The One Before The One

by Katy Regan

A contemporary love story told with Katy's inimitable laugh-out-loud humour, poignancy and heart. TO DO LIST Make something with Quinoa Pluck eyebrows Do something 'cultural' every week Dump married boyfriend Caroline's life was meant to be sorted when she made the decision to end her engagement, 3 months before the big day. With her to-do list tasks getting crossed off and her career going great guns, Caroline is sure she's now a fully functioning adult. So when her 17 year old half-sister Lexi, arrives unexpectedly at her door, it doesn't quite fit with her image that she's drunk and wearing her wedding dress! Lexi has come to stay for the summer but their relationship is strained, as Lexi is the result of their father's infidelity. An affair that led to the divorce that destroyed Caroline's mother and ruined her own childhood. Needless to say, Caroline is in no hurry to confess her relationship with her married lover Toby. As the summer wears on, Caroline has decisions to make, and a life to reconsider, but surely a 17 year old can't teach her anything about how to live well?

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2010

Reviews

[Tara Anderton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a light easy read that kept me coming back - Lexi and Wayne were my favourite characters

[Frida · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love me a little bit of chick-lit every once in a while, but this was one was just so ... silly. Maybe it’s because I’m 17 myself, but I couldn’t stand Lexi’s character. It seems like she’s either drunk, pregnant, or making casual conversation with 30-year-old drug dealers. She goes from one potential disaster to the next. (Is this how 17-year-olds act? Really?) Although, to be fair, Caroline isn’t much better either. The entire book is just a build-up until that pivotal moment when she realises that having an affair and leaving the aforementioned troublesome 17-year-old at home - ALONE - whilst she’s on a weekend rendezvous with a married man, weren’t such good ideas after all. For god’s sake. Why did it take her so long to arrive at that conclusion? Really now.
I couldn’t sympathise with any of the characters, at least not during the first part of the book. It grew on me in the end. I always was a sucker for happy endings ... And that's why it has two stars and not one.

[Harriet Quimby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot.

I have to say my favourite character was definitely Shona. She managed to just make me laugh and she seemed like such a genuine character/person.

I found the Caroline a little annoying but I enjoyed her all the same.

Lexi was again another face she made me laugh and I fell in love with her from the beginning.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it.

[Sarah Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amiable British chicklit, destined for "the little free library." Nothing wrong with it, but less original and engaging than "Little Big Love," possibly because the latter novel has a very well constructed ten-year-old narrator among the three rotating family narrators.

[Sue Lilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by how good this was. It sounded cheesy and predictable but it wasn’t at all. Loved Caroline and Lexi, they were so real. Found I developed quite a soft spot for Wayne, despite his unfortunate name. Couldn’t wait to find out how they’d all end up. Loved it!

[Stefennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit too "tied up with a ribbon" and easy resolutions, but a nice story.

[Ppcfransen]

I've read this book a few years ago. I remember the cover. I do not remember any of the content.

[Lisa Irén · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hahah, hilarious book! 😂 It's very interesting to read a book where pretty much everything goes wrong. You will realate to the characters in this book.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in one day. It was a lot of fun. Despite her behaviour Caroline was likeable and it was just a feel-good book.

[iklim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to get into the book so I can slap every. single. character. personally.

[Rea Cobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katy Regan is a new author to me. After reading this book I googled her and have found that she has released a book before this one called One Thing Led To Another. Now that I have finished The One before The One I cannot wait to go back and read her first book. I am not sure why I hadn't heard of her before as the book was a great read my only thing is I am not over keen on the cover of the book.

Plot
Meet Caroline who is our main character she has called of the wedding to her long term partner Martin and is ready to be free and enjoy life but has she made the right decision? A spanner is thrown in the works when her teenage sister Lexi arrives on her door step and announces that she is going to be staying with her for the whole of the summer! Unsure of how you look after a teenager Caroline tries her best to help her sister with her problems but having her around is making it hard to see Toby who is her married work colleague who she is currently sleeping with. Caroline realises with the help of her sister that she needs to make some decisions to get her life back on track but this only means a lot of changes need to be made which can only lead to some broken hearts.

My Opinion


When I first started to read this book I found it a little strange as my partner is called Martin and my sister is called Lexi so I felt like I was going warm to our main character Caroline from the start, oh how could I be so wrong! I found Caroline, hard to warm to at first especially as when we meet her and her fiancé Martin he seems so charming that you couldn't help but give her the cold shoulder a little at first for breaking his heart. As the book progressed I soon started to warm more to her character and started to enjoy reading about her journey in life. I really did enjoy reading the character of Martin he just seemed to good to be true! I enjoyed reading about the relationship between Caroline and her sister Lexi as where they had not been brought up together you found you was watching the relationship between the two grow. There was only one character in this book which I could not take to and found the more that the book went on I loathed him even more and that is the character of Toby. I found when we first met him to be smarmy and after that the feelings towards him grew worse!!

What really kept me on my toes with this book was the suspense as right until the last few chapters I was still not quite sure how it would end. I kept wondering would there be a happy ending and I think it was this which kept the pages turning for me.

I found that this book had a mixture of content to it. There was a few bits of humour put in which was a nice touch and made it a little light hearted after reading about some slightly deeper parts when it came to Lexi so the humour was a nice touch to still keep the book an enjoyable read.

I would defiantly recommend this book and as I mentioned before I will now be keeping a look out for her previous book and I suggest you all do the same to! I think this is going to be an Author to keep your eyes peeled for in the future.

