Roxie Cooper writes about Stephanie Carpenter and Jamie Dobson who just happen to coincidentally meet at Heathfield House in 2006, just as Stephanie had made her mind up that she was going to leave the Arts and Photography course being run there. Stephanie is obviously suffering from personal trauma, afflicted by panic attacks, there are broad hints of major issues from her past, and she is trying to get back on track in her life, supported by her psychotherapist, Jane. Feeling a strong connection to Jamie, Stephanie stays for the course, surprised when Jamie turns out to be art tutor on the course. Jamie is a passionate art teacher in a struggling state school, he is married to his childhood sweetheart, Helen, who works in advertising, constantly trying to persuade Jamie to leave his poorly paid teaching post and take up more commercial art roles that pay significantly better. He loves Helen, but there is no way he wants to work in a more soulless environment. Stephanie is engaged to be married to Matt, but whilst the two of them are such different personalities, they feel such desperately strong feelings for each other. This is the story of their relationship through a decade in which they are married to other people, have children, but just cannot forget about each other, despite the pain and heartbreak.

Jamie and Stephanie actually meet each other on very few occasions, initially an annual get together at Heathfield House, keeping their relationship secret from their respective partners. Whilst Stephanie edges ever closer to acknowledging and acting on her deep feelings for Jamie, he cannot contemplate the break up his marriage and family, despite the strains of his relationship with Helen. Guilt and pressure from Helen after she secures a much sought after promotion in London has them moving to a commutable Cambridge village, which just happens to be closer to where Stephanie lives. Music plays a important role in their relationship, where they text each other links to YouTube songs that express an big aspect of their feelings for each other. There is a lovely moment in which a drunk Stephanie belts out a Dreamgirls musical number originally sung by Jennifer Hudson, a beautiful if flawed performance of 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going' for Jamie. This is a epic story of complex and complicated emotions, of just how messy life can get in a marriage, of how one can fail to grow and develop together in a relationship or change so drastically that what once made sense, goes on to become a nightmarish source of never ending pain.

Roxie Cooper slowly reveals Stephanie's demons, the death of her mother, her troubled past when she went completely off the rails, her slow steps to becoming more self aware about her past and her relationship with Matt. Jane, her therapist, plays a central role in nudging Stephanie in the direction of painful self truths. For Jamie, he responds to Stephanie's efforts to help him realise his inner dreams and ambitions to become an artist, something Helen has never supported him in. There is heartbreak and glimpses of real joy in the relationship and romance between the couple, and Cooper does a stellar job in her characterisation to make both of them feel like flawed and authentic real people. This novel is for all those who want to read about a story of love against all the odds, with the kind of characters you can believe in and root for. An wonderfully entertaining and engaging read. Many thanks to Random House Ebury for an ARC.

The best love story I have read this year, heartrending, happy ,sad, I went through all the emotions .Definitely a must-read !!

I read The Day We Met over a few days. It’s a wonderful story that’s heartbreaking, emotive and powerful. It’s a story that will stay with you for a king term afterwards.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK Ebury Publishing and the author for the chance to review.

Really enjoyed this book and would defiantly read other books by the same author. Easy reading and managed to finish book over two days as I found it hard to put down.

I have to admit I struggled with the start of this book. I’ve seen so many friends and family crushed recently by the betrayal of infidelity and so this book didn’t sit too well to start with. However it showed me the grey side of relationships and the bond between the two of them. I did enjoy it although the ending definitely blinded me so be prepared for that! A good read

What a fabulous book! So much more than the normal girly romance book.I cried, I laughed and to be honest I was left with this story on my mind well after finishing!

Give it a go, it might just be the most thought provoking book of 2019.

A well written, well conceived love story across the years. Definitely one for fans of light romance and “chicklit” which is a horrible term. Light romance with characters who are relatable and who you want to invest the time in

Great book for by the pool or curled up by the fire

I truly loved this book - a must for all those romantics out there although my first thought when I read the ‘blurb’ was that it was all wrong, surely nothing excuses you from betraying your partner.

Stephanie arrives at an art retreat weekend in a hotel - her family and her fiancé think it will be good for her but she isn’t so sure and is on the verge of leaving when she claps eyes on Jamie and something just clicks. He too feels this invisible pull and despite the fact they both are in happy, solid relationships with other people they are drawn to one another. From then on in they secretly meet one another once a year and over the course of a decade their feelings for one another intensify. They know their relationship can’t develop beyond what it is as they are both tied to other people but they can’t let it go.

