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The Best Worst Thing
From a stunning new voice in romance, Lauren Okie’s The Best Worst Thing is an intimate story about starting over, second chances, and two people who cannot help falling into each other’s orbit once again.
All things considered, Nicole Speyer has a pretty amazing life. At least that’s what she tells herself. She’s got a beautiful house, a relatively successful fertility podcast, and a perfect husband, Gabe. The only thing that’s less than ideal is her years-long struggle with infertility—and how, with every passing day, she and Gabe seem to drift a little further apart.
But then, mere hours after a Hail Mary embryo transfer to her gestational carrier, Nicole discovers Gabe’s been sleeping with their dog walker, and her world turns upside down. Suddenly, a jobless, childless, and now-husbandless Nicole finds herself at the doorstep of somebody she tried to say goodbye to a long time ago.
Logan Milgram: a former colleague with serious golden retriever energy who happens to be laugh-out-loud funny, a colossal nerd, and legitimately kind of hot. When Logan opens his door that night, it’s like no time has passed. And as they fall back into each other’s lives, Nicole starts recognizing herself in the mirror again. She even begins to like what she sees. And then, like a cruel joke, she gets the news she’s spent a lifetime waiting for: her surrogate is finally pregnant.
As her relationship with Logan develops from a blast-from-the-past fling into something much deeper, Nicole struggles to balance her past, present, and future. Racing against the clock, she must learn to forgive her body for falling short and recognize that sometimes, it’s the biggest betrayals in life that set us free. With everything on the line, can Nicole accept love from the greatest man she’s ever known . . . even if it’s nothing like the story she’d written for herself?
All things considered, Nicole Speyer has a pretty amazing life. At least that’s what she tells herself. She’s got a beautiful house, a relatively successful fertility podcast, and a perfect husband, Gabe. The only thing that’s less than ideal is her years-long struggle with infertility—and how, with every passing day, she and Gabe seem to drift a little further apart.
But then, mere hours after a Hail Mary embryo transfer to her gestational carrier, Nicole discovers Gabe’s been sleeping with their dog walker, and her world turns upside down. Suddenly, a jobless, childless, and now-husbandless Nicole finds herself at the doorstep of somebody she tried to say goodbye to a long time ago.
Logan Milgram: a former colleague with serious golden retriever energy who happens to be laugh-out-loud funny, a colossal nerd, and legitimately kind of hot. When Logan opens his door that night, it’s like no time has passed. And as they fall back into each other’s lives, Nicole starts recognizing herself in the mirror again. She even begins to like what she sees. And then, like a cruel joke, she gets the news she’s spent a lifetime waiting for: her surrogate is finally pregnant.
As her relationship with Logan develops from a blast-from-the-past fling into something much deeper, Nicole struggles to balance her past, present, and future. Racing against the clock, she must learn to forgive her body for falling short and recognize that sometimes, it’s the biggest betrayals in life that set us free. With everything on the line, can Nicole accept love from the greatest man she’s ever known . . . even if it’s nothing like the story she’d written for herself?
416 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2025
1078 people are currently reading
25939 people want to read
About the author
Lauren Okie
2 books218 followersHi, I’m Lauren Okie, and I write messy, hard-fought love stories. My debut, THE BEST WORST THING, is out now. Look out for TROPESICK, coming summer 2026, and follow me on IG (@laurenokieauthor) to keep up with my nonsense.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,380 reviews
February 1, 2026
My last 5 ⭐️ of 2025!!!!
When I say I like an emotional romance - this is what I’m talking about!!!
We follow Nicole who’s struggling with infertility & while she’s waiting for results from the surrogate, she finds out her husband’s been cheating on her. In the meantime, she’s spiraling with this news + the emotions she’s already been dealing with & reconnects with an old coworker named Logan
Logan is the epitome of golden retriever energy & the way he slowly brings Nicole back to life is SO incredible. I absolutely loved him 😭 This book was the perfect mix between emotional and messy and romantic and I just loved it all
When I say I like an emotional romance - this is what I’m talking about!!!
We follow Nicole who’s struggling with infertility & while she’s waiting for results from the surrogate, she finds out her husband’s been cheating on her. In the meantime, she’s spiraling with this news + the emotions she’s already been dealing with & reconnects with an old coworker named Logan
Logan is the epitome of golden retriever energy & the way he slowly brings Nicole back to life is SO incredible. I absolutely loved him 😭 This book was the perfect mix between emotional and messy and romantic and I just loved it all
Currently reading
October 5, 2025┆ ⤿ 🪷 ༝ pre-read:
SO EXCITED TO READ THIS ONE🤸🏻♀️ it has all my favorite tropes but for some reason I have a feeling this is going to break me too😭
SO EXCITED TO READ THIS ONE🤸🏻♀️ it has all my favorite tropes but for some reason I have a feeling this is going to break me too😭
June 25, 2025
he read ALL of the books she recommended even after they fell out of touch? hand in marriage. now.
getting all hot and bothered while watching P&P (2005) together (that’s real yearning)
also LOVED the emphasis on persuasion being the best jane austen (it is. you can’t prove me, nicole, and logan wrong)
also the reveal of what he wrote down on that piece of paper, i am dead, deceased.
Read my review
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing the arc to review
Bookstagram | Blog
getting all hot and bothered while watching P&P (2005) together (that’s real yearning)
also LOVED the emphasis on persuasion being the best jane austen (it is. you can’t prove me, nicole, and logan wrong)
also the reveal of what he wrote down on that piece of paper, i am dead, deceased.
Read my review
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing the arc to review
Bookstagram | Blog
November 25, 2025
5/5
- Wow wow wow! I have no words! I loved the tension in this story between the two characters. I loved how this story felt like more than a story.. it felt REAL! I can’t believe this is her debut novel!!
- Reading the author’s note and knowing how closely the author relates to the fmc made this book 10x more powerful. This is a story that needs to be told and this author was the perfect one to do it.
- The writing made me feel as if she were my friend and I was navigating these hardships with her. The back and forth felt so real. Ah! I loved it so much!!
- Wow wow wow! I have no words! I loved the tension in this story between the two characters. I loved how this story felt like more than a story.. it felt REAL! I can’t believe this is her debut novel!!
- Reading the author’s note and knowing how closely the author relates to the fmc made this book 10x more powerful. This is a story that needs to be told and this author was the perfect one to do it.
- The writing made me feel as if she were my friend and I was navigating these hardships with her. The back and forth felt so real. Ah! I loved it so much!!
December 20, 2025
Nicole Speyer has everything she could want. With a thriving podcast, the perfect husband, and the possibility of motherhood via surrogacy. But when she finds out that her husband, Gabe, has been having an affair, mere hours after an embryo transfer, her world is turned upside down. Enter Logan Milgram, her former colleague and the only man who made her second-guess her marriage.
Wow. If nothing else, 2025 has been the year of incredible debuts. While I had a sneaking suspicion that I was going to enjoy it, I was surprised to find myself actively smiling when we reached the end, these characters, particularly Nicole, having etched their story on my heart. Then again, perhaps it was already there.
As a mom who struggled with years-long infertility struggles, in many ways, her story is also my own. And for that reason, I think many women will find a connection to this book. The beautiful romance- well, that was the cherry on top. Seeing Nicole and Logan's friendship/flirtation of the past, bloom into the potential for more in the present, helped create a multi-faceted, relationship-rich story that was very easy to become completely immersed in.
🎧 This translates to audio fantastically well. Kristen Sieh is easily becoming a narrator fave and for good reason. She adds depth and breadth to the characters in a way that isn't possible with print. If you are an audiobook lover like myself, I highly recommend this one on audio.
Read if you like:
▪️women's fiction
▪️second chance at love
▪️emotional romance with depth
▪️debut novels
▪️journeys of self-discovery
CW: Infertility, miscarriage, infidelity
📆 Pubs: Oct 14, 2025
A huge thank you to Avon and Harper Audio for the advanced copies.
Wow. If nothing else, 2025 has been the year of incredible debuts. While I had a sneaking suspicion that I was going to enjoy it, I was surprised to find myself actively smiling when we reached the end, these characters, particularly Nicole, having etched their story on my heart. Then again, perhaps it was already there.
As a mom who struggled with years-long infertility struggles, in many ways, her story is also my own. And for that reason, I think many women will find a connection to this book. The beautiful romance- well, that was the cherry on top. Seeing Nicole and Logan's friendship/flirtation of the past, bloom into the potential for more in the present, helped create a multi-faceted, relationship-rich story that was very easy to become completely immersed in.
🎧 This translates to audio fantastically well. Kristen Sieh is easily becoming a narrator fave and for good reason. She adds depth and breadth to the characters in a way that isn't possible with print. If you are an audiobook lover like myself, I highly recommend this one on audio.
