LAURA HANKIN
One-Star Romance
“One-Star Romance will go down in history as the most ironically named novel ever. I give five giant stars to this funny, twisty and emotionally authentic story of true love and long friendship. I absolutely adored it.”
—Annabel Monaghan, bestselling author of Same Time Next Summer
“Laura Hankin takes a nightmare premise for any writer—the dreaded one-star review—and with her signature charm and humor weaves it into a perfect dream.”
—Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants
“Flat-out fun, laugh out loud funny, and voicey as hell, this is the book I will be shoving into friends’ hands this summer and demanding they fall in love with these characters, too!”
—Becca Freeman, author of The Christmas Orphans Club
A struggling writer is forced to walk down the aisle at her best friend’s wedding with the man who gave her book a very public one-star rating in this fresh romantic comedy from Laura Hankin.
Natalie and Rob couldn’t have less in common. Nat’s a messy artist, and Rob’s a rigid academic. The only thing they share is their devotion to their respective best friends—who just got engaged. Still, unexpected chemistry has Natalie cautiously optimistic about being maid of honor to Rob’s best man.
Until, minutes before the ceremony, Nat learns that Rob wrote a one-star review of her new novel. It has them both reeling: Nat from imposter syndrome, and Rob over the reason he needed to write it.
When the reception ends, these two opposites hope they’ll never meet again. But, as they slip from their twenties into their thirties, they’re forced together whenever their fast-track best friends celebrate another milestone. Through housewarmings and christenings, life-changing triumphs and failures, Natalie and Rob grapple with their own choices—and how your harshest critic can become your perfectly imperfect match.
After all, even the truest love stories sometimes need a bit of rewriting.
The Daydreams
Now available, coming to paperback May 7th!
Order here or through your local bookstore
“Laura Hankin has blessed us with a book so riveting that I emerged on the other side sweaty, exhilarated, and fully needing this to be real life.”
—Samantha Bee, comedian and host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
“Catnip for anyone who feels deeply about the private lives of popstars. If you wanted Britney free, read this book. Juicy and heartfelt. I couldn’t put it down.”
— Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow
"The perfect novel to complement the return of cargo pants, platform flip-flops, and all other things Y2K…Forget Watch What Happens Live or even The Hills: This book is what you wish you could see on live TV."
—Harper's Bazaar
Back in 2004, The Daydreams had it all: a cast of innocent-seeming teenagers acting and singing their hearts out, amazing ratings, and a will-they-or-won’t-they romance that steamed up fan fiction forums. Then, during the live season two finale, it all imploded, leaving everyone scrambling to understand why.
Afterward, the four stars went down very different paths. Kat is now a lawyer in Washington, DC. Liana is the bored wife of a famous athlete. Noah, the show’s golden boy, emerged unscathed and is poised to become a household name. And Summer, the object of Noah’s fictional (and maybe real-life) affections, is the cautionary tale.
But now the fans are demanding a reunion special. The stars all have private reasons to come back: forgiveness, revenge, a second chance with a first love. But as they tentatively rediscover the magic of the original show, old secrets threaten to resurface—including the real reason behind their downfall.
Will this reunion be a chance to make things right? Or will it be the biggest mess the world has ever seen? No matter what, the ratings will be wild.
Happy & You Know It
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As seen in The Washington Post • Good Housekeeping • theSkimm • Good Morning America • ABC News • Book of the Month • Belletrist • OK! Magazine • Betches • Newsweek • New York Post
A dark, witty page-turner about a struggling young musician who takes a job singing for a playgroup of overprivileged babies and their effortlessly cool moms, only to find herself pulled into their glamorous lives and dangerous secrets….
After her former band shot to superstardom without her, Claire reluctantly agrees to a gig as a playgroup musician for wealthy infants on New York’s Park Avenue. Claire is surprised to discover that she is smitten with her new employers, a welcoming clique of wellness addicts with impossibly shiny hair, who whirl from juice cleanse to overpriced miracle vitamins to spin class with limitless energy.
There is perfect hostess Whitney who is on the brink of social-media stardom and just needs to find a way to keep her flawless life from falling apart. Caustically funny, recent stay-at-home mom Amara who is struggling to embrace her new identity. And old money, veteran mom Gwen who never misses an opportunity to dole out parenting advice. But as Claire grows closer to the stylish women who pay her bills, she uncovers secrets and betrayals that no amount of activated charcoal can fix.
Filled with humor and shocking twists, Happy and You Know It is a brilliant take on motherhood – exposing it as yet another way for society to pass judgment on women – while also exploring the baffling magnetism of curated social-media lives that are designed to make us feel unworthy. But, ultimately, this dazzling novel celebrates the unlikely bonds that form, and the power that can be unlocked, when a group of very different women is thrown together when each is at her most vulnerable.
A Special Place for Women
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“One of the smartest, sharpest, and funniest books I’ve read in years… Some books are meant to be devoured—this one does the devouring.”—Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of People We Meet on Vacation
For years, rumors have swirled about an exclusive, women-only social club where the elite tastemakers of NYC meet. People in the know whisper all sorts of claims: Membership dues cost $1,000 a month. Last time Rihanna was in town, she stopped by and got her aura read. The women even handpicked the city’s first female mayor. But no one knows for sure.
That is, until journalist Jillian Beckley decides she’s going to break into the club. With her career in freefall, Jillian needs a juicy scoop, and she has a personal interest in bringing these women down. But the deeper she gets into this new world—where billionaire “girlbosses” mingle with witchy Bohemians—the more Jillian learns that bad things happen to those who dare to question the club’s motives or giggle at its outlandish rituals.
The select group of women who populate the club may be far more powerful than she ever imagined.
And far more dangerous too.