The One & Only by Emily Giffin {Review + Photos}

This post is sponsored by BookSparksPR in honor of their 

4th annual Summer Reading Challenge. Check out all the details here.

Okay so this post is going to be a long one.. The first part will be all about the book review, which I highly recommend. The second part will be photos of the Book Signing I went to with Emily Giffin. Ahhhhh.. Sooo excited. And someone very special and sexy made an appearance. :)

Title : The One & Only

Author: Emily Giffin

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Release Date: May 20th, 2014

Summary from GoodReads:

Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas—a small college town that lives and dies by football, a passion she unabashedly shares. Raised alongside her best friend, Lucy, the daughter of Walker’s legendary head coach, Clive Carr, Shea was too devoted to her hometown team to leave. Instead she stayed in Walker for college, even taking a job in the university athletic department after graduation, where she has remained for more than a decade.

But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she’s chosen is really enough for her. As she finally gives up her safety net to set out on an unexpected path, Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she has always trusted most—and is forced to confront her deepest desires, fears, and secrets.

Thoughtful, funny, and brilliantly observed, The One & Only is a luminous novel about finding your passion, following your heart, and, most of all, believing in something bigger than yourself . . . the one and only thing that truly makes life worth living

My Take: I'm loving it. I'm about 80% done with the book. And I really liked it. Yesterday at the book signing they described the book "a mix between Friday Night Lights and When Harry Met Sally". And I think it is a perfect combination. The book takes place in Texas, the capital of football. 
The book follows the life of Shea, a 33 year old, who still lives in her small hometown, where she grew up, went to college, and works. She is OBSESSED with the game of football. She lives, eats and breathes football. She grew up alongside her best friend Lucy. Lucy is the daughter of football coach Clive Carr.  But when a tragic event shakes her close-knit small town, she begins to question her relationships with men, love and even her job. 
Coach Carr has become Shea's role model and "all-time favorite person. " When Coach helps Shea get her dream job working as a sport reporter to Coach's team, she is ecstatic. But soon she realizes that she has to look deep within herself to admit things that  she never admitted before.  I love how Emily Giffin, makes her characters so relatable. Although this is slightly different than her other books like "Something Borrowed" I highly recommend it. And don't worry, if you know nothing about football. It think Emily Giffin does a good way to mesh romance with sports. :) 

Rating: 4 out of  5
My other Summer Reading Challenge reviews: Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan Cure for the Common Breakup by Beth Kendrick
Find my other reviews here: Book Thoughts

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I was so excited to go to the book signing. Although I went by myself, I did make new friends, which was really cool. Emily Giffin is so down to earth, and so sweet and hilarious. She talked about how The One & Only came about and how she thought it would be a good idea to make football a part of the story. She answered questions about all her books. She talked about how she likes the way she ends her book, "they aren't tied up in a perfect bow" but the characters are in a good place.  She did confirmed that there will be a movie adaptation for Where We Belong. And then talking about movie adaptations this cutie pops in. 

Yes that is Colin Egglesfield aka Dex from the movie Something Borrowed. He is so gorgeous. He even read an excerpt from The One & Only. And yes it was one of the sexy scenes in the book, his favorite. Also, Something Blue will be made into a movie.. Ahhh.. She didn't say when... but it will be done.

It was my first author book sign, and I had so much fun. :) 

What's your favorite Emily Giffin book?