The Best Worst Thing - by Lauren Okie (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From a stunning new voice in romance, Lauren Okie's The Best Worst Thing is an intimate story about starting over, second chances, and two people who cannot help falling into each other's orbit once again.

All things considered, Nicole Speyer has a pretty amazing life. At least that's what she tells herself. She's got a beautiful house, a relatively successful fertility podcast, and a perfect husband, Gabe. The only thing that's less than ideal is her years-long struggle with infertility--and how, with every passing day, she and Gabe seem to drift a little further apart.

But then, mere hours after a Hail Mary embryo transfer to her gestational carrier, Nicole discovers Gabe's been sleeping with their dog walker, and her world turns upside down. Suddenly, a jobless, childless, and now-husbandless Nicole finds herself at the doorstep of somebody she tried to say goodbye to a long time ago.

Logan Milgram: a former colleague with serious golden retriever energy who happens to be laugh-out-loud funny, a colossal nerd, and legitimately kind of hot. When Logan opens his door that night, it's like no time has passed. And as they fall back into each other's lives, Nicole starts recognizing herself in the mirror again. She even begins to like what she sees. And then, like a cruel joke, she gets the news she's spent a lifetime waiting for: her surrogate is finally pregnant.

As her relationship with Logan develops from a blast-from-the-past fling into something much deeper, Nicole struggles to balance her past, present, and future. Racing against the clock, she must learn to forgive her body for falling short and recognize that sometimes, it's the biggest betrayals in life that set us free. With everything on the line, can Nicole accept love from the greatest man she's ever known . . . even if it's nothing like the story she'd written for herself?

Review Quotes

"The Best Worst Thing is so sharp, sexy, and real. Every character feels like someone messy and raw and perfectly human. It's a refreshing novel with plenty of twists you don't see coming. Highly recommend this beautiful and redemptive debut!" -- Jamie Varon, author of Main Character Energy

"The Best Worst Thing is a stop-you-in-your-tracks kind of story--dazing and illuminating, filled with real, messy people figuring out what they want and deserve in the most heart-wrenching of circumstances. I inhaled every gorgeous word of Lauren Okie's prose. Absurdly sexy, psychologically rich, and joyously hopeful, Nicole and Logan's life-affirming love story will take permanent residence in your heart, and you'll be much better for it." -- Katie Naymon, author of You Between the Lines

"Lauren Okie's The Best Worst Thing squeezed my heart in the best possible way. It's a tender, honest and beautiful book." -- Amy T. Matthews, author of Someone Else's Bucket List

"A dynamic novel with so much heart, packed with adorable banter and very real and messy characters to root for; The Best Worst Thing has everything I love in a romance, and Lauren Okie's voice jumps off every page. A true delight of a read."

-- Natalie Sue, author of I Hope This Finds You Well

"With resonant prose and a full-hearted, unforgettable romance, Okie weaves a life's worth of humor and heartbreak, happiness and honesty into these pages. The Best Worst Thing is the best thing that's been on our bookshelves in a while." -- Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of The Roughest Draft

"The Best Worst Thing absolutely blew me away. It's sexy, complex, and raw, the perfect story of imperfect people in an impossible situation. Don't even get me started on the banter, which lands itself among the GREATS. Lauren Okie's writing is so ridiculously good that I had to put the book down a few times just to catch my breath. Consider me officially obsessed." -- Jessica Joyce, USA Today bestselling author of The Ex Vows

"The Best Worst Thing is read-in-one-sitting brilliance! The perfect blend of California summer romance, emotional depth, years of unresolved longing, and the constant sense of teetering on the edge of heartbreak. I loved every second!" -- Meg Jones, author of Clean Point