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The One That Got Away by Olivia Spring

Title: The One That Got Away

Author: Olivia Spring

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★★★★☆

Source: Rachel’s Random Resources/Netgalley

Blurb: When Stella finds herself back home with a string of disastrous dates under her belt, she’s certain she’s hit rock bottom. Until she discovers her mother has signed her up to The Love Hotel: a luxury matchmaking service where a perfect love match is guaranteed! Stella is adamant she’ll have nothing to do with this nonsense! But then a match is found faster than she can say ‘Not.A.Chance!’ So, how bad can two weeks in the scorching Spanish sunshine be?

Very bad, actually. Because when Stella arrives, she’s mortified to learn her date is no perfect stranger. In fact she knows him a little too well. Because Max is the childhood sweetheart who broke her heart, who her heart remembers and who is more gorgeous than ever.

With no refunds, Stella reluctantly decides to stay and enjoy the holiday – all she has to do is keep Max at an arm’s length…right? Easier said than done when Max is impossible to ignore. And as the Love Hotel begins to work its matchmaking magic, Stella can’t deny that the sparks still sizzle between them. And maybe, the experts were right after all…

Review: The One That Got Away hooks you from the first page and doesn’t let go until the end. It’s a fast-paced, steamy read that I really loved.

The premise is a little eye-rolly – a luxury matchmaking service set in a Spanish hotel where your perfect match is guaranteed – but I found that the prose drew me in and I forgot the improbability of it all. After all, who wouldn’t want to find the perfect partner in a gorgeous hotel in the warm Spanish sunshine? Heck, where do I sign up?

The thing that I loved most about The One That Got Away is there is a clear reason that the relationship didn’t work the first time and – even more importantly – Stella and Max discuss it like adults. Although there is a delightful amount of steam, the new relationship grew realistically. Both pushed the other’s comfort zone but without any discomfort. Nudging is a better word than pushed, actually.

Both Stella and Max were very likeable characters. As a romance, I knew there would be a happy ending but I still rooted for them. (Kind of like Apollo 13 where you know the ending but are still engrossed? Awful analogy, but it’s the best I’ve got.)

My only quibble with this book is the epilogue. I know that Spring was setting up book 2 here, and that hook works, but it feels a bit tagged on. Maybe a teaser of Jasmine’s story would have worked better? But I know not everyone reads teaser chapters. All that said, it didn’t take away from the main plot and I am looking forward to the next one.

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