**Also posted on my Blog http://reabookreview.blogspot.com/ **

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het leven van de tweeëndertigjarige Caroline had erop vooruit moeten gaan nadat ze, drie maanden voor de bruiloft, haar verloving met Martin had verbroken. Met inmiddels een nieuwe to do list, een bloeiende carrière en een geheime minnaar heeft ze het toch maar mooi voor elkaar. Denkt ze. Totdat haar halfzusje Lexi van zeventien onverwachts op de stoep staat en per se bij Caroline in Londen de zomer wil doorbrengen. Gedurende de zomer tuimelen de elementen van Carolines leven (inclusief exen, minnaars, werk en familie) over elkaar en moet ze enkele beslissingen nemen om haar leven te beteren. De vraag is of dat gaat lukken met de aanwezigheid van haar zusje, die duidelijk iets te verbergen heeft en tegen wie ze zelf ook niet eerlijk is.

Dit boek zag ik liggen bij de bieb. Ik vond het wel weer eens leuk om lekker een boek tussendoor te lezen. Dus afgaande op de kaft en de achterkant dacht ik dat ik met dit boek wel een goede keuze had gemaakt. En dat blijkt ook zo te zijn. Al moet ik wel zeggen dat ik bij de eerste pagina wel de neiging had om het meteen weer weg te leggen, omdat er ontzettend lange zinnen in zaten. Maar die zitten alleen op de eerste pagina. De rest van het boek heeft een goed tempo om te lezen. De relaties tussen de personen en de personen onderling worden goed uitgewerkt. Ook de voorspelbaarheid van het boek valt mee. Wat ik persoonlijk leuk vond is dat het verhaal in Londen speelt. Er worden ook verschillende plekken genoemd. Begin dit jaar ben ik zelf in Londen geweest en er kwamen heel wat plekken voorbij die ik zelf ook bezocht heb. Dit is het eerste boek van de schrijfster dat ik heb gelezen. Maar ik weet dat ze nog een boek heeft en ik denk dat ik dat ook wil lezen.

[Leen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Caroline is een typische dertiger: ze heeft net een einde gemaakt aan haar jarenlange, stabiele relatie met een brave jongen, heeft een allesbehalve spannende carrière én uiteraard een seksrelatie met de (getrouwde!) hottie van het werk. Alles loopt dus op rolletjes als onverwacht haar tienerhalfzus aanbelt om de zomer bij haar in het grote, coole Londen te mogen doorbrengen. Beide vrouwen hebben genoeg geheimen voor elkaar om een soort spanning vast te houden doorheen het hele verhaal, maar zodra De Man in the picture komt is het voor zelfs de meeste naïeve lezer duidelijk waar het einde naartoe zal gaan want zo gaat dat met chicklits, het is alleen maar de vraag hoelang de schrijver alles zal laten aanslepen. Dat viel gelukkig nog mee.

Ik heb me enkel of toch vooral geërgerd aan de belachelijke toeren die de overijverige vertaler heeft uitgehaald. De resem flaters bereikte al een hoogtepunt op pagina 41, waar de tienerhalfzus haar grote zus vertelt over het liedje ‘Knetter’ van “Dizzy” Rascal, en daaruit zelfs een stukje begint te zingen. Dit werd volledig vertaald en het duurde even voor ik doorhad over welk nummer het ging… Wat me mezelf heeft doen beloven chicklits enkel nog in het Engels te lezen vanaf nu, één ergernis minder!

http://youtu.be/Ci40ae8BlcE

2** Heerlijk om je verstand soms te kunnen uitschakelen.

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A feel good, fun and flirty chick-lit.

32 year old Caroline Steele is in a pickle. Not only is she having an affair with a married man, she can't seem to let go of her ex fiance whom she ditched weeks before their wedding.

Caroline's 17 year old sister Lexi comes to stay for the summer - and what at first seemed like a disaster in waiting, turned out to be the very thing Caroline needed to turn her life around.

Of course, chick-lit wouldn't be chick-lit without a love story thrown in for good measure. Predictable - but I don't mind!

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well... I didn't hate it, so I guess The One Before the One has THAT going for it. Good thing, because it doesn't have much else. Caroline is not very easy character to warm to; she's self absorbed and completely unaware of how her behavior affects the lives of both her friends and her family. Despite Regan's efforts to redeem Caroline at the end, it all just fell short. And what even was that epilogue? Yuck, yuck, yuck.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about Caroline at the beginning of this book - she's one hell of a hot mess! But I soon warmed to her and had my fingers crossed she would get her HEA. The One Before the One had me LOLing on several occassions. If chick-lit (that's not too 'fluffy') is your thing or you just need an easy read that will make you smile you can't go past Katy Regan!

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to read a chick-lit book about someone in their early 30s. Had thought I was too old to identify with chick-lit characters. Fun and easy to read.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good chick lit

[Aisha Reads Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

acceptable.

[Letitia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poorly chosen title in my opinion, as it has little to do with what the book is actually about. However, it was a decently written and fairly enjoyable bit of chick-lit.

[Faydee Pate · Rating 3 out of 5]

wow

[Jennifer Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't have high expectations but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I loved the epilogue - great ending!

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, the characters were relatable and very funny. I love the way Katy Regan writes and I am looking forward to reading more of her books.

[Kristin_liest · Rating 2 out of 5]

War schon etwas klischeehaft und manchmal auch witzig, jedoch insgesamt wie eine schlechte Komödie im TV