Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The One by Claire Frost which will be published on 3rd March. My thanks to Sara-Jade Virtue at Simon & Schuster for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my review copy.
About the Book
What happens when you lose the love of your life just three months after you meet him?
Lottie Brown has finally found The One. Leo is everything she’s ever wanted – he’s handsome, kind, funny and totally gets her. Three months into their relationship, Lottie is in love and happier than ever before.
But then Leo tragically dies, and Lottie is left floundering.
As she struggles to stop her life falling apart, Lottie learns more about the man she thought she knew, and starts to question whether Leo really was as perfect as he seemed…
Format: Paperback (368 pages) Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: 3rd March 2022 Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Find The One on Goodreads
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My Review
The news of Leo’s death arrives suddenly and completely without warning, just at the point where Lottie has come to believe their relationship has blossomed into something permanent. So much so, that she’s reached the important point of introducing him to her sisters. As Lottie struggles to cope with her grief, the reader learns about how Lottie and Leo first met and the sweet way in which their relationship developed built on a shared sense of humour, love of the music of Elton John, a easygoing sense of companionship but also that important spark of passion. After the particularly disastrous end to her previous relationship, for the first time in many years, Lottie feels loved and supported in a partnership built on trust.
It’s no surprise therefore that when Lottie discovers that Leo had kept things from her, it only adds to her sense of despair at his death. Why did he not tell her? Why did none of his family disclose such a vital piece of information? She spends long hours alone pondering on the things she and Leo had planned to do that now will never happen – travelling around the world, even starting a family. ‘Then, in the blink of an eye, all those dreams, all the expectation, all that happiness had been ripped away from her.’ One of the most affecting scenes for me was when Lottie finds herself alone at Leo’s funeral and on the periphery, having never been introduced to any of his family except his cousin Ross.
Usually close to her sisters, Em and Annie, Lottie’s grief makes her push them away, rebuffing all offers of help and advice. After all, how can they with their seemingly perfect lives understand what she’s going through? For a time she retreats into an imaginary world in which Leo is not dead. But, as we learn, Lottie’s a strong person and when she finally accepts the support of her sisters, she finds the courage to embrace new opportunities.
The One is a tender and emotional story of coming to terms with loss, the importance of family through difficult times and the resilience of the human spirit.
In three words: Engaging, bittersweet, tender
Try something similar: Before We Grow Old by Clare Swatman
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About the Author
Claire Frost grew up in Manchester, the middle of three sisters. She always wanted to do a job that involved writing, so after studying Classics at Bristol University she started working in magazines. For the last twelve years she’s been at the Sun on Sunday’s Fabulous magazine, where she is Assistant Editor and also responsible for the title’s book reviews. She can mostly be found at her desk buried under a teetering TBR pile.
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