Read if you like:
▪️women's fiction
▪️second chance at love
▪️emotional romance with depth
▪️debut novels
▪️journeys of self-discovery
CW: Infertility, miscarriage, infidelity
📆 Pubs: Oct 14, 2025
A huge thank you to Avon and Harper Audio for the advanced copies.
November 26, 2025
The Best Worst Thing follows Nicole, a woman whose journey is marked by heartbreak, infertility, and betrayal. After years of IVF treatments and eventually turning to surrogacy for a chance at motherhood, her world shatters when she discovers her husband, Gabe, is cheating on her with the dog walker. (side note… the dog walker??? really Gabe?? What a loser 😒) Struggling with the legal complications of divorce while a surrogate is carrying her child, Nicole feels lost, broken, and unsure of who she is outside of her marriage.
Enter Logan, an old colleague and once-close friend who reappears in her life just as everything is falling apart. The story shifts between past and present, exploring the history of their friendship while slowly moving toward something more. At its heart, this is a book about Nicole discovering her identity beyond being a wife or a mother, and I truly appreciated that message.
-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-
On paper, this should have been an emotional, second-chance story about resilience and healing. In practice, the execution was messy, dragged out, and ultimately left me more frustrated than moved. Conversations between Nicole and Logan felt long-winded and often unnecessary, and I was skimming by the 30% mark. 🥲🥲
The romance itself was one of the biggest issues for me. Nicole turned to Logan too quickly while she was still legally married to Gabe. It didn’t feel right that she was essentially dating someone new before fully closing that chapter. (even though Gabe was a terrible husband and completely unlikable) Instead of reading as a journey toward healing, the relationship felt rushed and unconvincing. Nicole just struck me as incredibly immature and wasn’t in a place where she was ready for Logan—or for any real relationship—and that undercut the impact of their story.
The strongest part of this novel, for me, was Nicole’s personal growth. Watching her slowly realize she was more than her infertility, more than a body that had “failed” her, and more than a wife defined by Gabe was powerful. I also deeply respect that the author wove her own infertility experience into the acknowledgments,(lots of hugs to you Lauren Okie 🫶🏼💕) which added authenticity to Nicole’s emotional struggles.
Unfortunately, outside of that… the romance fell flat. The pacing dragged, the story felt uneven, and I simply couldn’t root for Nicole and Logan as a couple, even though I liked him as a character. In the end, I walked away with admiration for the raw honesty about infertility, but overall disappointment in the execution of the plot and characters. 😔
things to know about the book ↓
💝 infertility
💝 cheating
💝 second chance (kinda)
💝 friends → lovers
💝 self discovery
💝 single pov (hers in third person)
A huge thank you to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Lauren Okie for allowing me to read this arc. These are all my honest opinions in this review.
Enter Logan, an old colleague and once-close friend who reappears in her life just as everything is falling apart. The story shifts between past and present, exploring the history of their friendship while slowly moving toward something more. At its heart, this is a book about Nicole discovering her identity beyond being a wife or a mother, and I truly appreciated that message.
-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-
On paper, this should have been an emotional, second-chance story about resilience and healing. In practice, the execution was messy, dragged out, and ultimately left me more frustrated than moved. Conversations between Nicole and Logan felt long-winded and often unnecessary, and I was skimming by the 30% mark. 🥲🥲
The romance itself was one of the biggest issues for me. Nicole turned to Logan too quickly while she was still legally married to Gabe. It didn’t feel right that she was essentially dating someone new before fully closing that chapter. (even though Gabe was a terrible husband and completely unlikable) Instead of reading as a journey toward healing, the relationship felt rushed and unconvincing. Nicole just struck me as incredibly immature and wasn’t in a place where she was ready for Logan—or for any real relationship—and that undercut the impact of their story.
The strongest part of this novel, for me, was Nicole’s personal growth. Watching her slowly realize she was more than her infertility, more than a body that had “failed” her, and more than a wife defined by Gabe was powerful. I also deeply respect that the author wove her own infertility experience into the acknowledgments,(lots of hugs to you Lauren Okie 🫶🏼💕) which added authenticity to Nicole’s emotional struggles.
Unfortunately, outside of that… the romance fell flat. The pacing dragged, the story felt uneven, and I simply couldn’t root for Nicole and Logan as a couple, even though I liked him as a character. In the end, I walked away with admiration for the raw honesty about infertility, but overall disappointment in the execution of the plot and characters. 😔
things to know about the book ↓
💝 infertility
💝 cheating
💝 second chance (kinda)
💝 friends → lovers
💝 self discovery
💝 single pov (hers in third person)
A huge thank you to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Lauren Okie for allowing me to read this arc. These are all my honest opinions in this review.
December 6, 2025
4.5/.75 ⭐️
read this at the recommendation of miss jessica joyce (read: stalking her goodreads reviews) and stumbled upon one of the most painfully brutal yet uplifting stories of infertility, infidelity, self-growth, and letting others support you.
from the get-go, i was crying my heart out 20% in. this handles some delicate topics with absolute finesse but if cheating or infertility are a trigger, i’d be so cautious. as someone with no experience of these things, i was an absolute mess and feel for every person who thinks their body is somehow letting them down or “required” to perform a certain way.
this is also in no way an utter doom and gloom sob fest, as at multiple points i was putting the book down and cackling. her blooming romance truly had me giddy from the start and their banter is unrivaled. bullying is in fact a love language and i will subscribe to that belief until i die!
my *only* gripe is how very tell-not-show it was. it was mostly the opposite which could be chalked up this being her debut, which i can overlook somewhat. i do feel though, that with the story she’s trying to tell here specifically, that we would’ve benefited from being SHOWN her previous love, her budding romance, her relationships with others, etc. it just seems like so much was explained to us as if we were friends catching up at brunch and i wanted to truly immerse myself in these moments!
thank you to netgalley and avon for the arc!!
read this at the recommendation of miss jessica joyce (read: stalking her goodreads reviews) and stumbled upon one of the most painfully brutal yet uplifting stories of infertility, infidelity, self-growth, and letting others support you.
from the get-go, i was crying my heart out 20% in. this handles some delicate topics with absolute finesse but if cheating or infertility are a trigger, i’d be so cautious. as someone with no experience of these things, i was an absolute mess and feel for every person who thinks their body is somehow letting them down or “required” to perform a certain way.
this is also in no way an utter doom and gloom sob fest, as at multiple points i was putting the book down and cackling. her blooming romance truly had me giddy from the start and their banter is unrivaled. bullying is in fact a love language and i will subscribe to that belief until i die!
my *only* gripe is how very tell-not-show it was. it was mostly the opposite which could be chalked up this being her debut, which i can overlook somewhat. i do feel though, that with the story she’s trying to tell here specifically, that we would’ve benefited from being SHOWN her previous love, her budding romance, her relationships with others, etc. it just seems like so much was explained to us as if we were friends catching up at brunch and i wanted to truly immerse myself in these moments!
thank you to netgalley and avon for the arc!!
October 13, 2025
4.5 ⭐️
Onlookers who look at Nicole Speyer’s life might think she has it all. A perfect husband, a big house, and a fairly successful fertility podcast. But behind closed doors, Nicole struggles to get pregnant, and she and her husband, Gabe, are drifting apart day by day. Hours after an embryo transfer to her gestational carrier, Nicole finds out that Gabe is sleeping with their dog walker, her world bursting into flames. Feeling lonely and hopeless about her life, a drunk Nicole finds herself on the doorstep of Logan Milgram, a former colleague she tried to say goodbye to. And when he opens his door to her, Nicole remembers the laughter and joy she lost years prior with the man who is a major nerd who can name any historical event, plays video games with his buddies, and makes it his life mission to make her laugh every day.
As they spend more and more time together, Nicole begins to feel like herself again and develops deep feelings for Logan. But life is known for throwing curve balls, and the biggest one is the one Nicole had been wanting for the longest time: her surrogate is finally pregnant. Unsure of what to do with her past, present, and future, Nicole wants to do what is best for her baby yet hold onto the love Logan is offering her. But the question is, can she accept it when she feels like she doesn’t deserve anything good?
When I tell you that I ate this book up, I mean that I ATE THIS BOOK UP! I admit, I was wary when I read the first chapter, grimacing at the thought that I might waste my time on a mediocre book that will wind up disappointing me like It's Different This Time. But the chapters were short, so I pressed on and before I knew it, I was HOOKED. 🎣
Although the plot is kind of predictable, I was still all in for the ride of Nicole’s story. I truly felt sorry for her when she found out that her husband was cheating on her, and the pain and heartbreak she went through as she struggled with infertility. I wanted to give her a big hug. 🫂 But once Logan reentered her life, I was smiling like a fool and rooting for them. Logan is literally the sweetest, most amazing character I have ever read. I thought it was adorable how he was like a child in a thirty-nine-year-old man’s body, playing Dungeons and Dragons (my favorite chapter by the way) with his friends and naming random facts that literally no one cares about. But that just added to his charm. The man would do ANYTHING for Nicole, and that hurt my heart because…because…well, if you want to find out, you’re going to have to read the book!
