The One That Got Away by Bethany Chase -a Review

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / The Book Depository / BAM

Description:
Sarina Mahler thinks she has her life all nailed down: a growing architecture practice in Austin, Texas, and an any-day-now proposal from her loving boyfriend, Noah. She’s well on her way to having the family she’s hoped for since her mother’s death ten years ago. But with Noah on a temporary assignment abroad and retired Olympic swimmer — and former flame — Eamon Roy back in town asking her to renovate his new fixer-upper, Sarina’s life takes an unexpected turn.

Eamon proves to be Sarina’s dream client, someone who instinctively trusts every one of her choices — and Sarina is reminded of all the reasons she was first drawn to him back in the day. Suddenly her carefully planned future with Noah seems a little less than perfect. And when tragedy strikes, Sarina is left reeling. With her world completely upended, she is forced to question what she truly wants in life — and in love.

Full of both humor and heartbreak, The One That Got Away is the story of one woman’s discovery that, sometimes, life is what happens when you leave the blueprints behind.

Review:

The One That Got Away by Bethany Chase is her debut novel. This is a contemporary woman’s fiction and a sweet romance. The One That Got Away belongs to Sarina, our heroine, who is the heart and soul of this story.

Sarina is a successful architect that is rising to the top. She has everything going for her; great friends, a serious boyfriend, and a fabulous career. Then one night at a party with her friends, her one night stand from 7 years before, joins them. Eamon is a famous swimmer, and he returns home to Austin and decides to stay, asking Sarina to renovate a house he is buying. Sarina has never forgotten Eamon, and the fact that he left without a word in the middle of the night, made for an uncomfortable face to face meeting. But unable to resist an architect’s dream to build a house carte blanch, Sarina accepts Eamon’s offer. With her boyfriend, Noah on assignment in Argentina for a few months, Sarina is determined to work with Eamon and not fall into any possible relationship. We know what happens to best laid plans.

Eamon knows he is falling for Sarina, as they work together, but he also respects that she is off limits because of Noah. What sets this apart from other romances is the different parts of Sarina’s life that we get to spend time with. It was fun to see Sarina at work, seeing the descriptions of her layouts, her presentations, and the competition she faces. A very nice touch, which made this story more enjoyable.

We also got to see her relationship with Noah, and his family, and what their expectations were for her, which surprised her, would begin to change things totally. Sarina having lost her mother a few years before, still kept a close relationship to her stepfather, which was heartwarming. Her friendship with Danny, her gay roommate, was fun.

Sarina’s slow to built relationship with Eamon was the crux of the story, and we found ourselves rooting for them. With all that surrounded them in this story, as well as their past, it was a slow, but nicely done process. Through it all, we didn’t know if Sarina and Eamon would be able to get together.

I thought Bethany Chase created a very nice story, with a wonderful down to earth heroine, and some great secondary characters. The One Who Got Away was very well written and a fun, emotional, sweet story.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher