One-Star Romance

Some love stories start with a meet-cute. Laura Hankin’s One-Star Romance starts with a scathing review. Natalie and Rob meet because their best friends are getting married, and from the start they agree on almost nothing, least of all a one-star verdict on a novel Natalie loves.

The book synopsis

Over the following years, through weddings, birthdays, career changes and the ups and downs of their friends’ lives, Natalie and Rob keep being thrown together. Each meeting brings a new argument. Each argument shows a little more about who they really are. Hankin uses that long stretch of time to make a familiar enemies-to-lovers setup feel lived in and earned.

The novel is funny and sharp about creative ambition and criticism: what it means to make something, put it into the world, and have strangers judge it. It is also tender about the friendships that hold people together as their twenties turn into their thirties.

About the author

Laura Hankin is a novelist based in Washington, D.C. Before writing fiction she worked in theatre and comedy, writing and performing musical comedy, and that sense of timing runs through her books. Her earlier novels include Happy & You Know It, A Special Place for Women and The Daydreams, a story about the former cast of a teen variety show reuniting.

Her fiction keeps returning to performance, reputation and the gap between how people present themselves and who they are. One-Star Romance brings those interests to the romantic comedy, a genre she clearly loves and knows well.

Why readers love it

Readers who enjoy banter-driven romance, long-game slow burns and stories in which friendships matter as much as the love story will find a lot to like. Despite the title, the reviews have been generous.