I have a book hangover after that ending because, oh my gosh, I almost cried. 😭❤️🩹😅
HOWEVER, there are a few things that did annoy me, like the fact that Nicole should have gone to therapy ASAP. Why do books do this to us? Sure, characters wind up going to a therapist AFTER the fact of them making their lives worse, but can we have a story where one of the first places a character goes to after a traumatic event is to a specialist to talk things through with them? Another thing that kind of ruffled my feathers was the third-act breakup. There were basically two of them! Girl, I know you went through a lot, but that is no excuse to 1) not know what you want and 2) mess with Logan’s heart like that. 😭🙏🏼 You can’t toy with people like that! I was so mad at her, but then I remembered that this is a book, so I calmed down and continued reading. 😅
Besides that, I am truly shocked at how much I enjoyed this debut. I wrestled with what I should rate it, but after careful consideration, I thought 4.5, rounded to a 5, was fair because this will probably live rent-free in my mind for about a month or two. 😂
Do I recommend this book? Absolutely! It is a very moving story, and I look forward to the books Lauren Okie will write in the future. ❤
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own.
❗Content Warnings❗
Mentions infertility & miscarriages
Swearing: Yes
Spice: Yes (🌶🌶🌶.5/5)
Onlookers who look at Nicole Speyer’s life might think she has it all. A perfect husband, a big house, and a fairly successful fertility podcast. But behind closed doors, Nicole struggles to get pregnant, and she and her husband, Gabe, are drifting apart day by day. Hours after an embryo transfer to her gestational carrier, Nicole finds out that Gabe is sleeping with their dog walker, her world bursting into flames. Feeling lonely and hopeless about her life, a drunk Nicole finds herself on the doorstep of Logan Milgram, a former colleague she tried to say goodbye to. And when he opens his door to her, Nicole remembers the laughter and joy she lost years prior with the man who is a major nerd who can name any historical event, plays video games with his buddies, and makes it his life mission to make her laugh every day.
As they spend more and more time together, Nicole begins to feel like herself again and develops deep feelings for Logan. But life is known for throwing curve balls, and the biggest one is the one Nicole had been wanting for the longest time: her surrogate is finally pregnant. Unsure of what to do with her past, present, and future, Nicole wants to do what is best for her baby yet hold onto the love Logan is offering her. But the question is, can she accept it when she feels like she doesn’t deserve anything good?
When I tell you that I ate this book up, I mean that I ATE THIS BOOK UP! I admit, I was wary when I read the first chapter, grimacing at the thought that I might waste my time on a mediocre book that will wind up disappointing me like It's Different This Time. But the chapters were short, so I pressed on and before I knew it, I was HOOKED. 🎣
Although the plot is kind of predictable, I was still all in for the ride of Nicole’s story. I truly felt sorry for her when she found out that her husband was cheating on her, and the pain and heartbreak she went through as she struggled with infertility. I wanted to give her a big hug. 🫂 But once Logan reentered her life, I was smiling like a fool and rooting for them. Logan is literally the sweetest, most amazing character I have ever read. I thought it was adorable how he was like a child in a thirty-nine-year-old man’s body, playing Dungeons and Dragons (my favorite chapter by the way) with his friends and naming random facts that literally no one cares about. But that just added to his charm. The man would do ANYTHING for Nicole, and that hurt my heart because…because…well, if you want to find out, you’re going to have to read the book!
I have a book hangover after that ending because, oh my gosh, I almost cried. 😭❤️🩹😅
HOWEVER, there are a few things that did annoy me, like the fact that Nicole should have gone to therapy ASAP. Why do books do this to us? Sure, characters wind up going to a therapist AFTER the fact of them making their lives worse, but can we have a story where one of the first places a character goes to after a traumatic event is to a specialist to talk things through with them? Another thing that kind of ruffled my feathers was the third-act breakup. There were basically two of them! Girl, I know you went through a lot, but that is no excuse to 1) not know what you want and 2) mess with Logan’s heart like that. 😭🙏🏼 You can’t toy with people like that! I was so mad at her, but then I remembered that this is a book, so I calmed down and continued reading. 😅
Besides that, I am truly shocked at how much I enjoyed this debut. I wrestled with what I should rate it, but after careful consideration, I thought 4.5, rounded to a 5, was fair because this will probably live rent-free in my mind for about a month or two. 😂
Do I recommend this book? Absolutely! It is a very moving story, and I look forward to the books Lauren Okie will write in the future. ❤
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own.
❗Content Warnings❗
Mentions infertility & miscarriages
Swearing: Yes
Spice: Yes (🌶🌶🌶.5/5)
November 15, 2025
“It had been him. It had been this. The whole time, it had been this.”
∞⭐ -- There’s something really special about romance books that don’t shy away from the sharp edges of reality. Some of the best love stories aren’t easy or cute or trope-driven. Sometimes they reflects the parts of ourselves we’d rather not look at.
The Best Worst Thing is everything I think romance should be. It’s funny and heartfelt and overwhelming and difficult and uncomfortable. Nicole’s journey isn’t easy, and she makes more than a few frustrating choices, but I still found myself rooting for her. It helps that Logan Milgram is the definition of a perfect book boyfriend. He’s steady, lovable, and someone you genuinely want Nicole to get it right with. But even he isn’t flawless, and that’s what makes their story feel real.
Okie’s writing is stunning. Its the kind of writing that makes you ache, not just because of how brilliant it is, but because of how easy it is to see your own bruises, your own mistakes, your own longing reflected back at you. It makes you feel infinite, like you’re living the life of these characters right alongside them.
This isn’t just one of my favorite books of the year… it’s one of my favorite romance novels of all time. And if this is a debut, I can’t even imagine what Okie has in store for us next.
∞⭐ -- There’s something really special about romance books that don’t shy away from the sharp edges of reality. Some of the best love stories aren’t easy or cute or trope-driven. Sometimes they reflects the parts of ourselves we’d rather not look at.
The Best Worst Thing is everything I think romance should be. It’s funny and heartfelt and overwhelming and difficult and uncomfortable. Nicole’s journey isn’t easy, and she makes more than a few frustrating choices, but I still found myself rooting for her. It helps that Logan Milgram is the definition of a perfect book boyfriend. He’s steady, lovable, and someone you genuinely want Nicole to get it right with. But even he isn’t flawless, and that’s what makes their story feel real.
Okie’s writing is stunning. Its the kind of writing that makes you ache, not just because of how brilliant it is, but because of how easy it is to see your own bruises, your own mistakes, your own longing reflected back at you. It makes you feel infinite, like you’re living the life of these characters right alongside them.
This isn’t just one of my favorite books of the year… it’s one of my favorite romance novels of all time. And if this is a debut, I can’t even imagine what Okie has in store for us next.
September 21, 2025
Thank you Avon for the ARC and HarperAudio for the ALC!!!
Okay I loved this. I'm not quite sure it's a 5 star read for me but 4.5 stars with all the love and admiration for this beautiful, wholesome, raw love story. I finished it in just a day!!
I think the beginning is what's preventing me from gifting it the full 5 stars—it was awkward and a little choppy (and at one point at 8% I wanted to stop reading which I'm glad I didn't)—but I loved absolutely everything else about this. Logan and Nicole's story, especially the flashbacks of them in New York and their little work friendship was so so beautiful to pair with their love story in the present time. Logan is truly one of the best book boyfriends I've ever met. He's 40, mature, communicative, and just so damn kind. The way he was there for her during her first miscarriage... the YEARNING over years... the READING her book lists... his KNOWLEDGE of her love for Austen and all the ways he incorporated that throughout their relationship? I was deceased. I loved how wonderful he was towards Nicole. He literally never had a bad moment. It was so refreshing to read about a grown man acting grown!!! Their summer romance was just SO heartfelt and it made me BLUSH and feel so good. Logan is truly the golden retriever boyfriend that you love to read about in a romance book. He was quirky, fun, and just had such a beautiful heart. I adored his character so much. Also pleaseee he made me blush SO MUCH!!! The absolute greenest of green flags. Gah watching everything unfold was just such a great experience.
Nicole—oh, Nicole!! Realizing you are the poison in a relationship is never easy. What she had gone through was NOT easy, and my heart broke for her over and over again, especially with everything that happens with Gabe. Her experience with infertility and of course then a cheating husband, a looming divorce that would be beyond ugly and messy for all parties, was just so hard. I think the author really handled all of these topics with accurate portrayal while keeping it respectful (except for that one scene—damn that one scene, but also we all knew it was coming and WHEW it was good!!!!) I also am happy Gabe had a good redemption arc, and their functional parenting by the end with the three of them was just a dream.
The pacing of this novel was just fantastic. The chapters were usually extremely short, some of them even just having a paragraph. The progression of everything was utterly fabulous. It built so nicely! It's crazy how this book had so many dark, dark moments and then they were remedied by Logan's wonderful charm. Literally made Nicole laugh during the worst day of her life, and his charisma was just beaming off the pages. Also the audiobook (I did both—that's how addicted I was to the story) brought him to life.
