SPORTOCHICK’S MUSINGS: If you want a memorable read this, is it. Days after finishing the book I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

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The One and Only Vivian Stone

by Melissa O’Connor

Pub Date Jul 22 2025
Gallery Books

DESCRIPTION

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in this enchanting novel about estranged lovers reconnecting over mysterious tapes found in an attic and the old Hollywood secret hidden within them.

After her grandmother’s death, thirty-something Margot DuBois prepares to sell the house quickly so she can go back to her predictable life in Santa Barbara. There, no one knows she used to write and how not succeeding wrecked her confidence. While cleaning out the attic, she comes across eight unlabeled cassette tapes. Unable to use the damaged tape player, she calls in a favor from Leo—her first love and first epic heartbreak—and they strike a deal: he’ll fix the player if he can hear what’s on the tapes. When they manage to listen, the two are shocked to hear the voice of comedic legend Vivian Stone. Why did she record these tapes and how did Margot’s grandmother get them?

Between listening to Vivian recount everything from her forbidden love for Hollywood’s leading actor, to working under a misogynistic exec, to her chemistry with her costar-turned-husband on TV, Margot and Leo fall down a memory lane of their own. Margot is inspired by Vivian’s tenacity and courage to keep fighting for the life she wants, but everything changes when Vivian reveals a secret tied to her past in this moving exploration of how it’s never too late to start over.

REVIEW

If you want a memorable read this, is it. Days after finishing the book I could not get it out of my mind.

Margot DuBois finds seven out of eight damaged tapes while getting her recently deceased grandma’s house ready for sale. What follows is a dual storyline involving the tape recordings by Vivian Stone telling her love story from the past meanwhile Margot and Leo try to solve the tape mystery in the present day while reacquainting themselves after many years apart.

This story describes actors and actresses lives in the past whose lives were controlled by the movie industry if they wanted to continue acting. Love that was not allowed unless it was approved, relationships forced for the good of the studio and film imagine and deep heartbreak.

The ending made me cry for lost love, secrets that existed till the present day, and a new love story.

I give it 5 STARS for the deep emotions, love stories, and stellar presentation.

I received this book for free from Netgalley and Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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