#81 One Day in December

One Day in December by Josie Silver

One Day in December follows the story of Laurie a twenty something girl living in London chasing down her dreams of working at a magazine. She lives with her best friend Sarah and they have been inseparable since becoming roommates at university. One night on her way home from work Laurie locks eyes with a handsome strange who is sat at a bus stop whilst she is on a bus. She feels an instant connection and likens it to love at first sight, when the bus pulls away she thinks she will never see this mystery man again and she spends the next year of her life obsessing over him and searching every nook and cranny in London to find him.

Just when Laurie is ready to give up she is invited to meet Sarahs new boyfriend, Jack. You can pretty much see where this is going, Jack is the guy from the bus stop and Laurie immediately recognises him. She struggles with whether she should tell Sarah or not but decides not to as Sarah has strong feelings for him and told Laurie that it was the man she was going to marry.

This story is made up of snippets of ten years worth of Lauries life. I found is to be incredibly heartwarming and really struggled to put the book down, i think it took me a day to finish this one, i was so immersed in the characters and what was going to happen. I must admit i didnt love the ending and i did bump it down a star as it was a bit rushed. This book has a very Bridget Jones style to it, parts are very funny but ultimately its very relatable and you can really put yourself in Lauries shoes.

There are many multi layered characters and complex story lines that merge so well even when they are years apart in timeline. I struggled with the male characters in this book as i didnt like any of them! i know im in the minority saying that though. The whole big reads as very human, the characters make terrible decisions but you seem them struggle and try to live with those decisions which made for an interesting read. I dont often enjoy Christmas books but this book is definitely an exception to the rule. Dont get me wrong bits of it like any romance novel are a bit cringey and a bit predictable but all in all its a lovely read.