One More Time by Claire Cross

As I said before… when I opened the box One More Time was in I gave it an odd look, checked the side for ‘what it was’ (sub-genre), then tossed it to the side as I squeeeee’ed over whatever else was in the box. WHAT? Look at it! Does that not scream chick-lit? Or is that just me? And then read the back to see where it went on the list. (you know – To Be Read NOW, To Be Read Soon aka by release, To Be Read if there is Ever Time, To Be Read Before I Die, To Not Be Read, To Be… told you I have a ton of lists)

Back copy (which also where is says Contemporary Romance):

 

Can you know what you want before you have it? 

 

Or do you have to lose it to know for sure? 

Mild-mannered Matt Coxwell has finally found something worth fighting for. In fact, it’s only after he’s left his marriage that he realizes he hasn’t fought this hard for anything since he fell like a ton of bricks for his wife Leslie. How did their marriage shift from idyllic into idle? And is there any way back?

Leslie Coxwell, long rumored to be the most organized working mother alive, is suddenly having a tough time coping. Her job’s in jeopardy, her teenage daughter has attitude to spare (well, that’s not new), and her formidable mother-in-law has moved in unexpectedly…with two very large poodles. She could juggle it all with the right motivation. Unfortunately her husband, Matt — the motivation for everything Leslie has ever done — turned into a sexy enigmatic stranger right before he walked out the door. Even better, he’s gone to stay with his free-spirited ex-fiancé, the one woman who makes Leslie feel as sexy as dirty dishwater.

The only good news is that Leslie still has the greatest lingerie collection known to womankind and she’s prepared to use it. After all, to give her marriage one more chance, to take the chance on falling in love one more time, she’ll need all the support she can get…

As you are no doubt aware, I am not a writer. So I really can’t express in words the looks I was giving this book at this time. So I did what I always do in these cases, read the last few pages. Don’t look at me like that! Like you have never done it… And then I decided nope. Not gonna read it even though it did seem like a romance.

Why did I want to read about a cheating husband? I mean why would she even forgive him? And really there is just no way at all to make this work. He did cheat right? Did it say he cheated? (this is where you go back up and reread the summary, or at least I did) So on my way to my bedroom to look for spoilers to see if he did cheat I started reading the first page.

I never made it to look for spoilers.

This is a contemporary romance. It is harder for me to read and enjoy a contemp because I am cynical. I find it harder to let go and just believe when it is a time period “I” know and much easier to do in historical settings. One More Time starts with Leslie dreaming, again something I can do without in a book, but here it works.

Claire Cross took a story of a marriage in trouble, threw in a mother-in-law, teen angst and made it work. There was many a time I would pause in my reading and think – WHY am I reading this? There were many times I told myself, ‘Self, you don’t like books like this.’ But I did like this book! I even read it in one sitting.

I liked Matt, even though I wanted with every fiber of my being to HATE him. I liked that he was unsure in life, in his marriage, in his future. SPOILER: I loved that he never cheated on his wife. I thought the relationship with Leslie and Annette (the daughter) was great and believable. Hell I even liked Beverly (m-i-l) or at least what she brought to the story. All the characters in their own right, not your standard romance stereotypes you can find in many a novel.

At the same time many things didn’t work for me, the leaving, the staying with his ex, the phone call from Leslie and his reaction and other things. It didn’t work for me in the sense that I didn’t like it, I thought it was cowardly or it made me mad. For the book and for where Matt was at that time, it was still painful and cowardly but made sense.

The whole story comes together well. It is painful at times, as is life, and is more a contemporary romance than Chick-Lit or Women’s Fiction. In fact you could say it is Matt’s need to figure out his life that pushes the whole story and we see that. But at the heart of it Leslie is the one who decides to put the puzzle back together, even though she could stand on her own if she needed too. So whatever you call it, I think it was great. I can’t say it is the type of book I will be rushing out to read all the time but I would say it is a ROMANCE. (a relationship drives the story and a HEA but feel free to tell me if you think differently)

So while I won’t say: step out of your box, you have to try, you can’t just read, I will say if any of the above interests you (even a little) check it out. You never know what you might like.

Grade: B+