What happens when you lose the love of your life just three months after you meet him?
Lottie Brown has finally found The One. Leo is everything she’s ever wanted – he’s handsome, kind, funny and totally gets her. Three months into their relationship, Lottie is in love and happier than ever before.
But then Leo tragically dies, and Lottie is left floundering.
As she struggles to stop her life falling apart, Lottie learns more about the man she thought she knew, and starts to question whether Leo really was as perfect as he seemed…
The One is Claire Frost's third novel and in my opinion her best to date and as the blurb says it follows Lottie as she comes to terms with everything that has recently happened in her life. From the start of a new blossoming relationship with Leo to dealing with the maelstrom of emotions after the sudden and unexpected death of the person who could have been 'The One'.
We follow Lottie as she explores her relationships, struggles to come to terms with her loss and deal with the pain and grief she is feeling. But most of all the realisation that she didn't really know everything about Leo that she thought she did.
The story is told through chapters in the present day and as well as the days and months leading up to that fateful day. In the present we first meet Lottie as she is out with her sisters Em and Annie talking about her relationship with Leo and the fact that she had mentioned the L word already when she receives a call which will bring with it the devastating news.
Through flashbacks to before we get an insight into Lottie and Leo's relationship, from their meet-cute meeting in an M&S food hall and their subsequent dating life. The 3 months that they spent together really saw Lottie come alive and she's more than ready for him to meet her sisters when her world is turned upside down and it feels like nothing will ever be the same again.
My heart really felt for Lottie as it was clear she was floundering as to how to get through each day, to continue living her life without Leo in it especially when she finds herself alone at Leo's funeral and the realisation that other than his cousin Ross she didn't know anyone else in his life. As we follow Lottie's story we see her go through a journey of self discovery with her sisters, Ross and her friends Rachel and Guy by her side.
Lottie really was such a real and relatable character that you can't help but feel for and want to wrap her up and take away her pain. I know that some might think her imaginary conversations with Leo strange or morbid but they help her for a short time and in the end who is she hurting by wondering what life could have been like with Leo by having these conversations in her head. Having gone through grief myself, although not a partner, I could empathise when she was in low spirits but also wanted to tell her that there will be brighter days in the horizon.
The One is an emotional but uplifting story so don't be put off by the topic of grief and how you work your way through it as the author has done it in a sympathetic way and with her inevitable style of wit sprinkled throughout to lighten the mood.
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