This was an interesting story. Spanning 20 years, I was really curious to what the author would do with that sort of time frame and how well he'd be able to capture the reality of life, love and friendships.
There is a lot of authenticity in this story and there is clear messaging throughout about unrequited love, bad timing, coming out, friendships, and gay culture. I think the author manages to balance all these themes well and really connect with the heart of the story in a believable and almost allegorical way. I think that, while this book does not go in the direction I was hoping for, there is something so much more raw and real about the ending that allows us to really explore the reality and complexities of humans. There is such a depth and maturity that made it such an interesting and fitting end.

Unfortunately I did struggle to connect with these particular characters (Danny and Guy) and the core plot of the book. I struggled a bit with this idea that Danny would still hold onto his crush for 20 years (even as their friendship deteriorates) and still feel as strongly as he did in the past. And so many of his actions were hard to fully empathize with given how long he's had to come to terms with and accept his relationship with Guy. And Guy was an interesting character at first, but then immediately sort of came off as this self-centered person without any depth. And seeing Guy, for 20 years, sort of lose himself to his relationships and to other people who treat him poorly all while actively dismissing and minimizing his relationship with Danny made it really hard to see him as someone who I could earnestly root for (in the context of this story). I think Guy's and Danny's journey of self-acceptance and growth could have been really interesting as separate stories. But here, I feel that there is maybe too much space being taken up by the will they/won't they and even each other to really allow for the depth and growth that would have been nice to see from both of them (again, especially when we are actively comparing who they were 20 years ago with who they are now and seeing that they really haven't changed much at all--which could be an argument that maybe this story should've only spanned 5-10 years?).

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing me with a digital review copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

As a part of the LGBTQIAP+ community I really enjoyed this read. The struggle of trying to decipher friendships v. relationships between friends of the same sex can be a little confusing and I felt like it was handled really well. I felt like the relationship and story between Guy and Danny was so genuine and remained genuine throughout the read. I found the story interesting and kept my attention. I felt bad for Danny and his struggle through the entire friendship but a lot of his feelings and thoughts were very relatable.

I think I have read all of Matt Cain's books so far, and this is not my favorite. I found the scenes going back and forth between the present and the past a bit confusing and distracting. I also did not fully find the characters as likable or endearing as I have with his other books. I found myself not caring enough about them. I loved the way in which Manchester's gay community and locale was itself a major player in the arc of the story.
And I always really appreciate Cain's focus on characters who are in the second half of their lives, navigating aging and loneliness and disappointment, inevitabilities of the aging process..
I will still recommend this to readers of LGBTQIA fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Matt Cain!! He did it again. A bittersweet heart wrencher about the different ways to be queer, the ways you can love a person - and the ways our unresolved trauma can affect how we do both. Danny & Guy have been dancing around the truth hidden behind their friendship for decades; Danny's planned them a weekend at Manchester Pride to celebrate their 20 years of friendship - and he plans to finally tell Guy how he's felt since the day they met as first years in uni. The plot bounces around through the ebbs and flows of their history in a way that reveals every detail with perfect timing. I did quite a bit of gasping in the second half!! Truly a tale of “If you don't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”

CWs - Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cursing, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Abortion, Pregnancy

I have enjoyed all of Matt Caine prior books; I loved “The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle”. Plus I identify strongly with the landscape of Matt’s books: I was born near Manchester in 1960 and went to school in Liverpool in the 1970s.

I found “One Love” to be more hard going than Matt’s other novels. Danny had low self esteem, a lot of internalized homophobia, and would follow a pattern of hating himself, getting drunk, doing drugs, having meaningless sex, feeling bad about himself again, getting drunk, etc etc. On top of this he had 20 years of unrequited love for Gus.

This cycle of emotions and behavior got a bit wearing after a while, and I almost gave up at 70%. But I carried on to some sort of an ending. Certainly not your typical rom-com plot.

Maybe if Danny went to rehab, sobered up and dealt with his issues he might make some progress in life?

