This book is the best thing one I’ve read in 2025. I will buy anything Lauren Okie writes from this point forward. Please continue blocking sex scenes on the backs of grocery receipts. The Best Worst Thing is so much more than an office romance. It made me understand what it’s like to struggle to have a baby because I felt what Nicole went through thanks to Lauren’s brilliant storytelling. She was also able to capture what it’s like to realize you’ve fallen in love with someone slowly but powerfully over a million tiny moments. I have never been so anxious for feet to touch in my life! Every reader is going to fall for Logan. Hard. I was rooting for these two from the first tipsy knock on his apartment door to the beaches of Mexico. Lauren’s writing is so detailed without being wordy. Her sharp dialogue kept me turning pages and is what hooked me in initial chapters when I wasn’t sure I wanted to read a book about pregnancy or the lack thereof. The story moved quickly and provided a thoroughly satisfying ending. Can’t wait to own a physical copy of this book so I can stay in until 3am again on multiple nights rereading.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes you just need a cute love story to give you some warm fuzzies. This checked all the boxes, but honestly was a little long and would've still been a good story with some tightening up.

Probably closer to a 4.5!

I just really like romances about messy people. It’s raw, it feels like real life, and it also makes you want to yell at them (affectionate) when they do something you wish they wouldn’t.

Lauren Okie’s debut is gut wrenching one minute, hilarious the next, and then has you swooning over a nerdy guy 🥹. Logan they could never make me hate you!!

Here is what you need to know:

Nicole has been on a journey to become a mother and after quitting her job at an advertising agency, starting a podcast about her fertility journey, and trying everything she can to get pregnant/have a baby, her and her husband Gabe decide to try an embryo transfer one last time. But that same day Nicole finds out that her perfect husband is not as perfect as she thought and has been cheating on her. On a drunken whim Nicole ends up at the doorstep of a former colleague, Logan, who may or may not have had feelings for Nicole in the past. Spoiler alert: he is Eagle Scout cute and a lovable nerd. Will Nicole be able to find love again as her life as she knows it falls apart?

My thoughts:
Nicole is going through it and this book is a lot of her growth through the ups and downs of her world changing. If you are not okay with the main character going through it and making mistakes then this book is not for you. Me on the other hand? I eat that up! And yall… LOGAN. MY NEW GO TO CINNAMON ROLL BOY. Playing DND with his friends 🥹. Also I love Nicole and Logan’s banter. Like the teasing was reminiscent of me and my husband 🤭. Am I a mean flirt? Maybe 😏.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the gifted eArc!

4.25! I loved the emotion and angst in this. The dual timeline was so intriguing and I enjoyed seeing how different and how similar Logan and Nicole were in both times. If you liked Shep from Cara Bastone's Ready Or Not, you will probably like Logan! The up and down of the romance and Nicole's life was a little too much for me at times, but I deeply felt for her throughout the story. Lauren Okie makes you feel everything with her writing - joy, despair, panic, love, laughter.

woman who has always been committed, for better or worse but mostly for worse, enters her cut and run era except it couldn’t be worse timing (love of her life and also baby). 4.5<3

this was so enjoyable!! i flew right through it. it starts with a ery dramatic premise (which i always love) but then turns into quite a tender exploration of what could be. the prose style was very simple which i didn’t always gel with but sometimes it was the perfect way to get straight to the emotional heart of things.

idk why this is an october release. it is the PERFECT hazy summer story—long sweaty days where the time barely passes. i’m sure it will still be good in october but.

the pacing of thsi book also isn’t perfect—the core relationship has lots of false starts, which felt entirely realistic but didn’t exactly lend itself to traditional romance book pacing, particularly since so many things are going on in Nicole’s life! and they each required screen time. i didn’t mind this too much but idk. just saying.

sorry y'all have to wait so long, couldn't be me, but enjoy!

This book!! I absolutely loved this story. It’s real, raw, drama, heartbreak but also hopeful. This book covers some tough topics such as infertility and cheating. The story is complex with many layers. Finding yourself, self-esteem and love were all reoccurring themes in this book as the main characters went through their story. The layers explored of infertility, and the impacts on self-esteem and relationships added additional richness to the story. Nicole is a complicated, yet relatable, character who has struggled through many rounds of iVF and is in her last hail Mary attempt when she learns her husband has been unfaithful.

I think this was just not the right book for me but I can see people loving it. While I felt for Nicole and what she was going through, I just never really felt a connection to any of the characters and it made it hard for me to enjoy the story. While I could objectively kind of see the connection between the main characters, I personally didn't feel much between them.

This was a very raw, emotional story about infertility, loss, and pregnancy that I thought was handled well and very real that I think will reach a lot of readers (check TW).

I’ll mention that it is written in third person, which is not my preference so I think that was a small factor in my enjoyment.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a bit insta-love for me in the beginning but I enjoyed the way it shaped out.