The story is told, over the course of the decade, from the points of view of both Jamie and Stephanie and through this not only do we hear about their stolen precious time together but we build up a picture of their lives out with these times and their relationships with their spouses, friends and family.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Stephanie and Jamie meet one weekend in 2006, and have a connection. Trouble is, they’re both with other people, and reasonably content in their relationships. Stephanie doesn’t believe in fate, true love or living happily ever after. She’s content enough being engaged to Matt. Jamie is happily married to his childhood sweetheart Helen and believes in everything Stephanie doesn’t. So why does he have such a strong connection with Stephanie?

Roxie Cooper’s new book The Day We Met is all about the years that go by, the choices we make, and the relationships we have.

Stephanie and Jamie can’t forget each other. Choice and circumstance keeps bringing them together, and they have to decide whether they can live apart. As Stephanie’s therapist asks her after ten years of lamenting time without Jamie, why settle for being happy on just one day a year?

They justify their occasional and continued seeing of each other because it never gets physical. This opens up questions as to what counts as cheating and the moral transgression of emotional infidelity.

There’s obviously echoes of the trope from David Nicholls’ One Day, but it works well and doesn’t feel forced or ripped off. Music plays a key part in the novel – so much so that Cooper has created a playlist to accompany it.

I didnt enjoy this one - I just could not relate to the characters, particularly when they agreed to continue meeting despite being in relationships with other people. In addition, I didnt understand why these meetings continued for so long. There was never any proper reason given for why these two characters continued their affairs instead of leaving their current partners. I think others might enjoy this book but it was not for me.

If you like romance books that are smart and witty and break your heart - read this!!!

However, for those with weak nerves, craving at least an occasional sex scene...not the best pick. Seriously, though, it's 2019 - and the sex scene is still a fade out? Roxie Cooper goes all out to describe their kissing and grabbing each other, the tossing on the bed in great detail, including all the panting and how they each smell, but later the actual sex is simple...blank in-between paragraphs?! Hmm...

In my opinion, the best and most brilliant part of this story is how realistic the two dead-love-beat narrators are. It felt like reading a book version of GIRLS as far as romance is concerned. They click, they swoon, the flirt...and then they return to their other halves (aside from the empty paragraph of a sex scene in the middle of the book).

I loved it, don't get me wrong.

I hate the sappy, predictable, six-pack, accidental BBQ bikini scene airport novels that nobody on this planet has ever felt happen in real life. This story is real life all the way. But it blows, too.

Blows your mind reading, and also blows for both narrators because instead of each other they get that nasty, stinky, ugly thing called real life. Although, a true Shakespearian could argue if you really can love two people with the exact same strength. And if not with the exact same then maybe you should be able to choose the one that will make you the happiest and stick.

I loved both characters with all of their indecision and flaws. Very Colleen Hoover, in many ways as well. Both the story with their YouTube texts and also dialogue.

Highly recommend to tough love lovers. With one tiny but a necessary warning. This story is something-something meets ONE DAY, be ready for when IT comes!!! I wasn't and it killed me.

Thank you Penguin Random House for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Absolutely adored this book!!! This was so emotive in many different ways, it kept you in a total will they, won't they suspense through a lot of it only for the twist at the end!

Be prepared to cry but be in total love with the story!

A romantic story full of emotion and fated love💕

Roxie Cooper has painted a beautiful Story with her words... she turned me the cynic into a true believer in soulmates, well for at least the length of this book... sometimes I wonder why I Love reading romance, I certainly don’t believe in epic love or one true love or soulmates or any of that... but then again I occasionally enjoy a vampire or werewolf book and I certainly don’t believe in them either... this is a book that on paper I really should not have enjoyed, it is about two people who are involved with other people who cannot help but be drawn to one another... my cynical and jaded brain says, BS people can help who they are drawn to, and people aren’t drawn to others unless they’re out looking for it, so I don’t buy this premise for one single minute! And I probably still believe all this, however this book was aBSOLUTELY FABULOUS!

Stephanie and Jamie meet one weekend at an art retreat... Stephanie and Jamie have instant chemistry, the problem? Stephanie is engaged to Matt and Jamie is married to Helen... Stephanie and Jamie recognize there is a strong connection between them unlike no other, but they respect their significant others.... for the next decade they meet up about once a year as friends, but can two people with this strong of a connection stay just friends? Now my logical brain at this point was saying, I certainly wouldn’t want someone to stay with me when they were this fated to be with somebody else? And I think that was my biggest struggle with this Matt and Helen deserve better than what they were getting... but life is messy and nothing is ever black-and-white, this book really had my emotions flying all over the place....