This moves on two timelines and between Danny and Guy to tell the story of their friendship-and love, Can these two friends become lovers? Should they? This leans in on knowing yourself as well as denying yourself. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Let me start off by saying the writing and story is done so well. I was able to finish this one because it flowed smoothly.

BUT, considering the miscommunication trope is one of my least favorites and that trope spans TWO DECADES in this book should’ve been a red flag for me. Alas, I stupidly thought it would be okay because I’ve heard amazing things about Matt Cain and it just—wasn’t.

These guys ANNOYED me. And what made it worse is they were written so realistic, as in this happens a lot and lemme tell you, that SUCKS.

TALK, people. Open your mouth and talk.

{I was gifted a complimentary copy of this book. All reviews are my own.}

I struggled to connect with Danny and Guy's relationship/journey throughout the book. I think it might have been the multiple timelines that kept knocking me out of the narrative. I give this book 3/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the opportunity to review One Love by Matt Cain. All opinions are my own

Matt Cain’s One Love is a charming and feel-good read that follows Danny Scudd, a gay man navigating love, friendship, and self-discovery in London. Cain brings warmth and sincerity to his writing, and the novel's message about finding your own version of happiness is both timely and touching.

The book starts strong, especially with Danny’s decision to leave a toxic relationship and move in with his eccentric best friend Jacob. Their dynamic adds humor and emotional texture to the story. Cain does a great job portraying queer friendships and the importance of chosen family. The scenes involving Danny’s therapy sessions are also standouts—real, vulnerable, and not overdone.

Where the book falters, though, is in its predictability. The romantic arc with Guy felt telegraphed early on, and it didn’t offer much in the way of surprise. While sweet, their relationship developed in a way that felt a bit too neat, missing some of the complexity that Cain managed so well in his earlier novel, The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle.

Some side characters, like Danny’s parents or his ex, were painted with broad strokes and lacked nuance. And though the book celebrates self-acceptance, it occasionally dips into cliché territory, relying on familiar tropes that don’t always land with fresh energy.

That said, One Love is undeniably earnest, and its heart is in the right place. It's a comforting read with some strong emotional moments—it just doesn’t quite reach the heights it aims for.

Honestly, I don’t think I’m the audience for this book. Although I enjoy reading gay romance, this was more of an exploration of LGBTQ culture and relationships, hook-ups, and different types of love than it was a romance. There’s quite a bit of focus on the differences between queer and straight attitudes towards and labels for relationships and the ideological divide within the queer community in the UK due to reforms instituted during the late 1980s to early 2000s. So, issues that arose between main characters and best friends Guy and Danny that bothered me (from a straight cis female perspective) would likely not have the same impact on queer readers.

Fundamentally, I just really disliked Guy. Yes, both he and Danny have some pretty deep-seated baggage from the trauma of homophobia, but Guy is really selfish (and a bit clueless), taking advantage of Danny’s good nature and loyalty to feel better about himself. As cold as it might seem, Danny’s low self-esteem was really draining, especially since it was a constant thread throughout the book. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but Cain gave very mixed messages about Guy’s conflicted feelings for Danny, which led me to wonder if he was just lying to himself or to Danny as well.

I would have just given this 2* because I struggled to get through the 400+ pages. However, I’ve given it 3* since, as I said, I don’t feel I’m the target audience.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from John Scognamiglio/Kensington through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I am usually quite upbeat about novels which chart different aspects of being gay, gay experiences, gay friendships and so on, but I found this novel irritating and , to some extent disappointing..

There are many ways of living out one’s life as a gay man but the premise here seems to be that the “straight acting” version is somehow inferior, unauthentic and damaging..

My late partner and I were/are, I suppose, “straight -presenting” although never in 49 years, and through more challenging times for gay couples than the 2002-2022 time span here, did we deny any truth about our relationship or sexuality. We were who we were and refused to accept any kind of labelling.We had friends who spanned the whole range of genders and sexualities.

There are people in this book whose attitudes to other gay men who do not conform to their chosen way, renders them completely obnoxious, but it is equally disrespectful to suggest that Danny’s living out of his life was essentially truer than Guy’s which was the strong message conveyed to me by the plot.
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the digital review copy.

