I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did.
Look, I listened to the first 365 Days. I watched the Netflix movie during one of those late-night baby-won't-sleep marathons where your standards for entertainment drop to basically "does it have subtitles I can read in the dark?" So when This Day popped up as the sequel, I figured hey, guilty pleasure, perfect for car time. Sophie was napping. The older two were at school. I had my iced coffee and 11 hours of Sicilian mafia romance ahead of me.
And then Laura opened her mouth.
Laura Biel Is Harder to Root For Than a Toddler at Bedtime
Here's the thing about sequels in spicy romance - the heroine needs to grow at least a little, right? In this one, Laura has literally everything: the grand wedding, the palazzo, the baby on the way, the dangerous-but-devoted husband. And somehow she's become MORE insufferable. The constant fixation on designer brands, the jealousy spirals that go nowhere, the decisions that made me whisper-yell "WHY" in my parked car - it's a lot. I manage a five-year-old who argues about wearing pants. I don't need my fictional heroines acting less mature than Lucas.
The plot spins its wheels for huge stretches. There are scenes that feel like they exist only to describe another outfit or another luxury purchase, and I kept waiting for the thriller element - the kidnapping threat, the mafia danger - to actually kick in and give the story some momentum. It does eventually, but by then I'd already mentally reorganized my pantry twice during the slow parts.
The Sebastian York Bait-and-Switch
Okay, can we talk about this? Sebastian York is on the cover. Sebastian York is in the marketing. Sebastian York is the reason half of us clicked "add to library." And Sebastian York narrates roughly - and I'm being generous here - maybe 1% of this book. Maybe. I kept waiting for his chapters to come back and they just... didn't.
Maya Starling carries the entire 11 hours basically solo. And she's fine? She handles the emotional scenes well enough and her pacing works for the romantic moments. But when the book itself is dragging through repetitive jealousy-shopping-jealousy-sex-jealousy cycles, even a solid narrator can't save it. I actually bumped my speed up to 1.5x during the middle stretch, which I almost never do because I lose track of things. But honestly, there wasn't that much to lose track of.
The dual narrator setup is such a missed opportunity. When York IS there, the contrast between his voice and Starling's works - you get that male perspective energy that breaks up the interior monologue. But it's like ordering a pizza with two toppings and getting one tiny olive on the whole thing.
Comparing Notes: This Day vs. 365 Days
The first book had problems too, don't get me wrong. But it had momentum. The premise was wild enough to keep you listening just to see what happened next. This sequel takes that energy and buries it under domestic drama that isn't interesting enough to be a family saga and isn't steamy enough (consistently, anyway) to work as pure escapist romance. It's caught in a weird middle ground. The closest thing I've found to scratching that itch for glamour and drama without the wheel-spinning is Sex and Vanity - it's got the luxury settings and romantic tension but actually earns its pace.
The spicy scenes are still there, and they're explicit - content warning for sure, this is not one to accidentally play on the Bluetooth speaker during carpool. (The paranoia alone would age me ten years.) But between those scenes, there's a lot of Laura being jealous, Laura shopping, Laura being jealous while shopping. I've read grocery lists with more plot development.
Who's Going to Love This Anyway
If you watched the Netflix movies and loved them - like LOVED loved them, have a Massimo wallpaper on your phone, the whole thing - you'll probably still enjoy this because you're invested in these characters in a way that transcends the writing. And that's valid. Sometimes we love what we love.
But if you're coming in hoping the sequel improves on the first book? Or if you're buying this for Sebastian York's narration? Set those expectations way, way down. Like, basement level.
The Mom Who Didn't Finish During Nap Time (And Wasn't Mad About It)
I did finish it. Took me about a week and a half, which is longer than my usual because I kept not reaching for it. That's my honest litmus test - when I'm excited about a book, I manufacture listening time. I'll fold laundry I already folded. I'll take the long route to school. With this one, I'd get to the car and sometimes just... sit in the quiet instead. And the quiet won.
Not every book needs to be groundbreaking. I say that all the time and I mean it. But it does need to be fun, or moving, or at least consistently entertaining. This Day is sporadically entertaining at best, and at 11 hours, that's a lot of filler between the good parts.
