99% Mine: the perfect laugh out loud romcom from the bestselling author of The Hating Game

by Sally Thorne

'The next Sophie Kinsella' BUSTLE

'A brilliant, biting, hilarious new voice' KRISTAN HIGGINS

'I would read Sally Thorne's grocery list. She is THAT good' GOODREADS

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Crush (n.): a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach . . .

Darcy Barrett found her dream man at age eight - ever since, she's had to settle for good enough. Having conducted a global survey of men, she can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that he's her twin brother Jamie's best friend - oh, and that ninety-nine of the time, he hasn't seemed interested in her.

When the twins inherit their grandmother's tumble-down cottage, they're left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory. Darcy plans to leave as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run - her usual MO - she finds a familiar face on her porch: Tom's arrived bearing power tools, and he's single for the first time in almost a decade.

Suddenly Darcy's sticking around. Sparks start to fly - and not just because of the faulty wiring. But a one percent chance with Tom is no longer enough. This time around, Darcy's switching things up. She's going to make Tom Valeska ninety-nine percent hers.

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Find out why everyone is obsessed with Sally Thorne

'The perfect sexy, fun love story to read by the pool' PAIGE TOON on 99% Mine

'Charming, self-deprecating, quick-witted and funny.' The New York Times on The Hating Game

'A smart and funny modern romance.' Good Housekeeping on The Hating Game

'One of the most delectable rom-coms I've ever read' Entertainment Weekly on The Hating Game

• ISBN10: 0349422885
• ISBN13: 9780349422886
• Publish Date: 29 January 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Piatkus Books
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[stacey_is_sassy]

Being perfect isn’t everything…

***4.5 Stars***

I met Sally Thorne at a book signing a couple of years back and if I hadn’t loved her before then I would have loved her after meeting her. She’s the cutest little thing and she was FREAKING OUT in a *strangers want to TALK TO ME* kind of way. I think we as readers forget that authors are just like us and may or may not love to be the centre of attention. I gave her a hug and tried to convince her that it would all be OK, just take it one fan at a time. She gave me that deer in the headlights look, took a deep breath and returned to her side of the table. I love book signings.

While I was talking to Sally, I was doing my own version of fangirling and congratulating her on The Hating Game. I asked her how her second book was going, and she admitted that she was struggling with the amount of pressure she was under to produce something different but as good as her first. I gave her all the peppy speeches that I thought any new author would want to hear and told her…she’ll be right, mate. And, guess what, she was right, mate.

I admit to starting 99 Percent Mine a little hesitantly. I didn’t want to set my expectations too high. Maybe, in the back of my mind, I was remembering her worries, and I was hoping she had worried for nothing. But, when you’re reading a new author’s second book, especially when it’s not part of a series, you kind of expect it to not be as good.

OMG!! I’m such a horrible person!! I can’t believe I just admitted ^^^that^^^ to you.

Hello, my name is Stacey (who thinks she’s Sassy, but I’m pretty sure it’s all in her head), and I admit to having low expectations when it comes to reading the second book by a new author…

Now, I have that off my chest, let me tell you how I felt about Sally Thorne’s second book.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! There were highs and lows that sent my emotions crazy. I was so frustrated with Darcy for a lot of the book. She’s a self-destructive, scaredy cat who does a runner whenever things go dodgy. So, I was frustrated but could completely relate to her. I even started dreaming of doing a runner myself. How cool would it be to just pack your bags and leave your troubles behind? Obviously, I’d need to pack my hubby and kids bags too, sell the house, try and learn how to home-school my kids…stuff it…too much like hard work.

Anyways, Darcy was a very interesting character. She has been in love with Tom since she was a kid but said the wrong thing to him when she was 18, and nearly ruined their friendship. Time moves along and she runs, runs, runs and runs some more, and Tom moves on with his life. Luckily, they’ve stayed friends because the other most important person in her life, her twin brother Jamie, is Tom’s best friend.

