Quick Pick book review: Twice in a Blue Moon, by Christina Lauren

• Opening lines: (Fourteen years ago) Nana turned to inspect the hotel room. Behind her, the curtains drifted closed with a whisper. With her dark, sharp eyes, she surveyed the cream and red decor, the generic paintings, and the television she no doubt thought gaudily perched on the otherwise beautiful dresser. Never in my life had I been in a room this fancy, but her gaze, as it touched everything, read Given the cost, I expected more.
• Reason I picked up the book: I'm a huge Christina Lauren fan and have read all of their books (it's two people, writing under one pseudonym). 
• And what's this book about?
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners and the “delectable, moving” (Entertainment Weekly) My Favorite Half-Night Stand comes a modern love story about what happens when your first love reenters your life when you least expect it…

Sam Brandis was Tate Jones’s first: Her first love. Her first everything. Including her first heartbreak.

During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world’s biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.

Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he’s the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it’s possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason… and whether “once in a lifetime” can come around twice.

With Christina Lauren’s signature “beautifully written and remarkably compelling” (Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author) prose and perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner, Twice in a Blue Moon is an unforgettable and moving novel of young love and second chances.

• Recommended for: Anyone who enjoys a love story or stories about the movie industry.
• Favorite paragraph: (Now) The tires crunch over gravel, and I stir awake at the sound: we've reached Ruby Farm. I'm nervous and excited and feel the proverbial weight of a thousand pounds on my chest, but still—something tight inside me unwinds instinctively at the unfolding green serenity directly ahead of us.
  We pass through the gates, waving to a guard there who notes the license plate, and I assume, check the box to indicate Tate Butler has arrived.
  I am officially on set. 

• Something to know: I'd compared this to a situation like if Suri Cruise (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' daughter) all of a sudden disappeared from the limelight, and Katie Holmes disappeared as well. It was a pretty compelling read.
• What I would have changed: Nothing except the ending was a little short, and I wanted more! (can we have a sequel?!)
• Overall rating: 5 stars out of 5.
• Where can I find this book? Click here to pre-order on Amazon - it will be out on October 22, 2019.
  

*Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.