The story is told from the perspective of both Jamie and Stephanie... and not just when they are together we also got a front row seat look at their family life with their significant others who were good people.... Stephanie and Jamie were also extremely likable, seriously I really liked these two characters and I really wanted them to end up together, even though I thought it was wrong... or maybe I didn’t? See what I’m saying very messy and a whole lot of gray! Matt and Helen were very likable as well I wanted nothing but the best for them, I was so torn throughout this entire book... this book was truly playing with my emotions and then... and then... that ending! What? All I’m going to say is have tissue handy!

An exquisite love story that will pull at your heartstrings and leave you reeling and in tears! Recommend!

🎵🎵🎵 Song Running Through My Head The day we met,
Frozen I held my breath
Right from the start
I knew that I'd found a home for my heart
Beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall
But watching you stand alone?
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow
One step closer
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this
One step closer
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
And all along I believed I would find you...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rtOvBOTyX00

*** A big thank you too Ebury Publishing for my copy of this book ***

I know I’m in the minority with my review but I didn’t enjoy this story very much. It certainly is an epic love story as is promised but the characters never felt real to me and the conversations would have made me run a mile rather than stay.
Shock at the end I didn’t see coming but heartless soul that I am no tears from me.

I’m a little hesitant to start writing this review because once I start telling everyone how good it is, I don’t think I will ever be able to stop!

Stephanie and Jamie are two people who are in happy, separate relationships and certainly not out for an ego enhancing, sordid affair with someone they bumped into on the street. However, when their paths collide a spark goes off between them that is almost palpable. They become addicted to each other, not just physically but emotionally, they kind of complete each other, and yet, they only get to spend fleeting moments together once a year.

The book resonated with me because the situation between Steph and Jamie could happen to anyone. Imagine feeling content and strongly committed in a loving relationship, and then suddenly someone appears who just exceeds everything. Infidelity and sincerity are not usually seen in the same sentence. However, these two cared so deeply for everyone around them, tried desperately to restrain the relationship and went through ten years of heartache because they put other people’s feelings before their own.

I loved how the author uses music references throughout the book as a form of communication between the two. We get to hear about Steph’s past when she visits a therapist each month and we find out why she is so fragile. The author cleverly demonstrates how certain relationships mirror previous ones and how we should embrace what fate throws at us.

The book is written in a very, direct, honest manner with beautiful imagery that completely captivates. It isn’t gushing and over- effusive but direct and genuine.

I did cry at times, and there is sadness as well as love. I have always hung on to the idea that there is a soulmate out there for everyone… and this book just makes it feel possible.

Unfortunately, I didn't click with this novel at all. I couldn't engage with the characters, and therefore didn't care about whether they ended up in a relationship or not, which is the very essence of reading a love story. This is in many ways the same theme as the brilliant One Day by David Nicholls but without the charm, without the fun, and with too many cliches and too many plot twists towards the end, like a Christmas episode of a soap opera. It's very well-written and not terribly long, which saved it from being unfinishable - it's not bad, it just gets quite boring to watch the lives of two characters that you're not convinced about. Sadly, just telling me that the characters have an amazing connection isn't enough for me to feel it - and other writers have written more interestingly and with greater empathy about adultery, too, so it doesn't bring anything through that aspect either. Ultimately this opened nicely and had potential, but missed me as I didn't feel the chemistry of the characters.

Oh my, what a book! I had been putting this one off because I thought it would be a belter and I wasn’t in the right headspace for it, but had seen a flurry of reviews coming in for release day and knew I needed to get my act together. I was NOT prepared for this book! I loved seeing the characters grow over the years, and felt a real connection to every one of them (even the minor side characters) which is thanks to the wonderful writing and world/character building that has formed this book. The perfect book to accompany me through some sick days off work... I just wish I had been prepared with a box of tissues! I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good relationship driven read, and particularly fans of books by the likes of authors such as Jojo Moyes. I can’t wait to see what comes next (but would love to follow up with Ebony or Jamie!!)

Two people meet and have an instant connection. They both have their separate lives and families but once a year meet up to continue their romance.
A very similar format to One Day but not as interesting. Everything is sugar-coated and fails to deal with just how this affects the rest of their families.
And as for the last few chapters - they are very cheesey and add nothing to the story.

This was such a wonderful little read. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did and also was not expecting it to be such a moving read. I felt the characters were very believable and also the situations they find themselves in throughout the book which really helped me see the story play out.

Highly recommend.

I loved this book but really struggled with liking the characters and wanting them to be together! To steal a word from another reviewer I felt betrayed by the ending and think I'll ignore the last part of the story. I'd definitely read other books by this author.