This was an emotional, vulnerable read. Okie packs a punch with the blurb alone, so I knew I was getting into a raw story once I cracked open this arc. I found myself really enjoying reading about Nicole's self-discovery as she reflects on the last several years of her life, reshaping and rethinking how everything has panned out for her. I loved how complex her story and her character ended up being, but I found myself incredibly frustrated that she couldn't see how privileged her thought-process was until the very end until her close friends confronted her about it. Like you mean to tell me the entire third act breakup could have been resolved if she was just more... empathetic? It made the whole book fall flat for me, unfortunately. The book felt a little repetitive in that regard, as she was flip flopping the entire book about Logan and what she wants/what is right for her. I also felt like Logan was made out to have literally zero flaws, he was polite at all the right moments and pursued her at just right respectful pace, that it felt upsetting that he kept getting swept to the side. I LOVED the epilogue and how things turned out for them in the end, but I don't think I liked the FMC enough to resonate with this incredibly emotional book.

But on a positive note, I'm so thankful this book was written the way it was in regards to Nicole's infertility. I loved how Okie didn't shy away from the brutality, hardship, and grief infertility can cause. I wouldn't change a thing about those aspects of this book and really admire the strength it took to put these difficulties into words.

Going into Lauren Okie's "The Best Worst Thing," I had a sinking feeling that it would be an emotionally challenging read – and holy moly, was I right. As someone who navigated the difficult path of infertility for years, this book landed a significant punch straight to the gut. The raw yearning depicted in these pages is something that should be studied. It's a unique and profound exploration of a specific kind of heartbreak I haven't encountered in fiction before.

I also really enjoyed the budding relationship between Nicole and Logan. Their humor was heartfelt and definitely giving me Pam and Jim vibes from "The Office," which provided a welcome lightness amidst the heavier themes.

I intentionally chose to read this on Mother's Day as a poignant reminder of everything I endured to finally have my daughter. The sadness, the loneliness, the sheer heartbreak – it all felt worthwhile the moment I received that life altering phone call confirming my pregnancy. Even now, years later, that memory remains the clearest and happiest of my life.

A particular quote in the book, "to want it all so badly she’d try anything, give up everything, become someone she barely knew," utterly destroyed me because I felt it in my bones. With my daughter now three, the intensity of those infertility struggles often fades into the background. This book, however, brought it all rushing back. In a way, it was a cathartic and deeply therapeutic experience. "The Best Worst Thing" may not be perfect, and definitely had its flaws, but for those who have walked a similar path, its emotional truth and resonance are undeniably powerful. What an incredibly beautiful debut novel.

“The Best Worst Thing” by Lauren Okie was an emotional, beautifully paced read that had me hooked from start to finish. The drama felt authentic and compelling; especially as it tackled infertility with rawness and sensitivity—it added so much depth to the story without overwhelming it. As someone with firsthand experience with infertility, I definitely went through my fair share of tissues and accompanied this read with a decent glass of wine.

Nicole, the FMC, was such a complex and well-rounded character. There were so many moments when I wanted to shake her out of frustration, but just as many when I was wholeheartedly rooting for her or aching alongside her. That emotional push-and-pull made her feel incredibly real and kept me invested in her journey.

And Logan—oh, I absolutely loved Logan. I need my own Logan. His nerdy, golden retriever energy was so endearing; and the way he showed up for Nicole, even when things were hard, melted me into a puddle. He was gentle and steady in a way that balanced out all of Nicole’s emotional turmoils, and you could feel how much he loved her pouring off the pages like warmth from a sunbeam. Their connection was so palpable, it made the romance feel truly three-dimensional.

While I didn’t love that there were two third-act breakups—it made the ending feel a bit stretched for
me personally—the emotional payoff was still satisfying. I also found myself wishing for a bit more “show” over “tell” when it came to Nicole’s internal journey; some moments felt more explained than felt, and I would’ve loved to experience those shifts more viscerally. Still, this is one of those love stories that sticks with you, messy and beautiful all at once. If you’re into emotionally rich, character-driven romances with real stakes and deep heart, this one’s absolutely worth your time.

While The Best Worst Thing is well-written and features short, engaging chapters, the story itself didn’t quite work for me. There was a heavy reliance on miscommunication, and the characters’ deep flaws made it difficult for me to connect with them. That being said, fans of literary fiction, especially those who’ve experienced similar life events, may resonate with this book more than I did.

Solid 4+!

This had some heartstring pulling moments, from the infidelity confrontations, to infertility struggles, to everything that is Logan Milgram. Reading through the emotional and physical journey that is IVF was so informative, while everyone's journey is different, I could never imagine the struggles women have through it. Reading this did give me a glimpse of what struggles women go through and my heart only goes out to them.