I have been a fan of Matt Cain since reading The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle.

One Love is what I call a jerker book. It unexpectedly jerks you all over the place, whether the plot or the feels. It's also a dual timeline, where one of the timelines is not linear. I personally struggle with following these types of timelines.

I have to admit, it started out rather disappointing, with two decades of pining, missed timings, and self-sabotaging behavior. But by the middle of the book, I became invested in the outcome, wishing fervently for that storybook happy ending.

What I got was unexpected, but no less moving. To go into detail takes away from the roller-coaster ups and downs. Suffice to say, I loved where Cain went with this story. Unfortunately, I didn't love the long and convoluted path it took to get there.

Thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for providing an eARC for review.

Truly, truly beautiful. The ending is so beautiful that you will need time to sit with it.
Every character in ‘One Love’ has personality, regardless of the time we spent with them, which added to the richness of the story.

To be very honest I thought this was going to be a standard romance... SO WRONG and I am thankful. ‘One Love’ explores love in all of its complexity and reminds us that labels have a time and place.

The story switches between Danny and Guy’s POVs which highlights two different lifestyles: the partier and the settle down-er.

My boy Danny went through it and, holy gosh, I adore his mum. This is the kind of mum I aspire to be.

I did find it a little slow at times towards the beginning, but the pay off is worth it.

This book is simply all I want from a queer book. But I have no doubt, I always feel this way when I’m reading a Matt Cain’s novel. I’m so glad I could read this. It’s such a good piece of queer story, of queer life! I love it so much!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

WARNING: the unpopular opinion curse has struck once again!!

I'm still shocked this has happened to be honest. I mean, I have one of Matt Cain's other books on my list of all time favorites, so I would never have imagined that I would be rating his newest story this low. But here we are, and there is no doubt whatsoever that One Love and me didn't get along. Don't get me wrong: the premise itself has SO much potential, and this book should have worked perfectly for me on paper. Unfortunately, somehow the story itself simply wasn't working for me at all. I'll try to explain why below.

So, One Love. Like I said, the premise itself has a lot of potential and I really liked the idea of the dual timeline with the focus on both main characters in the present and many flashbacks to different points in time during their friendship. This could give a lot of opportunity for character growth and showcasing their changing connection over time... But I don't think this structure has been used to its full potential here. I like a connection between past and present as much as everyone else, but there is connection and there is too many coincidences and repetition of the exact same content. This repetition really started to grate on me after a while, and it just didn't feel natural or believable.

One of my main struggles was with the main characters themselves though. With character-driven stories, it is (at least for me) essential to be able to form a connection with at least one of the characters in play. And this is where it went wrong for me: not only did I strongly dislike both Guy and Danny, but I also found their characters to be quite one-dimensional and they lacked development and growth. There was a lot of repetition when it comes to their characters traits, and especially Danny moaning about his body and how he wasn't good enough got extremely frustrating. I have not one good word for Guy's behavior either to be honest.

This whole book is basically based on miscommunication and the two characters pining over each other for a long long time. Nothing wrong with that if that's your cup of tea, but miscommunication is one of my major pet peeves and it was WAY too present for me to tolerate and/or overcome this. The pining was also BAD. And then I mean a relentless, constant repetition of both characters basically confessing that they have feelings for the other, but they are too afraid or (insert other emotion) to admit it. Yuk. I don't mind some pining, but seriously: twenty years of that?! No thank you.

I confess that between the miscommunication, the pining, the highly unlikeable characters and the constant repetition, I had a really hard time finding the motivation to keep reading. In fact, I can't deny that I started skimreading long before the halfway mark, as the journey was simply getting way too tedious. I kept hoping the ending would make up for the rest of the book, but even that was rather lackluster and just way too sudden and neatly wrapped up to be believable. Oh yes, One Love was definitely a dud for me and I'm honestly still sad this has happened. I guess that's one more author to add to my list of authors that can go either way for me... Not what I was expecting when I started reading One Love, that's for sure.