There is absolutely no way I can go further into this storyline because it would take a ten-part-exposition to explain it all. I will tell you this, I loved 99 Percent Mine especially because it wasn’t perfect. The characters are not perfect, the love between the characters broke my heart, and they all made so many mistakes. Secrets, fibs, manipulations and trust are all things that made my emotions boil. It was so bloody realistic. Sometimes you make a bad choice, take a runner instead of standing your ground, and manipulate to get the best outcome. In the end, I was extremely happy with how it all played out and completely convinced that Tom and Darcy would struggle through together for the rest of their lives.

Sally, you so got it right. 99 Percent Mine was perfect in an imperfect kind of way. Who wants to be perfect when it’s so good to be bad.

Stacey is Sassy, received a complimentary copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.

[Cocktails and Books]

I enjoyed this one. Darcy was quirky and let her competitiveness with her brother often get in the way of her life. Tom did everything to please everyone, but it was clear which Bennett twin was his favorite...even if he couldn’t get out of his own way to get what he wanted.

[Rowena]

I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as I enjoyed The Hating Game and I did think Darcy and Tom had a weird relationship on their own but then you throw in Darcy's twin and his part in their little sharing of Tom, it gets even weirder. But even with all of those little issues, I still rather enjoyed this book and Darcy's personality made me laugh even when I was shaking my head. She was fun and when she finally gets her crap together, I was glad because she got even better.

[Sam@WLABB]

I had a lot of emotions as I read this book, and in the end, if Darcy had taken my portrait, it would have looked a lot like this:



Many of the things, which made me love Thorne's previous book, The Hating Game, were present in this book. Great chemistry, snappy banter, some serious heat - it was all there, but what I really adored was the history the couple shared.

Darcy and Tom were childhood friends. I mean, Tom was practically her family's third child, and he remained close to Darcy's parents and her twin brother, who was considered Tom's best friend. It was love at first sight for Darcy, but she always felt that Tom belonged to her brother, and he was only about 1% her's. When Tom finally became a possibility, Darcy fled. She led this vagabond life, never letting herself love someone, because that "someone" would never be Tom. And THEN, fate intervened. Once again, Tom was a possibility, and this time, Darcy was determined to make him 99% her's, and I know I was rooting for her to make it happen.

I think my heart physically hurt, when I learned Darcy's thoughts regarding her unrequited love for Tom. Her feelings of longing and loss, when it came to him, were palpable. Imagine having to maintain contact with the one you will forever long for, the one you think you could never have. It was heartbreaking, and because of that and the fact that I grew to love both Darcy and Tom, I NEEDED them to finally act upon their feelings for one another.

I won't lie. It wasn't insta-love for me when it came to Darcy. She was quite hard and brash, and I was sort of buying into the picture her family painted of her. However, as the story played out, I learned a lot about her and started to understand why she was the way she was. She was sort of wild with many, many quirks, but, I will admit, her impulsiveness and lack of filter created some of the most hilarious moments in the book.

Now, Tom I loved from page one. Remember, I was seeing him through the eyes of a women, who has adored him for decades, so he definitely came across as a unicorn-man via Darcy. But, his actions backed up what Darcy was seeing, and let me tell you, he was all sorts of wonderful.

Why 4 instead of 5 stars? Once again, I would have loved to have the hero's point of view. I did feel like there was a lot of honest discussions between the two, so we weren't totally in the dark about how Tom felt, but his POV would have help present a clearer picture, when it came to certain things. I also felt like some of the side drama was detracting from the central focus, which was the push-and-pull romance between Darcy and Tom. However, I had the opportunity to share enough really special moments with those two, that more than made up for any wee thing that bothered me.

And, the ENDING! I was crying and smiling and I loved it so much. In fact, I have a huge grin on my face and some tears in my eyes, right now, as I relate this to you (see picture above). It was a good ending, and it has me wondering if maybe we will revisit this world. It seemed like there could be a story brewing for Darcy's brother, Jamie. Pssst, Sally Thorne, I would love to read that story.

Overall: Another solid romance from Thorne, which made me laugh, cry, swoon, and smile.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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