If you're looking for a book full of heart, pain, depth, growth, and a swoony romance, this is the one for you.
Okay I loved this. I'm not quite sure it's a 5 star read for me but 4.5 stars with all the love and admiration for this beautiful, wholesome, raw love story. I finished it in just a day!!
I think the beginning is what's preventing me from gifting it the full 5 stars—it was awkward and a little choppy (and at one point at 8% I wanted to stop reading which I'm glad I didn't)—but I loved absolutely everything else about this. Logan and Nicole's story, especially the flashbacks of them in New York and their little work friendship was so so beautiful to pair with their love story in the present time. Logan is truly one of the best book boyfriends I've ever met. He's 40, mature, communicative, and just so damn kind. The way he was there for her during her first miscarriage... the YEARNING over years... the READING her book lists... his KNOWLEDGE of her love for Austen and all the ways he incorporated that throughout their relationship? I was deceased. I loved how wonderful he was towards Nicole. He literally never had a bad moment. It was so refreshing to read about a grown man acting grown!!! Their summer romance was just SO heartfelt and it made me BLUSH and feel so good. Logan is truly the golden retriever boyfriend that you love to read about in a romance book. He was quirky, fun, and just had such a beautiful heart. I adored his character so much. Also pleaseee he made me blush SO MUCH!!! The absolute greenest of green flags. Gah watching everything unfold was just such a great experience.
Nicole—oh, Nicole!! Realizing you are the poison in a relationship is never easy. What she had gone through was NOT easy, and my heart broke for her over and over again, especially with everything that happens with Gabe. Her experience with infertility and of course then a cheating husband, a looming divorce that would be beyond ugly and messy for all parties, was just so hard. I think the author really handled all of these topics with accurate portrayal while keeping it respectful (except for that one scene—damn that one scene, but also we all knew it was coming and WHEW it was good!!!!) I also am happy Gabe had a good redemption arc, and their functional parenting by the end with the three of them was just a dream.
The pacing of this novel was just fantastic. The chapters were usually extremely short, some of them even just having a paragraph. The progression of everything was utterly fabulous. It built so nicely! It's crazy how this book had so many dark, dark moments and then they were remedied by Logan's wonderful charm. Literally made Nicole laugh during the worst day of her life, and his charisma was just beaming off the pages. Also the audiobook (I did both—that's how addicted I was to the story) brought him to life.
If you're looking for a book full of heart, pain, depth, growth, and a swoony romance, this is the one for you.
January 6, 2026
never let your husband stop you from finding your one true love
October 17, 2025
3.75 / 5 Stars
It took me a hot second to gather my thoughts about this book. I think there is A LOT of good: the banter, how charming Logan and Nicole are together, the IVF and motherhood journey. And there were things that drove me up the wall: the timeline and the third act. BUT, I think if you have any curiosities about this book, you should 100% pick it up and try it.
In “The Best Worst Thing,” Nicole has been struggling with infertility for years. She and her husband, Gabe (think a hot, finance bro in his late 30s), have one last chance to implement their embryo in their gestational carrier. And hours after this last attempt, Nicole finds out that Gabe has been cheating on her and her world comes crashing down. Enter Logan, her former coworker who is the definition of golden retriever energy. As Nicole and Logan start to develop something (a relationship? Dating? Unclear), Nicole finds out that her surrogate is pregnant. What follows is a messy, complicated, funny story of love and acceptance of your circumstances.
You will probably like this book if you like:
⭐ A male love interest who will charm your socks (and pants) off
🐶 Right person, wrong time story lines
⭐ Discussions of infertility and motherhood
🐶 Perfect banter
⭐ Age gap (32F / 39M)
🐶 ADHD rep
⭐ Setting (Los Angeles) as another character
Let’s start with Logan. This (fake) man was so exceptionally charming. I am not one to giggle and kick my feet often, but jeez, Logan did that for me. Their banter is ten thousand chef’s kisses (10,000 kisses from one chef or 10,000 chefs giving one kiss each. Either scenario). Nicole teases Logan and he ATES. IT. UP. The jokes were actually funny. Their connection was palpable and managed to show years of connection instantly. I fell in love with Logan immediately and their relationship made perfect sense to me.
I loved the exploration of infertility. The author did an amazing job of conveying how complex and far reaching infertility can be – how it affects all aspects of your life. Her description of the physical and mental aspects of it were really affecting and moving. I hope that folks who have dealt with infertility will feel really seen with this book.
I also think that the author is an exceptionally competent writer and I was surprised that this was a debut novel. I think she does two things really, really well: show versus tell and her description of physicality. For the first, she does an amazing job of balancing show versus tell. I loved that we had paragraphs where she would write that Lauren met person A and they talked about topic Y as opposed to reading that dialogue (she did this 100000% better than I just described in that example). I found myself often really impressed and delighted when we could get paragraph descriptions of what was happening which I usually don’t like because it leans on tell instead of show but because Logan and Nicole have such great dialogue, those tell descriptions helped keep the attention on their important dialogue instead of diluting everything with too much talking.
For the latter (her description of people in a physical space), it is weird to say, but I really enjoyed reading how she described people interacting with each other. I am someone who has a hard time visualizing those things (I am beyond jealous of people who see a vivid movie in their brain when they read. I just see glimpses of images and then feel emotions x 1000) but this is the first book in a while where I have been able to actually picture how Logan and Nicole moved in relation to each other, which only heightened their connection and made it that much more fun to read.
The timeline of Nicole and Logan’s relationship was, unfortunately, distracting. Once Nicole finds out that Gabe cheated, she and Logan reconnect insanely quickly (SPOILER: She goes to see Logan a few HOURS after she finds out that Gabe cheated). I do not have an issue with them reconnecting – they hadn’t talked in two years and it made sense for them to reconnect. My issue is with the speed of them reconnecting and the speed of their relationship progressing. I think the speed of everything meant that Nicole had no time to truly process anything. And, again, my issue isn’t that Nicole’s life comes with complexities and “baggage.” It’s beautiful and life affirming that she found someone who wants to be in it with her. My issue is that Nicole doesn’t want to deal or think about her own shit and that’s not fair to Logan. And their timeline makes it almost okay for her to not deal with her shit until the very, very, very end of the book.
The third act conflict? Diabolical, honestly. I don’t believe that they won’t just keep repeating these patterns over and over. Nicole comes up with all of these reasons that she and Logan can’t work and none of them made sense to me. She makes this false dichotomy that she can either love her child or Logan which … why? She can’t be a good mom if she is in a complicated situation? Her rationale makes no sense specially because she has a podcast that explores all of the complexities of motherhood. So is she being disingenuous in her podcast because she herself has this very black and white thinking? The math isn’t mathing given what we know about her.
And then she gives a whole speech about perfectionism and how it gives her control, which totally, makes perfect sense. But we only read about her making messy, messy decisions. I can see how her perfectionism informed her marriage and her decision to stay in it for so long but we did not see a “perfect” Nicole in what we read on the page. So again, that explained some of her actions but felt like it left out a crucial portion of the book. Because at the end of the day, the issue is not Nicole’s inability to love Logan. She loves him. It is her inability to love herself which keeps her from allowing Logan to love her and has them engage in the same acts over and over, which is why it is hard for me to walk away from the book truly believing that these two figure it out.
Oh, and Nicole has a dog that is basically only a plot device. The dog is barely mentioned, which as a pet owner, threw me off. I am OBSESSED with my pet and I don’t expect that level of codependence for every owner and pet but who was taking care of her dog when she wasn’t around? The dog was basically there so that Gabe would cheat with the dog walker and that was it.
Logan and Nicole have such a fun, beautiful, complex relationship and at times, it felt that some of the logic behind their actions was flawed from a writing standpoint (not from a character standpoint. I love a flawed character. I do not love a flawed plot). All of that said, I think the book is still really enjoyable and if you love and need amazing, crackling banter from characters, you may love this book based on that alone.
Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing this eARC! All opinions are my own.
Publication Date: Available now! (October 14, 2025)
________
Pre-Read Thoughts: I am ready for a messy, second chance romance with older MCs.
It took me a hot second to gather my thoughts about this book. I think there is A LOT of good: the banter, how charming Logan and Nicole are together, the IVF and motherhood journey. And there were things that drove me up the wall: the timeline and the third act. BUT, I think if you have any curiosities about this book, you should 100% pick it up and try it.
In “The Best Worst Thing,” Nicole has been struggling with infertility for years. She and her husband, Gabe (think a hot, finance bro in his late 30s), have one last chance to implement their embryo in their gestational carrier. And hours after this last attempt, Nicole finds out that Gabe has been cheating on her and her world comes crashing down. Enter Logan, her former coworker who is the definition of golden retriever energy. As Nicole and Logan start to develop something (a relationship? Dating? Unclear), Nicole finds out that her surrogate is pregnant. What follows is a messy, complicated, funny story of love and acceptance of your circumstances.
