Antonia Bernardin

My 32nd book of the year was Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren, the author of the well known ‘The Unhoneymooners‘.

A plot summary attempt

On a trip to London to celebrate her 18th birthday with her Grandma Tate meets Sam, also on holiday with his Grandad for his 21st. They end up falling head over heels in love, Tate trusts Sam enough to tell him her big secret, that she’s the daughter of a famous celebrity, who is actually a deadbeat dad who cares more about fame than her. When he breaks her trust and catapults Tate into the spotlight, she decides to take advantage and use her dad’s name to jumpstart her own acting career.

Her career begins with cheesy vampire teen dramas until she lands more serious roles, this newest one is a once-in-a-career style opportunity and a chance to act alongside her dad, with whom (in private) she still has an estranged relationship. When Tate arrives on set she blindsided by the sight of Sam, who it turns out is the writer of this beautiful movie she was so excited to be in. Coupled with the strain of acting in front of her dad, could this ruin the biggest step in her career?

My thoughts

I really enjoyed this book and I’m not usually one for second chance romances. How they develop from hating, to reluctant friends and back into a couple feels very natural. I liked the nuances of Tate’s relationship with her dad and I wasn’t surprised by what he did at the end but I thought it was a nice, interesting way to create the third act miscommunication. I did find the section at the start, which was Tate and Sam as kids falling in love, a bit long. I know that the author was trying to create the picture of deep and intense their love was but it took a little too long for me. However, a thing about this I also loved was the secondary undercurrent of the love story between Sam’s grandparents, which is the plot of the movie Tate has been hired for and was a different kind of ‘giving love a second chance’ tale.