The One That Got Away

The leading female character has no depth and she is so not interesting. This book is not good because of the female character. The leading man is very interesting but weak. I hated the female narrator. So many weird incomplete characters.

Overall this is a good book. Love the narrators. In some places I found the story a bit long with information that was not pertinent to the story. The conflict between the brothers could have been worded better or given more depth.

This was a book that I wished would just end. Not great. Dumb decisions by the characters that annoyed me. Glad it is over!

The characters frustrated me because they made bad choices so most of the time I was yelling at the phone for them to get their stuff together. As such, I have to give it to the author who made me be “all up in my feels” as my teens would say! A good book is one that gets a response from your being and this one did it.

The One That Got Away by Karina Halle was an impulse read. I never read the author before, but the story of a romance between a soccer (football) player and a sports journalist held a certain appeal that had me picking this one up. Yeah! I am a sucker for sports romance. In The One That Got Away Karina Halle delivered gripping angsty and emotional romance. True love stands the test of time, and The One That Got Away epitomized this statement perfectly. This is one of those stories where one needs to be in the right frame of mind for. Ruby and Luciano, the couple featured here, encountered many obstacles, some which manifested by their own hands, to attain their happily ever after. It took them eleven years to be together. It took me sometime to warm-up to Ruby. Her questionable actions throughout the story can be offputting, but as Halle peeled away her layers piece by piece, the reader gained insight into her psyche. A free spirt who spent most of the story running away from her past, hoping to find herself. Only to realise that what she was seeking laid in the very past she tried to escape. Luciano played for Sporting, one of the top football teams in Lisbon. He dreams of playing for Real Madrid one day. Soccer is his life, and it serves as his escape from the past of his traumatic childhood. A childhood with a father who abandoned him, an abusive stepfather and a mother who ignored him. Poor guy could not catch a break. Even as an adult, his stepfather found a myriad of ways to make his life miserable. Luciano and Ruby’s romance developed with many complexities. Based on the events, this could be see has a love triangle, because of Ruby’s back and forth between Luciano and his step-brother Marco. However, it went much deeper than that. From the start, Ruby and Luciano shared an intense connection, but as stated earlier, Ruby made questionable choices. The manner in which the Halle wove the threads of this romantic entanglement made it easy to accept. The One That Got Away is a story of healing, loss, passion, second chances, and a love that survived it all. An emotional story with a delightful and heartwarming conclusion. The narration was done by the duo of Samantha Cook and Jeremy York. They complimented each other. I’ve listened to Samantha previously and liked her delivery. She delivered as expected. Jeremy York is new to me. I enjoyed his narration, especially his voice for Luciano.

Accent of both of them was annoying. Second half of the storyline was not good. Choices made by both the characters didn’t correspond to the love they described they had for eachother.

The story was truly terrible. The female lead’s decisions made no sense and both leads’ thinking indicated they were of low intelligence. I kept expecting it to improve but it just didn’t.

The main plot is quite straightforward and you know what's going to happen, still you wish for the likable characters it wouldn't be like you think. I liked the male narrator sexy accent. Not the best book I ever read, but it gives me what I expect from a romantic novel as it is.

Not a bad read, but didn’t love it.

Over all I liked the book and enjoyed the stretches of time between when the main characters reconnected, although we didn’t hear the storyline while the two main characters were separated, everything didn’t happen instantly which was a likable change of pace for me. What I could have done with out was the Lucas Black from Slingblade country accent for the main female character which lessened kind of ebbed and flowed throughout the book. The accent was almost gone by the end, which was less grating.

Both narrators read their parts perfectly. You could feel the emotions in their voices. The struggles they had to over come were heartbreaking.

I love it.

Loved it!!!