Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: One More Time
AUTHOR: Eden Winters
PUBLISHER: Rocky Ridge Books
LENGTH: 64 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2021
BLURB:
Running. Always running. From a crappy childhood, horrible parents, and the idea that I’ll never amount to anything. Nothing fills the void in my soul. Every new accomplishment falls short. Always one more goal, one more win, just to feel complete. Welcome to the never-ending lie of my reality.
Now I must watch the latest big chance slip through my fingers, thanks to a snowstorm standing between me and the high-paying job that might finally make me feel worthy. Snowed in at the airport, I come face to face with my biggest regret.
Quinn, the man I loved for ten years. The man I still love. The man I unceremoniously threw away. Seeing Quinn drives home all that I willingly, and emptily, sacrificed.
Perhaps, in my search for belonging, I’ll see a chance to stop grasping at an elusive future, and instead embrace an unexpected second chance in the present.
REVIEW:
“Fate gave us one more night. A night now ended.”
Snowstorm…cancelled flight…only one hotel room left…only one bed. Add a second chance romance and you have all the fixings for Eden Winters’ novella, One More Time. Evan and Quinn were shy, mostly closeted college students when they met in a bar. They were together for ten years until Evan broke things off after realizing they no longer wanted the same things in life. He grew up in a neglectful home and needed to finally escape his hometown. Unfortunately, he wasn’t kind to Quinn when he left.
Three years later, Evan is stranded at the airport, about to miss the job opportunity of a lifetime because a snowstorm has caused his flight to be cancelled. He’s still struggling to find what makes him happy in life, and although he’s moved away to Chicago, he hasn’t achieved what he left Quinn to pursue. Evan’s nursing a drink in an airport bar when none other than his first and only love, Quinn, sidles up. Although he’s still single, Quinn has moved on, becoming successful in his career and happily still living near his large family in Ohio. Evan still loves Quinn, and he strongly regrets the past, but does Quinn feel the same?
Being snowbound with the only hotel room left – with one bed – is a common and fun trope, but we aren’t given a fresh take on it in One More Time. Evan and Quinn are amiable but don’t benefit from strong characterization. There’s a happy ending, but overall, the story is pleasant but uninspired.
RATING: 
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