SYNOPSIS:
Honor student, manager at the campus coffee shop, owner of an impressive sweater collection – Melanie Wilder has it all together. Then John “John Boy” Walden strolls into her life wearing nothing more than an impish grin and all-too-revealing loin cloth.
Soon, make-out sessions replace homework, lust triumphs over work. And to further crumble her perfect world, an unexpected phone call threatens to take away everything she’s worked for.
Now, as Melanie struggles to pick up the pieces, she realizes that John may be the only one to put her life back together…unless he shatters it first.
**This is not a sequel to The Only Exception. It's a companion novel with two characters from the first book. You don't need to read The Only Exception to understand this book.**
My thoughts after reading...
The Only One tells us about the love story of John Boy Walden and Melanie Wilder.
Melanie Wilder is a type-A student... Kind of a nerd, a bit of a prude, a bit paranoid when it comes to guys, and is the student-manager of the school's coffee shop.
John "John Boy" Walden is your typical college frat-boy. From the outside, he is this arrogant jackass who parties like there's no tomorrow and sleeps with anything that moves since he has women literally falling in line to get his attention and be with him... But as the story progresses, we learn that things...err...people aren't always what/who they seem to be. Hence the saying, "Dont be so quick to judge."
You know that story where your heart skids to a halt the moment you first laid your eyes on a certain person, and you forget to breathe for a couple of seconds?? Well, this ain't one of those...😜😁✌
Melanie and John Boy aren't total strangers with each other. Melanie is Monica Remy's childhood bestfriend while John Boy is Trey Chapman's fraternity brother. (Monica and Trey are the protagonists of the first book entitled THE ONLY EXCEPTION.)
Life indeed is full of surprises...We never know where it'll lead us or who it'll lead us to... John Boy's last relationship was when he was still in high school, while Melanie's last relationship lead to a heartbreak when she caught her douche' of a boyfriend doing somebody when she went for a surprise visit... It turns out, it was the other way around. This explains why Melanie is a bit of an emotional recluse... So...
It all started that one fateful night when Melanie went out with Monica and Trey to attend Alpha Mu's costume-frat party, and literally bumped into John Boy, and spilled the drink she had all-over her costume. So John Boy loans her a shirt. They go back to the party... They danced and made out... yeah yeah just made out 😒... Pffft... Anyway... Things kind of progressed from there... They started to hang-out more... Then started to flirt... light touches... Forehead kisses... But nothing more...(sigh)😌
It was beautiful, the way their relationship progressed. Of course there were bumps along the way...like Melanie's apprehensiveness & her insecurities.... and John Boy's reluctance to face his true feelings... But whats important is, they became good friends before diving into a more serious relationship.
There is always a lesson to every story... Here, I learned that its okay to be scared; that having a weak moment and having to break down sometimes is not a bad thing... Just coz we did, it doesn't mean we're weak per se... We're not cyborgs thats programmed to operate a certain way. Its okay to cry and be vulnerable. Its okay to lean on somebody for comfort... We're humans, and humans feel and need time to process and accept things.
Another lesson I learned is when you like or love someone, you tell them----as simple and as blunt as telling it to a child. Being adults, we tend to over-think and overanalyze things, which makes the situation even more complicated.
Never mindfuck anybody... if you love someone, tell 'em and show 'em...if you don't, then tell 'em that too, to avoid hurting the person more and to avoid wasting any more precious time... Be honest but also be circumspect. Everybody deserves to be someone's ONLY ONE....
And lastly, like I said earlier... We never know where or who this life will lead us to... We just have to have an open mind and heart... And try not to really sweat the small stuff; all the other things are just details that can be worked out if needed be.
This is a story about love at second sight...😉
Although this book is a stand-alone, I still recommend reading the first book, THE ONLY EXCEPTION.
For the fans of FOREVER BLACK by Sandi Lynn and WHEN YOU'RE READY by JL Berg, this is another book to add to your list. I highly recommend it🙏
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