You will probably like this book if you like:
⭐ A male love interest who will charm your socks (and pants) off
🐶 Right person, wrong time story lines
⭐ Discussions of infertility and motherhood
🐶 Perfect banter
⭐ Age gap (32F / 39M)
🐶 ADHD rep
⭐ Setting (Los Angeles) as another character
Let’s start with Logan. This (fake) man was so exceptionally charming. I am not one to giggle and kick my feet often, but jeez, Logan did that for me. Their banter is ten thousand chef’s kisses (10,000 kisses from one chef or 10,000 chefs giving one kiss each. Either scenario). Nicole teases Logan and he ATES. IT. UP. The jokes were actually funny. Their connection was palpable and managed to show years of connection instantly. I fell in love with Logan immediately and their relationship made perfect sense to me.
I loved the exploration of infertility. The author did an amazing job of conveying how complex and far reaching infertility can be – how it affects all aspects of your life. Her description of the physical and mental aspects of it were really affecting and moving. I hope that folks who have dealt with infertility will feel really seen with this book.
I also think that the author is an exceptionally competent writer and I was surprised that this was a debut novel. I think she does two things really, really well: show versus tell and her description of physicality. For the first, she does an amazing job of balancing show versus tell. I loved that we had paragraphs where she would write that Lauren met person A and they talked about topic Y as opposed to reading that dialogue (she did this 100000% better than I just described in that example). I found myself often really impressed and delighted when we could get paragraph descriptions of what was happening which I usually don’t like because it leans on tell instead of show but because Logan and Nicole have such great dialogue, those tell descriptions helped keep the attention on their important dialogue instead of diluting everything with too much talking.
For the latter (her description of people in a physical space), it is weird to say, but I really enjoyed reading how she described people interacting with each other. I am someone who has a hard time visualizing those things (I am beyond jealous of people who see a vivid movie in their brain when they read. I just see glimpses of images and then feel emotions x 1000) but this is the first book in a while where I have been able to actually picture how Logan and Nicole moved in relation to each other, which only heightened their connection and made it that much more fun to read.
The timeline of Nicole and Logan’s relationship was, unfortunately, distracting. Once Nicole finds out that Gabe cheated, she and Logan reconnect insanely quickly (SPOILER: She goes to see Logan a few HOURS after she finds out that Gabe cheated). I do not have an issue with them reconnecting – they hadn’t talked in two years and it made sense for them to reconnect. My issue is with the speed of them reconnecting and the speed of their relationship progressing. I think the speed of everything meant that Nicole had no time to truly process anything. And, again, my issue isn’t that Nicole’s life comes with complexities and “baggage.” It’s beautiful and life affirming that she found someone who wants to be in it with her. My issue is that Nicole doesn’t want to deal or think about her own shit and that’s not fair to Logan. And their timeline makes it almost okay for her to not deal with her shit until the very, very, very end of the book.
The third act conflict? Diabolical, honestly. I don’t believe that they won’t just keep repeating these patterns over and over. Nicole comes up with all of these reasons that she and Logan can’t work and none of them made sense to me. She makes this false dichotomy that she can either love her child or Logan which … why? She can’t be a good mom if she is in a complicated situation? Her rationale makes no sense specially because she has a podcast that explores all of the complexities of motherhood. So is she being disingenuous in her podcast because she herself has this very black and white thinking? The math isn’t mathing given what we know about her.
And then she gives a whole speech about perfectionism and how it gives her control, which totally, makes perfect sense. But we only read about her making messy, messy decisions. I can see how her perfectionism informed her marriage and her decision to stay in it for so long but we did not see a “perfect” Nicole in what we read on the page. So again, that explained some of her actions but felt like it left out a crucial portion of the book. Because at the end of the day, the issue is not Nicole’s inability to love Logan. She loves him. It is her inability to love herself which keeps her from allowing Logan to love her and has them engage in the same acts over and over, which is why it is hard for me to walk away from the book truly believing that these two figure it out.
Oh, and Nicole has a dog that is basically only a plot device. The dog is barely mentioned, which as a pet owner, threw me off. I am OBSESSED with my pet and I don’t expect that level of codependence for every owner and pet but who was taking care of her dog when she wasn’t around? The dog was basically there so that Gabe would cheat with the dog walker and that was it.
Logan and Nicole have such a fun, beautiful, complex relationship and at times, it felt that some of the logic behind their actions was flawed from a writing standpoint (not from a character standpoint. I love a flawed character. I do not love a flawed plot). All of that said, I think the book is still really enjoyable and if you love and need amazing, crackling banter from characters, you may love this book based on that alone.
Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing this eARC! All opinions are my own.
Publication Date: Available now! (October 14, 2025)
________
Pre-Read Thoughts: I am ready for a messy, second chance romance with older MCs.
December 10, 2025
On paper, this looks like it should’ve been extremely enjoyable– Perfectly real and messy… But no, this was basically about a woman having feelings for another man during her marriage. There’s nuance to explore in the story, but honestly, I don’t think it matters. Especially since FMC is struggling with infertility and actively trying to bring life into the world. It was just so unrealistic and silly.
October 15, 2025
3.25⭐
Nicole has been struggling with infertility for many years. Her husband supports her, but their relationship isn’t what it used to be. And after they turn to a surrogate mother, she finds out that her husband is cheating on her.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I love stories that feel real, and I appreciated how Lauren explored such difficult topics as infertility and surrogacy. I know the author went through this experience herself, and I truly admire her for writing such an intimate story and sharing something so personal. The treatment scenes were described in such detail that I could almost feel the heroine’s pain myself.
I loved Logan—in my opinion, he deserves all the stars—but I had some issues with the heroine. She started to annoy me in the second half of the book. I felt like she was using him; she didn’t want to deal with her marriage problems for too long and kept them from Logan.
Still, despite the flaws, I think it’s a good book, and I’ll be looking forward to more releases from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager (Avon) for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Nicole has been struggling with infertility for many years. Her husband supports her, but their relationship isn’t what it used to be. And after they turn to a surrogate mother, she finds out that her husband is cheating on her.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I love stories that feel real, and I appreciated how Lauren explored such difficult topics as infertility and surrogacy. I know the author went through this experience herself, and I truly admire her for writing such an intimate story and sharing something so personal. The treatment scenes were described in such detail that I could almost feel the heroine’s pain myself.
I loved Logan—in my opinion, he deserves all the stars—but I had some issues with the heroine. She started to annoy me in the second half of the book. I felt like she was using him; she didn’t want to deal with her marriage problems for too long and kept them from Logan.
Still, despite the flaws, I think it’s a good book, and I’ll be looking forward to more releases from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager (Avon) for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
January 16, 2026
This was just a well-done romance!!! I felt the chemistry, I loved the messiness, I even loved the golden retriever boyfriend! Who is she??
This is such an impressive debut - I found the FMC relatable & complex, and I appreciated the honesty in which the story explored infertility. This aspect might be triggering for women who have dealt with this but I also think the story is invaluable.
Logan - truly the definition of a man who’s pined and deserves the world (although truthfully I do think he forgave too easily). For those with nerdy partners IRL, this man is for you. Bonus if they play D&D.
I can’t wait to see what else Lauren writes!! (Though I’m gonna cross my fingers for a grumpier man)
Thank you to Avon & Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This is such an impressive debut - I found the FMC relatable & complex, and I appreciated the honesty in which the story explored infertility. This aspect might be triggering for women who have dealt with this but I also think the story is invaluable.
Logan - truly the definition of a man who’s pined and deserves the world (although truthfully I do think he forgave too easily). For those with nerdy partners IRL, this man is for you. Bonus if they play D&D.
I can’t wait to see what else Lauren writes!! (Though I’m gonna cross my fingers for a grumpier man)
Thank you to Avon & Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
November 5, 2025
Messy, emotional, funny, and beautifully written.
I’d like to put in an order for a 3D printed Logan for my own use please.
This is a heavy read and not for the faint of heart, the FMCs has been THROUGH it and deserves her happily ever after, I’m very glad Logan was there to help her get there.
Whats to love…
- banter, on banter, on banter
- right person, wrong time, second-chance romance
- perfectly placed flashbacks that never detract from the current narrative
- gorgeous imagery
- MESSY, raw, relatable, and never perfect.
- Emotional (check content warnings)
- definitely evoked some emotions from me. I was screaming at the book a few times.
Whats not to love...
- see above screaming at the book... there were times when I was beyond frustrated at the MC, I'm glad she got her character growth in the end but it was a fight in the mud pits to get there.
🌶️- Open door (sorry I do not have chapters, I read via audio and am terrible as remembering to bookmark! I think there were two scenes, but don’t quote me)
Audiobook Narration: 5/5 Kristen Sieh can do no wrong in my book. Pacing, pausing, inflection, every single thing about her performance is perfection. The voice variations? Couldn’t be better unless you had a full cast. MUST READ ON AUDIO!
