Book Review: "One Day in December" by Josie Silver

It was a scene from one of the hopelessly romantic movies she loves: one late afternoon just before Christmas, Laurie is packed sardine-like onto a double-decker bus, when through a misty window she spots a handsome man. Some mystical force tells her that he is the one, and when their eyes meet, it's like they both know this to be true. But before Laurie can move or the man can try to board the bus and hopefully sweep her off her feet, the bus drives away.

Even though she's almost certain that "Bus Boy" may never come back into her life, she spends a year looking for him at every bus stop, shop, bar, everywhere she goes. She can't imagine finding anyone else. And just as she gives up hope that she'll ever be reunited with her mystery man, they finally do connect—only he's on the arm of her best friend and flatmate, Sarah. Yes, "Bus Boy," whose name is Jack (and who is more handsome than she even imagined), is Sarah's new boyfriend, a man she's fallen head over heels for.

Part of Laurie wants to tell Sarah the truth, that Jack is the man she has been hunting for. But when Jack doesn't seem to recognize her, she realizes she has been hanging on to a foolish obsession, and how can she stand in the way of her best friend's happiness? Of course, Sarah doesn't make it easy for Laurie, since she wants the three of them to spend lots of time together, and more importantly, she wants Laurie and Jack to be friends, too.

Jack actually did recognize Laurie, and he can't believe that the woman he may have had more than one or two fantasies about is actually his new girlfriend's best friend. But Laurie and Sarah are complete opposites, and he doesn't want to jeopardize what he's starting to have with Sarah. Even if it's difficult to try and be friends with Laurie, if it means that much to Sarah, he'll put any lingering feelings he has aside and do it.

Is there such a thing as destiny? Is there really one right person for everyone? How can you be happy when someone you truly care about gets what you want, what you think should be "yours"? Can you move on with your life if your heart isn't quite ready to let go?

One Day in December follows Laurie, Jack, and Sarah through 10 years of heartaches and triumphs, passion and anger, connections and misunderstandings, secrets and facing the truth. If ever there were a book that highlights how important it is to say what you feel, what you think, when it happens, it's this one.

If reading the plot summary in my review gives you ideas of how this book will unfold, you may be right. There isn't anything too surprising here, but that doesn't matter, because Josie Silver's appealing yet flawed characters grow on you, even though you want to shake them at times for not saying how they feel. It's a charming, romantic book, sure to warm the hearts of those looking for a good story about love and friendship and how one can get in the way of the other.

I thought this was going to be a breezy, mindless read, but it's a little more complex than I expected. I really enjoyed this, even though I would have liked it more if we didn't run through the same situations with the characters so many times. It definitely appealed to the sap, err, romantic in me though!!