold that enemies-to-lovers dynamic. The chemistry is awesome!

Hankin brings a story that is delightful, funny, realistic, and loaded with lessons that maybe we can take note of in our own life choices.

One-Star Romance is a fresh and clean closed-door romance that felt like it took forever to develop but was so worth the wait.

Thank you Berkley romance for my digital arc.

She sighed."I just...I think I'm broken."

"Or maybe you're trying to want something you don't because you think you should"

I honestly thought I was getting into a funny romcom in the traditional sense, however what I met with was deeply poignant, refreshing plot that is more than a romcom. The romance here felt like romance between a flawed character with the ups and downs of life, her best friend and her nemesis. The story happens in the span of a decade giving us a peek into the life of Natalie and Rob , predominantly Natalie as she struggles to find stability and her place in the life. The book also makes a realistic comment on women in publishing and their struggles, Natalie's character growth felt very realistic (albeit messy). I truly enjoyed Gabby's and Natalie's friendship and the portrayal of how life drifts apart two people just because they are navigating different stages of life. The entire evolving friendship arc truly struck a chord with me

The actual romance in the story superrrr slow burn as Natalie and Rob keep meeting briefly over the years after being maid of honor and best man at their best friends wedding. However, each of their encounters somehow only make things worse in between them after Natalie realizes that Rob had left a one star review on her newly released book. My only gripe with the book is that Natalie never seem to see her own flaws as she finds something or some situation blaming her actions on, while she does realize where she had gone wrong, he actions doesn't seem to be fully justified. Overall One Star Romance is a fun "story of my life" plot with humor, friendships and some deeply moving topics

what an amazing book!! i'm so thankful to netgalley for letting me read this one early!! it was just so much fun and exciting and sweet!! i had a great time reading this one and you should pick it up!!!

Thank you Berkley Publishing for the advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I found that the book started off very slow, but I kept on reading, up until the point where I could not put it down. What an enjoyable and unexpected read. Two people meet through their respective best friends. They were totally different. But they kept on meeting through their friends life events and eventually found their way together. The book takes you through their ups and downs with their other relationships along the way. A definite worthwhile read.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this book and it was a quick read. I related to the FMC and MMC and I enjoyed that the friendships of both MC were also part of the love story. There were very touching parts of the story, especially with Gabby and it was a quick easy read. I do wish we got a little more of the story. Because of the time jumps and moves, I felt like I didn't know that much about Natalie's life in LA, what does her apartment look like, how does she get along with her co-workers. I knew more about Angus's job than Natalie's and more about Zuri's work interactions than Rob's and Natalie's. Natalie has a drunken kiss with a celebrity and we only hear about it second hand. If Rob and Natalie had come in contact more often, I might not have cared so much about LA feeling thin, but I just felt like I needed a little more and I wanted a little more with Rob and Natalie when they got together. Perhaps a 1 1/2 year check at the end before the 3 year check in (trying not to give any spoilers). These are minor issues and other readers may not have minded. I read the book in two sittings and I wanted to know how things worked out for Natalie, Rob, Gabby, and Angus. I would recommend this book to others.