4.5⭐️| IG | TikTok |
Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.
I’d like to put in an order for a 3D printed Logan for my own use please.
This is a heavy read and not for the faint of heart, the FMCs has been THROUGH it and deserves her happily ever after, I’m very glad Logan was there to help her get there.
Whats to love…
- banter, on banter, on banter
- right person, wrong time, second-chance romance
- perfectly placed flashbacks that never detract from the current narrative
- gorgeous imagery
- MESSY, raw, relatable, and never perfect.
- Emotional (check content warnings)
- definitely evoked some emotions from me. I was screaming at the book a few times.
Whats not to love...
- see above screaming at the book... there were times when I was beyond frustrated at the MC, I'm glad she got her character growth in the end but it was a fight in the mud pits to get there.
🌶️- Open door (sorry I do not have chapters, I read via audio and am terrible as remembering to bookmark! I think there were two scenes, but don’t quote me)
Audiobook Narration: 5/5 Kristen Sieh can do no wrong in my book. Pacing, pausing, inflection, every single thing about her performance is perfection. The voice variations? Couldn’t be better unless you had a full cast. MUST READ ON AUDIO!
4.5⭐️| IG | TikTok |
Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.
September 29, 2025
3.5/5
i can't remember how i heard of this book or this author, but i follow the latter on instagram so i've been excited for this book for a while. thankfully i received the arc and i didn't have to wait. this book focuses very heavily on infertility, infidelity, and second chances at love/life. the contents are very heavy but the author writes them with such care that it doesn't feel like an overload of depressing information. you feel for nicole and all she's been though, you want to see her feel whole again.
the romance is the shining star of the book for me, well logan is. honestly i want to rate this a 3.5 because gabe pissed me the fuck off, nicole had a bit too many back and forths for me, and i don't care about podcasts. but logan makes this an impossible book to rate lower than a four. he is genuinely a perfect man, he reads her favorite books, watches her movies, listens to her, helps her heal, sticks by her, basically surrenders his life to her (in a non dramatic way), and i love him. no part of me dislikes nicole, i don't want it to seem like i didn't care for her infertility storyline. i feel weird even saying anything off about her because she goes through so much, its a lot to read about and i was too annoyed with her inability to listen to others. also the storyline with her husband is a bit too messy for me, i was over it and just wanted more romance between her and logan.
without logan being written as well as he is, and the romance being as sweet as it is, i wouldn't have loved this. the topics are handled well but the writing took me a minute to adjust to. this is a debut which is very impressive, everything is written with care and education. if any of the mentioned topics may trigger you, i would maybe find another book.
*thank you netgalley and avon for the arc!*
i can't remember how i heard of this book or this author, but i follow the latter on instagram so i've been excited for this book for a while. thankfully i received the arc and i didn't have to wait. this book focuses very heavily on infertility, infidelity, and second chances at love/life. the contents are very heavy but the author writes them with such care that it doesn't feel like an overload of depressing information. you feel for nicole and all she's been though, you want to see her feel whole again.
the romance is the shining star of the book for me, well logan is. honestly i want to rate this a 3.5 because gabe pissed me the fuck off, nicole had a bit too many back and forths for me, and i don't care about podcasts. but logan makes this an impossible book to rate lower than a four. he is genuinely a perfect man, he reads her favorite books, watches her movies, listens to her, helps her heal, sticks by her, basically surrenders his life to her (in a non dramatic way), and i love him. no part of me dislikes nicole, i don't want it to seem like i didn't care for her infertility storyline. i feel weird even saying anything off about her because she goes through so much, its a lot to read about and i was too annoyed with her inability to listen to others. also the storyline with her husband is a bit too messy for me, i was over it and just wanted more romance between her and logan.
without logan being written as well as he is, and the romance being as sweet as it is, i wouldn't have loved this. the topics are handled well but the writing took me a minute to adjust to. this is a debut which is very impressive, everything is written with care and education. if any of the mentioned topics may trigger you, i would maybe find another book.
*thank you netgalley and avon for the arc!*
June 19, 2025
I had high hopes for this book after reading the blurb — it sounded like it had all the ingredients for a compelling, emotional read. Unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver. The story felt flat and underdeveloped, with too many plot holes to ignore and characters that lacked depth or emotional resonance.
I found myself waiting for it to pick up or surprise me, but it never quite did. While the premise had real potential, the execution left me feeling disconnected and, honestly, a bit bored.
I found myself waiting for it to pick up or surprise me, but it never quite did. While the premise had real potential, the execution left me feeling disconnected and, honestly, a bit bored.
June 11, 2025
The Synopsis:
Nicole has been struggling with infertility for years and knows this embryo transfer to her gestational carrier will be her last shot. She comes home from the procedure early to find her dog walker waiting in bed for her husband. Yikes. Nicole immediately knows she is leaving him, there will be no second chances and finds herself drunk on Logan's doorstep. Logan is a previous coworker of Nicole's and she hasn't seen him in two years. The only thing Nicole is sure of is the tug she feels towards him.
Reminded Me Of:
The beginning of All Your Perfects by CoHo, Kat's poem to Patrick in 10 Things I Hate About You and a twist on The Office, where Roy has a glow up, Pam marries him and later realizes it's always been Jim.
Review:
I LOVED Lauren Okie's writing style. Her words feel like living, breathing entities. It was interesting because she used the word "and" continuously as a tool to build momentum, to give the feeling of falling or spiraling. I felt like I was constantly being swept up and away, lost in all the moments. This book is emotional, it's going to make your heart ache but it's also going to make you laugh out loud. The relationship between Nicole and Logan is just so right. They are weird and quirky and it made me fall completely in love with them as a couple. The Best Worst Thing is a raw unfiltered look into how infertility can shape and alter life. Its hope, heart and joy in all its different forms.
*Please read the acknowledgement page, I sobbed. The author shares her own story and I think its important readers understand the personal nature of this book to her.
Thank you Avon, Harper Voyager & NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Nicole has been struggling with infertility for years and knows this embryo transfer to her gestational carrier will be her last shot. She comes home from the procedure early to find her dog walker waiting in bed for her husband. Yikes. Nicole immediately knows she is leaving him, there will be no second chances and finds herself drunk on Logan's doorstep. Logan is a previous coworker of Nicole's and she hasn't seen him in two years. The only thing Nicole is sure of is the tug she feels towards him.
Reminded Me Of:
The beginning of All Your Perfects by CoHo, Kat's poem to Patrick in 10 Things I Hate About You and a twist on The Office, where Roy has a glow up, Pam marries him and later realizes it's always been Jim.
Review:
I LOVED Lauren Okie's writing style. Her words feel like living, breathing entities. It was interesting because she used the word "and" continuously as a tool to build momentum, to give the feeling of falling or spiraling. I felt like I was constantly being swept up and away, lost in all the moments. This book is emotional, it's going to make your heart ache but it's also going to make you laugh out loud. The relationship between Nicole and Logan is just so right. They are weird and quirky and it made me fall completely in love with them as a couple. The Best Worst Thing is a raw unfiltered look into how infertility can shape and alter life. Its hope, heart and joy in all its different forms.
*Please read the acknowledgement page, I sobbed. The author shares her own story and I think its important readers understand the personal nature of this book to her.
Thank you Avon, Harper Voyager & NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 15, 2025
Listen, I read so many excellent romances in 2024, but almost nothing stopped me so in my tracks like THE BEST WORST THING. I read this late December 2024 and it didn’t matter - top 5 books of the year.
I avoid books that involve pregnancy - it’s not what I gravitate toward, but DAMN had I not read this book, it would have been a massive mistake. Lauren Okie’s debut is an absolutely luminous, fever-dream of a novel, and it ticked every box I have for all-time faves: 1) sharp, biting prose, 2) richly layered, messy characters who grow over a story, and 3) hot.
I will have more thoughts on this later, but if you love romance with a literary edge (a la Yulin Kuang, Suzanne Rindell, Tia Williams), this needs to be on your TBR. I won’t be last to say this, and I’m prob not even the first lmao, but the worst thing about The Best Worst Thing is when it’s over. Cannot recommend enough.
I avoid books that involve pregnancy - it’s not what I gravitate toward, but DAMN had I not read this book, it would have been a massive mistake. Lauren Okie’s debut is an absolutely luminous, fever-dream of a novel, and it ticked every box I have for all-time faves: 1) sharp, biting prose, 2) richly layered, messy characters who grow over a story, and 3) hot.
I will have more thoughts on this later, but if you love romance with a literary edge (a la Yulin Kuang, Suzanne Rindell, Tia Williams), this needs to be on your TBR. I won’t be last to say this, and I’m prob not even the first lmao, but the worst thing about The Best Worst Thing is when it’s over. Cannot recommend enough.