This was just an okay read for me. The idea — two long-time friends secretly in love — had potential, but the story dragged and felt overly long. The time jumps were repetitive, and I didn’t feel connected to Danny or Guy, which made it hard to care about their relationship.

Not much really happens, and without stronger character development, I found myself losing interest. A decent concept, but ultimately too slow and drawn out to fully enjoy

Thank you to NetGalley & Kensington Publishing.

thank you netgalley and kensington for the arc in exchange for an honest review !!

as much as i was hopeful about the story and the message of it all, i fear at times it didn’t feel like it resided w me. i think the topics surrounding lgbtq and homophobia and relationships were all so fascinating to read about but i think it was the way the story was laid out that felt almost frustrating

the book has a back and forth timeline which personally when it’s so constantly back and forth and the stories are of similar plot lines it feels hard to differentiate

additionally it’s sort of dual pov, we get a lot more of danny then we do guy but reading both their perspectives it’s interesting to see how they view not only each other but navigate their own personal struggles

i also think while the mention of coronavirus and tiktok didn’t make it an unreadable read, it did turn me off a bit bc i use books to escape not to relive what im living now

overall i think the story could resonate w some people, im just sad i wasn’t one of those people. i think the messages and the relationship were realistic w how it’s frustrating and back and forth and dizzying

but beyond that i don’t know if it’s a story i connected w bc of how frustrated and slow moving it felt at times

- that way
- spring into summer
- we can’t be friends
- arms of a stranger
- hits different
- for crying out loud
- fortnight

It took me a while to get into this book. The pacing was slow, and for a good chunk of it, I had no idea where the story was going. This isn’t a romance but a story of self-acceptance and how it shapes the way we love others.

But then, at 50%, it got me. The unrequited love hit hard, and I ended up crying along with Danny. The years of pain finally made me feel for him—because up until then, I wasn’t feeling anything for anyone in this book. I enjoyed the friendship and the hidden feelings (a trope I love), but I’m not sure how others will perceive it.

Danny’s self-esteem was practically nonexistent, and it bled into all his relationships. We only got glimpses of who he was through others’ eyes, which reinforced a sad truth: we can be our own worst critics, blind to our own worth while others see us clearly. Guy, on the other hand… I just didn’t get it. What was so great about him? I needed more from his character to buy into the long-suffering devotion.

And after everything Danny went through, the resolution felt way too rushed. I needed more time, more depth—something that actually did justice to the years of heartache.

I have to acknowledge the amount of research the author put into capturing Manchester’s Gay Village over the past 20 years. The book doesn’t exist in a bubble—it reflects real history. That level of detail made the setting feel real.

One thing I did love was Danny’s mom. Her unwavering support was his anchor through all of life’s changes, and honestly, she was the heart of this book for me.

“I’m dead proud of you. And I always have been.”

That line got me. That was the love story I believed in.

*Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book was heart-wrenchingly sweet. I absolutely adore the relationship between the two main characters and the pining and yearning that transpired over the years.

Back in November I read my first @mattcainwriter book and fell in love with his writing. I immediately read his other novel and was itching to get my hands on his upcoming book, #onelove And I am so incredibly excited that I was given a copy by @netgalley and @kensingtonbooks to review.
There are twenty years of friendship between Guy and Danny. When Danny arrived at Manchester university he was ready to stop trying to hide his identity and was ready and excited to embrace life as a gay man for the first time. When he meets Guy, an athlete who is not quite ready to come out yet, he falls in love. As the two become friends they start exploring their identities as gay men, while Danny continues to carry a torch for Guy but they never get the timing right. Twenty years later, attending Pride together, Danny is determined to finally have his happy ever after.
I am finding a competent review for this book hard to write because it feels like it encompasses so much and I don’t want to leave anything out or spoil the journey. Delving deep into love and what that means for members of the queer community is just one thing this books does masterfully. The relationship Danny has with the world around him, his friends, family, and himself is constantly being explored from new angles as he struggles to find out who he is. I really enjoyed getting to know Danny’s character and cheering him on as his story evolved.
This fabulous book was released on January 18 and if you need to read something that gives you some hope I definitely recommend this one.
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