REVIEW: Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

In Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren, Fourteen years ago Tate Jones set out to visit London with her grandmother for a couple of weeks knowing it was going to be epic. What she didn’t realize was that it would change her life completely. It started when Tate met Sam Brandis, a handsome young man from Vermont, just a couple of years older than she was. From the first moment she saw Sam, Tate was in danger of losing her heart to him. Funny, sweet, smart, sexy. He was everything. And the time they spent together, the connection they shared, is the most important she’s ever had with anyone in her life. But a betrayal of the worst kind by Sam shatters Tate’s heart and, in the process, her future.

‘I wanted to possess him and be possessed by him in a way that made me feel nearly wild.’

Almost a decade and a half later, Tate has been a working actress since that horrible time in her life and copes by putting all of her emotions into her characters. But even she knows her upcoming role will be a challenge. It’s a screenplay that’s getting serious buzz in town and will likely garner award nominations–if Tate can sink into the role. Which might be difficult, considering she comes face-to-face with Sam on set. So many emotions are still wrapped up over his betrayal that she can’t find her way through it. But with some advice (and a few kicks in the pants) from her friends, Tate thinks she will finally be able to let go of the past and possibly see if what she once had with Sam could still be as strong between them today.

‘Our eyes meet and a piece of me falls backward in time, locking onto the solid reassurance of him the way I used to, feeling that strange awareness that he’s my beacon, a safe harbor.’

Smartly written and full of the emotional goodness I expect from super duo Christina Lauren, Twice in a Blue Moon snagged my heart with its tender reunion romance over a decade in the making.

“Can you believe me, though?” he asks quietly. “That the worst thing I ever did was for the best reason I ever had?”

First, a warning: this is *not* a rom-com. So if you were expecting a typical full-on laugh-fest from Christina Lauren, you will be feeling rather let down. However, Twice in a Blue Moon *was* a second chance romance with a splash of women’s fiction to it that was completely engaging and had the charming, quirky characters I crave from this talented duo.

I do enjoy a well-written book with dual timelines. It gives us readers a chance to see how the characters have changed over the years as well as how prior decisions have affected their lives. Eighteen-year-old Tate being betrayed by her first love Sam fourteen years ago was just heart-rending to watch. Her time spent with Sam in London back then was mostly fun, though. I think Christina Lauren truly captured the feeling of young love and of that all-encompassing warmth it wraps you up in perfectly. Tate and Sam were a dreamy couple. Super cute together, they just seemed to click on a basic level. So when their bond was broken in a terrible way, I kept hoping there was a reason for what Sam did because he seemed like such a decent, solid guy. (Don’t worry…there was!!)

Without giving away the reason why it all went down the way it did between Sam and Tate and the specifics of their backgrounds, I can say that their lives were complicated due to family issues. Tate ended up becoming a well-known actress in the present time and reunited unexpectedly with Sam on her new film’s shooting location. I loved the myriad emotions she went through. I totally understood Tate’s anger, trepidation, angst, longing, anger (lol), and finally her acceptance of what happened with Sam. It wasn’t an easy thing to get over. And I appreciated that it took time. The scenes with Tate, her friends and fellow actors added some perfect lighthearted moments to the tense situation and I thought helped her see things through a different perspective which pushed her to figure things out.

Twice in a Blue Moon was a combination of wonderful storytelling and captivating characters, making this a romance you don’t want to miss.

Book Info:

Publication: Expected publication: October 22nd 2019 | Gallery Books |

Sam Brandis was Tate Jones’s first: Her first love. Her first everything. Including her first heartbreak.

During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world’s biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.

Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he’s the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it’s possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason… and whether “once in a lifetime” can come around twice.

With Christina Lauren’s signature “beautifully written and remarkably compelling” (Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author) prose and perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner, Twice in a Blue Moon is an unforgettable and moving novel of young love and second chances.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners and the “delectable, moving” (Entertainment Weekly) My Favorite Half-Night Stand comes a modern love story about what happens when your first love reenters your life when you least expect it…