January 4, 2026
this one was such a good debut :) i loved it and can’t wait to read more from the author! now… where can i find a logan?
January 20, 2026
❀.* 4 💫
╰┈➤ 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬
ೃ⁀➷ 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆
↬ he YEARNS
↬ he's very golden retriever
↬ "it's always been you"
↬ banter!
↬ he read all the books on a list she gave him years ago
⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚
𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈
➳ Did I read this entire book in roughly seven hours? Yes. Absolutely. I had a long plane ride home from vacation and thought I’d picked up a cute little palate cleanser on Kindle Unlimited after binging fantasy for weeks.
Reader. I was lied to.
I did, in fact, read it in one sitting—and it completely wrecked me. No one warned me how sad this book would be. It also doesn’t have a ton of reviews, so maybe I accidentally uncovered a hidden gem, but wow. This one hit hard. I couldn’t even give you a detailed play-by-play because I read it at the speed of an F1 driver, but I genuinely loved it.
If you like Abby Jimenez–style romances that quietly destroy you, this is absolutely worth picking up.
˚˖𓍢ִ໋❀ 𝑵𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒓
╰┈➤ “𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒋𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒅, 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚-𝒊𝒏-𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅-𝒐𝒇-𝒂𝒏-𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚.”
While Nicole could seriously pmo at times, she’s also been through some genuinely unimaginable hell and handled it far better than I ever could have. I really loved watching her relationship with Logan develop, because this girl needed some happiness in her life.
Overall, I felt really satisfied with her character arc and development. Some of her choices definitely had me raising an eyebrow, but by the end of it, I couldn’t help but like her a lot.
⋆.˚ ☾⭒.˚ 𝑳𝒐𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎
╰┈➤ “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑰 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, “𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆?”
Logan may not have had his own POV in this story, but he did leave a permanent indent on my heart. And that is saying something. He’s easily one of the best fictional men I’ve ever read about—compassionate, gentle, endlessly understanding with Nicole in exactly the way she needed.
And the yearning??? Unreal. Serious Conrad Fisher vibes. This man loved her quietly for years while they worked together and never made a move because he thought she was happy. Emotional self-restraint? Devastating.
So anyway. When will I be finding a man like this? Asking for myself. 😔
✩ 𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 ✩
✧˖°. 𝙂𝙖𝙗𝙚
↬ I hate this man. Negative one thousand out of ten. Please escort him off the premises immediately.
✧˖°. 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙚'𝙨 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙
↬ I can't remember her name help! It's the girl that helped Nicole with her podcast. But anyways, I loved her. She was such a sweetheart and her dynamic with Nicole was adorable. 10/10.
ꨄ 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓭 ꨄ
➷ “Every single time you have said my name or laughed at my dumb jokes or looked my way, I have wanted you. I have wanted this.”
➷ “All those years, I just wanted to buy you a drink. Take you to dinner, make you laugh, talk to you for as long as I possibly could, then do it again and again until I knew every an-noying, horrible, deal-breaking thing about you. All I wanted was a chance to do this. And I'd rather fight with you ten times a day than go back to the way things were. I wanted you off that pedestal more than anything. So stop clinging to it, okay? We don't need it anymore."
➷ Falling in love could do that. Make you see things a bit more clearly. Make you see things you missed the first time around. Maybe even make you see things that were never really there at all.
╰┈➤ 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬
❝𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.❞ 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. ❝𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭.❞
ೃ⁀➷ 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆
↬ he YEARNS
↬ he's very golden retriever
↬ "it's always been you"
↬ banter!
↬ he read all the books on a list she gave him years ago
⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚 ̊⋆.𐙚
𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈
➳ Did I read this entire book in roughly seven hours? Yes. Absolutely. I had a long plane ride home from vacation and thought I’d picked up a cute little palate cleanser on Kindle Unlimited after binging fantasy for weeks.
Reader. I was lied to.
I did, in fact, read it in one sitting—and it completely wrecked me. No one warned me how sad this book would be. It also doesn’t have a ton of reviews, so maybe I accidentally uncovered a hidden gem, but wow. This one hit hard. I couldn’t even give you a detailed play-by-play because I read it at the speed of an F1 driver, but I genuinely loved it.
If you like Abby Jimenez–style romances that quietly destroy you, this is absolutely worth picking up.
˚˖𓍢ִ໋❀ 𝑵𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒓
╰┈➤ “𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒋𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒅, 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚-𝒊𝒏-𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅-𝒐𝒇-𝒂𝒏-𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚.”
While Nicole could seriously pmo at times, she’s also been through some genuinely unimaginable hell and handled it far better than I ever could have. I really loved watching her relationship with Logan develop, because this girl needed some happiness in her life.
Overall, I felt really satisfied with her character arc and development. Some of her choices definitely had me raising an eyebrow, but by the end of it, I couldn’t help but like her a lot.
⋆.˚ ☾⭒.˚ 𝑳𝒐𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎
╰┈➤ “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑰 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, “𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆?”
Logan may not have had his own POV in this story, but he did leave a permanent indent on my heart. And that is saying something. He’s easily one of the best fictional men I’ve ever read about—compassionate, gentle, endlessly understanding with Nicole in exactly the way she needed.
And the yearning??? Unreal. Serious Conrad Fisher vibes. This man loved her quietly for years while they worked together and never made a move because he thought she was happy. Emotional self-restraint? Devastating.
So anyway. When will I be finding a man like this? Asking for myself. 😔
✩ 𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 ✩
✧˖°. 𝙂𝙖𝙗𝙚
↬ I hate this man. Negative one thousand out of ten. Please escort him off the premises immediately.
✧˖°. 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙚'𝙨 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙
↬ I can't remember her name help! It's the girl that helped Nicole with her podcast. But anyways, I loved her. She was such a sweetheart and her dynamic with Nicole was adorable. 10/10.
ꨄ 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓭 ꨄ
➷ “Every single time you have said my name or laughed at my dumb jokes or looked my way, I have wanted you. I have wanted this.”
➷ “All those years, I just wanted to buy you a drink. Take you to dinner, make you laugh, talk to you for as long as I possibly could, then do it again and again until I knew every an-noying, horrible, deal-breaking thing about you. All I wanted was a chance to do this. And I'd rather fight with you ten times a day than go back to the way things were. I wanted you off that pedestal more than anything. So stop clinging to it, okay? We don't need it anymore."
➷ Falling in love could do that. Make you see things a bit more clearly. Make you see things you missed the first time around. Maybe even make you see things that were never really there at all.
November 11, 2025
1,5.
Can’t believe I spent so much time reading this melodramatic wet dream of a sex-deprived protagonist who can’t decide what she wants, and her manic-pixie-dream-boy who has zero flaws and the patience of a saint.
Can’t believe I spent so much time reading this melodramatic wet dream of a sex-deprived protagonist who can’t decide what she wants, and her manic-pixie-dream-boy who has zero flaws and the patience of a saint.
October 2, 2025
I genuinely don’t know how to rate this bc Nicole is so fucking stupid. The third act ENRAGED!!!!!!!!!!! me
review to come I guess
Thanks Avon/Harper Collins for the arc and alc.
review to come I guess
Thanks Avon/Harper Collins for the arc and alc.
March 3, 2025
Couldn't have written it better myself. Probably because I did.
ARC readers! Here is a Content Warning / Author's Note, which will be included in the final version of the book, but potentially not your early copy.
When I set out to write this novel, I did so in hopes of creating a love story that was, if nothing else, both tons of fun and brutally honest. And so, while THE BEST WORST THING is teeming with banter, yearning, and ridiculously hot sex, please know it also touches on some serious themes, including infertility and pregnancy loss.
ARC readers! Here is a Content Warning / Author's Note, which will be included in the final version of the book, but potentially not your early copy.
When I set out to write this novel, I did so in hopes of creating a love story that was, if nothing else, both tons of fun and brutally honest. And so, while THE BEST WORST THING is teeming with banter, yearning, and ridiculously hot sex, please know it also touches on some serious themes, including infertility and pregnancy loss.
January 5, 2026
4.75 🌟 WHEN I TELL YOU LOGAN IS SO IN A WORLD OF BOYS HES A GENTLEMEN CODED!!!! THIS MAN HAS ME IN A CHOKEHOLD!!! A TRUE AUTHENTIC REAL LOVE STORY!!!!!!! AUDIOBOOK IS PERFECTION!!!!!!!!!!
Now for my girlies WHO LOVE A MAN WHO YEARNS THIS IS UR MAN!!!!!!! LOGAN IS SO DOWN BAD!!!
Now for my girlies WHO LOVE A MAN WHO YEARNS THIS IS UR MAN!!!!!!! LOGAN IS SO DOWN BAD!!!
April 10, 2025
3.5💫
Right person wrong time will always be my jam!!! this was a great debut novel BUT please check trigger warnings because it's a bit heavy (it deals with pregnancy, fertility issues and other topics that could be consider spoilers.)