I found a SMALL part of myself frustrated with Nicole because of her indecisiveness when it came to Logan, when it was plain as day that he had her on a pedestal. everything he threw back at her was exactly that, a placement holder in her temporary life until she figured everything out. That suck so much to read for Logan, because he literally did everything right for her and was such a gentleman about it all these years.

While we can be stubborn or scared to acknowledge something as good as Logan, I can also see her struggle to decide what is appropriate for either of their lives considering the state of her life when they reconnected, but she should not be the one to decide for him.

It was refreshing to have the FMC dole out a third act break up redemption speech for once! It was like the movie 'Never Been Kissed' where Drew Barrymore made her grand gesture.

Logan is quite the golden retriever MMC, the flirty banter came to be so cute and genuine you can't help but adore him and just laugh.

Thank you, Lauren Okie & Netgalley for a copy of an ARC!

- 3rd person POV
- Dual-ish timeline, sprinkled flashback chapters
- Infertility
- Infidelity (OP)
- Right person, wrong time
- HEA

I loved this debut book from a new writer. The story between Logan and Nicole is so sweet and I adored their witty conversation that felt much realer than most romance novels. The descriptions of places - homes, streets, restaurants - added so much to this book, as did the references to other books - so, so well done. The way the author deals with infertility is very real (understandably since based on the acknowledgements it’s something she has personal experience with). The *only* complaint I have is that Logan and Nicole broke up one time too many. I found it hard to believe he would keep going back.

Very good book. Easy to read and flows well. I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended. I could really relate to her and her infertility problems.

I came across this book from others that were read an ARC and have loved it and it truly did not disappoint. Despite being filled with many difficult topics, the love story still puts a smile on your face in the best possible way. Nicole and Logan have a tough and messy journey but it is also beautiful and so worth it. I love this one and can see myself recommending to others and maybe even picking it up again for a reread in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book, was in every sense of the words, the most beautiful, heartbreaking, real, raw and awe encompassing book I’ve ever read. You ever feel like you go into a book one person and finish that same book and come out as a different human being?? That’s how life changing and honest and truthfully, hilarious this book was. It dwells on the heartbreaking and real challenges of infertility and this book becomes more powerful when you read the acknowledgements and realise that parts of this story were written from real life experiences from the author herself. In all the best parts, in all the heart aching sections, it reflected her life but also the realities that many people experience. It was so entertaining and funny while simultaneously dealing with very real, very heartbreaking sensitive topics! While it also manages to be a love story!!! I am in such of awe of this book, because I hate to restrict it to simply a romance novel because while romance does take a centre in the story (Logan, my man my man), it is way more than that and I’m glad for it. This is a story that needed to be told, this is a story that people need to read.

Nicole Speyer has a nearly perfect life, a successful husband, a great house, but the one thing she would change is her infertility. But after coming home from her last embryo transfer to their surrogate, Nicole discovers that her husband Gabe is having an affair with their dog walker and her world crumbles. She now finds herself in one of the most vulnerable positions a married woman can find herself in: jobless, husbandless, childless, and alone, all while living in her cheating husband's house using her cheating husband's money.

Enter Logan Milgram, Nicole's former coworker. As they reconnect, they both start to see better versions of themselves, and then Nicole finds out that her surrogate is pregnant. She's now forced to reconcile all the truths of her life: she's now irrevocably tied to Gabe through their child, and she's slowly but surely falling in love with Logan.

Okie uses a personal and difficult topic—infertility—as the catalyst of much of this story. As something she endured herself, she represented this struggle as something that's both profoundly personal and simultaneously universal. It served as a self-discovery point for Nicole, allowing her the ability to forgive her body for it's flaws and giving her a community of women to lean on through the trials of fertility issues, divorce, and motherhood. I love when authors work a sensitive and personal topic into a fun, romantic story. It gives a larger message to the book and the actions of the characters.

I don't often read romance books, but when I do, I love books like The Best Worst Thing. This book was so much fun to read and was a light, fun, beach-read-y romance. I think this book would be a perfect one to use to get out of a reading slump. It's about finding and/or rediscovering all types of love: friend love, relationship love, and self love most of all. It also helped that I was giggling and kicking my feet at Logan the whole time I was reading. You can never go wrong with a fun story that encourages all sorts of female empowerment just like this one.

im obsessed. this book was everything i wished it would be and more. the characters felt so real and dimensional, nicole especially. truly unputdownable.

The best way I can describe this story is right person wrong time. You might laugh, cry, and scream while reading this story. You will be so emotionally invested in all the characters and their relationships even after you finish reading.

Please check trigger warnings before reading this heavy yet beautiful novel.

“The Best Worst Thing” is Okie’s debut novel.

Thank you to @netgalley, @avonbooks, and @laurensybilokie for allowing me to read an early copy of #TheBestWorstThing