So, basically all I want to do with my life is travel and read books. Someone needs to tell me how I can get paid for that. I have a list of AT LEAST 25 places I need to get to.
But until I find my way to all of those places, I’ll just read books where the main character gets to go on the trip of a lifetime. While that wasn’t the main focus of The One by Kristin Vayden, it certainly wasn’t a deterrent for me! The One follows Meredith on her quest to date one guy from each “dream stereotype” as a part of her job working on a fashion blog.
Surprise, surprise, each of the dates she goes on is a total dud. Meredith is about to bail, when she learns that the next two dates are in Scotland! Seeing as how Scotland is on her bucket list, she figures she might as well…and then is totally blindsided by her boss/best friend’s stepbrother picking her up from the airport. Seems that they have a history – there may or may not have been an incident in Jr. High that he hasn’t forgiven her for….
Sounds like fun, right?! Well…. for the most part, it was. Meredith and Kirby have some pretty fun banter, and there’s some good tension, and even some discussion of beautiful Scotland! That being said, there were some pretty big holes. First, we never find out what the “unforgiveable incident” was. WHAT? I mean, I need to know. Otherwise, how am I supposed to know they are mortal enemies or some such? Second, these characters were a bit flat for me. The most interesting guy was the sort-of villain….but that could actually just be a statement on my general preference for villainy.
I wasn’t really expecting this to be anything wildly groundbreaking, but predictable might be my single word to describe it. I think that the part I struggled with was not the predictability, but just how quickly Meredith’s feelings change. I would say spoiler alert, but come on guys. You know when you go to the movies, and you get up to go get a refill on your two-gallon Diet Coke, only to come back and feel like you’re in a totally different movie? That was this book. Except I didn’t have that much Diet Coke.
Quick read, probably best for those spare hours and extra glass of wine you've got laying around!