Review + Giveaway || The One That I Want by Marilyn Brant

Synopsis:

The summer after her beloved husband died in a car accident, Julia Meriwether Crane is still picking up the pieces of her life in Mirabelle Harbor and trying to help her ten-year-old daughter adjust to this difficult new reality.
After her best friend Sharlene—one of the well-known Michaelsen siblings—talks her into finally going out on the town again, Julia finds herself stunned to be the object of interest of several different men: The boy who’d broken her heart back in high school. The college ex she’d left behind. And most surprising of all, the movie actor she’d always fantasized about but had never met in person until now. Can one woman have more than one “great love” in the same lifetime? And, if so, how can she be sure which man that’ll be?

My thoughts and what not

My rating: ★★★☆☆

It surprises me how books can be really unique. This one, I found, was entirely unique on it's own. Not the "husband was dead" bit but the emotion painted to each dialogue in the book. It took me quite a while to finish this. I'm not entirely sure why, though, given that contemporary romance was my favorite genre. Anyway, the premise has a streak of impossibility in it. I mean the chance that you meet your favorite actor, back when you were young, was pretty damn slim. And having three guys pursuing you was near damn impossible, right?

I like the maturity and personality that the characters has shown me, especially Julia and Dane. Both of them are flawed, not gonna lie, but there's something about them that draws you in. Dane was the most likable.

I also like the vulnerability of Julia's daughter, it hints captures a very realistic emotion. Julia and her daughter is still grieving and I like the raw emotion that was put there. I wish I could've known more about Julia's late husband. He seems nice. Additionally, a backstory would have been great, too, in case of Dave, Ben & Kristopher.

My problem here was the additional characters, and sometimes even Julia. There are characters that are so random and can be pulled out of the story without damaging it. Seriously, why throw in all the douches in there? Next was Julia, as I've mentioned, she I'm not entirely sure I like her. She's strong, I'll give her that but I found her personality really annoying. I wish I could tell why.

This has not been a quick read for me. I didn't find it a page-turner and it was a bit slow-paced but the premise was very intriguing and the idea of grieving and falling in love seems like an unlikely combination yet the book made it interesting.