The pacing was great and the drama kept me on my toes but even though I loved this for the majority of it, there were some things that just didn't worked for me. Having TWO third act break ups had me like 🙃 enough but to each their own.
the romance was GOOD!! You can't deny that chemistry, so 10 points for that. There were other factors that affected my rating but they're basically spoilers. If you loved "This Could be Us" by Kennedy Ryan, you should check this one out.
Thank you Avon for the advance reader copy.
Right person wrong time will always be my jam!!! this was a great debut novel BUT please check trigger warnings because it's a bit heavy (it deals with pregnancy, fertility issues and other topics that could be consider spoilers.)
The pacing was great and the drama kept me on my toes but even though I loved this for the majority of it, there were some things that just didn't worked for me. Having TWO third act break ups had me like 🙃 enough but to each their own.
the romance was GOOD!! You can't deny that chemistry, so 10 points for that. There were other factors that affected my rating but they're basically spoilers. If you loved "This Could be Us" by Kennedy Ryan, you should check this one out.
Thank you Avon for the advance reader copy.
October 2, 2025
Perched in a beautiful house in Los Angeles with a gorgeous husband, a podcast job, a cute dog, Nicole seems to lead a charmed life. But Nicole desperately wants a baby. Her husband was onboard, but as procedures and heartbreaks took over their lives, it shifted for him. Then one day - the day there is finally success with an embryo and a surrogate, Nicole comes home to find Gabe has been having an affair. Maybe more than one.
Maybe, if she’s willing to admit it, their marriage has been over for a decade.
This is when Nicole shows up, unfairly, ostensibly for a one night stand of no strings attached fun, encouraged by her best friend, at the doorstep of a former colleague.
Logan is flummoxed. Because, see, Logan has been in love with Nicole since the day he met her four years ago and there is no way she doesn’t know this. It feels cruel in a way, to offer yourself for a fling with a man who harbors feelings for you.
As the two navigate this affair along with his career goals, her messy marriage turned divorce, her impending motherhood, and about seventeen other things, they also have to figure out the meaning of this spark between them.
This did not work for me at all and I spent a good portion raging in a friend’s DMs.
First I will say the author’s note shares that the fertility journey she included mirrors her own, and I applaud her for that willingness to share her vulnerability.
Then she admits: this journey was not a story on its own, there was no reckoning, so she had to add pieces to create drama.
But this is where she faltered.
Plus, the book is favorably compared to multiple very popular cultural references. To this I say, tread lightly. If you tell me I’m getting Jim and Pam vibes, they better show in spades.
So let’s talk about the comparisons.
While Nicole could be described as a meaner Pam, and Logan is a dorkier Jim, Nicole feels like she is using Logan, that their friendship is lopsided. There is teasing (one way, she is merciless), but the bigger issue I have with this comparison is that all of the office foreplay happens in unnecessary flashbacks meant to reveal something we already know. Perhaps done in real time this would have worked better.
Funny Story vibes - maybe Logan is a bit like Nick but selling it as heartbreak meets new love story doesn’t work here. The new love story feels wildly out of place and overrides the seemingly bigger story of finally becoming a mother. I was disappointed at how much of a backseat the infertility and soon-to-be mom took to sex with Logan. I expected that finally realizing her lifelong dream would be at the forefront.
A Nobody Wants This comparison is dangerous, and though both feature a podcast, that’s it. Do not compare these characters. No. It doesn’t work.
It boasts humor like that of Wedding People but I’d say that’s a miss, too. While there is some mean cute banter between Logan and Nicole, overall it isn’t a funny book.
Open door intimacy is used as leverage to dig deeper into turmoil, as it is in How to End a Love Story, but this book creates multiple failed attempts at intimacy that are abruptly and ridiculously short changed for a reader and felt forced. It doesn’t feel the same.
DO NOT compare a book to Ready or Not or to Shep. Just don’t. With a surrogate carrying the baby and Nicole not being too concerned about the pregnancy, Logan is not cast as Shep except in an overdone epilogue.
I also did not get Nora vibes, as in Nora Goes Off Script, but then again, Nora was an incredibly likable FMC; I did not feel the same about Nicole.
There are a few scenes that seem …unwieldy. Also the volatility of Nicole’s relationship with Gabe is so hot and cold that it reads like whiplash and is hard to buy.
The writing is strong. I think I’d give the author another chance with something less personal, something I didn’t read all of the comparisons about prior to reading the book.
Maybe, if she’s willing to admit it, their marriage has been over for a decade.
This is when Nicole shows up, unfairly, ostensibly for a one night stand of no strings attached fun, encouraged by her best friend, at the doorstep of a former colleague.
Logan is flummoxed. Because, see, Logan has been in love with Nicole since the day he met her four years ago and there is no way she doesn’t know this. It feels cruel in a way, to offer yourself for a fling with a man who harbors feelings for you.
As the two navigate this affair along with his career goals, her messy marriage turned divorce, her impending motherhood, and about seventeen other things, they also have to figure out the meaning of this spark between them.
This did not work for me at all and I spent a good portion raging in a friend’s DMs.
First I will say the author’s note shares that the fertility journey she included mirrors her own, and I applaud her for that willingness to share her vulnerability.
Then she admits: this journey was not a story on its own, there was no reckoning, so she had to add pieces to create drama.
But this is where she faltered.
Plus, the book is favorably compared to multiple very popular cultural references. To this I say, tread lightly. If you tell me I’m getting Jim and Pam vibes, they better show in spades.
So let’s talk about the comparisons.
While Nicole could be described as a meaner Pam, and Logan is a dorkier Jim, Nicole feels like she is using Logan, that their friendship is lopsided. There is teasing (one way, she is merciless), but the bigger issue I have with this comparison is that all of the office foreplay happens in unnecessary flashbacks meant to reveal something we already know. Perhaps done in real time this would have worked better.
Funny Story vibes - maybe Logan is a bit like Nick but selling it as heartbreak meets new love story doesn’t work here. The new love story feels wildly out of place and overrides the seemingly bigger story of finally becoming a mother. I was disappointed at how much of a backseat the infertility and soon-to-be mom took to sex with Logan. I expected that finally realizing her lifelong dream would be at the forefront.
A Nobody Wants This comparison is dangerous, and though both feature a podcast, that’s it. Do not compare these characters. No. It doesn’t work.
It boasts humor like that of Wedding People but I’d say that’s a miss, too. While there is some mean cute banter between Logan and Nicole, overall it isn’t a funny book.
Open door intimacy is used as leverage to dig deeper into turmoil, as it is in How to End a Love Story, but this book creates multiple failed attempts at intimacy that are abruptly and ridiculously short changed for a reader and felt forced. It doesn’t feel the same.
DO NOT compare a book to Ready or Not or to Shep. Just don’t. With a surrogate carrying the baby and Nicole not being too concerned about the pregnancy, Logan is not cast as Shep except in an overdone epilogue.
I also did not get Nora vibes, as in Nora Goes Off Script, but then again, Nora was an incredibly likable FMC; I did not feel the same about Nicole.
There are a few scenes that seem …unwieldy. Also the volatility of Nicole’s relationship with Gabe is so hot and cold that it reads like whiplash and is hard to buy.
The writing is strong. I think I’d give the author another chance with something less personal, something I didn’t read all of the comparisons about prior to reading the book.
October 4, 2025
it’s been a LONG time since i’ve staying up to 2am to read a book and here we are
Lauren Okie’s debut novel (yes DEBUT) is nothing short of exceptional. its witty, it’s heartfelt, it’s raw, and it understands the importance of the darcy hand flex 🙂↕️
Nicole’s story is so sad and heartbreaking, and Logan is there. He shows up. He understands. He PINES. We love a nerdy, goofy mmc who is emotionally available and intelligent and knows what he wants and 👏 it’s 👏 her 👏 no 👏 matter 👏 what 👏
a million/10 for the epilogue alone, new fav romance unlocked, pls go read immediately 🫶🏼🫶🏼
minor trigger warning that it’s written in 3rd person so just be aware if you’re one of those people (i am not) ((i actually couldn’t care less))
thank you NetGalley and Avon for both the arc and alc!!!
Lauren Okie’s debut novel (yes DEBUT) is nothing short of exceptional. its witty, it’s heartfelt, it’s raw, and it understands the importance of the darcy hand flex 🙂↕️
Nicole’s story is so sad and heartbreaking, and Logan is there. He shows up. He understands. He PINES. We love a nerdy, goofy mmc who is emotionally available and intelligent and knows what he wants and 👏 it’s 👏 her 👏 no 👏 matter 👏 what 👏
a million/10 for the epilogue alone, new fav romance unlocked, pls go read immediately 🫶🏼🫶🏼
minor trigger warning that it’s written in 3rd person so just be aware if you’re one of those people (i am not) ((i actually couldn’t care less))
thank you NetGalley and Avon for both the arc and alc!!!
November 17, 2025
I love drama and I love obsessed man even more!!!!!!!!
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