This story was difficult to get into for me! Cressida and Ivo as characters were complex and well-developed, which I felt like was the best part of the story. It definitely read more like a quirky mystery than a romantic comedy.

The story follows longtime friends Cressida and Ivo as they investigate a local crime together that involves a lost red squirrel. While they have known each other a long time, it is not until this mission bringing them together that they begin to reveal truths about themselves to each other, Cressida has always been "half in love" with Ivo, but doesn't know if he reciprocates those feelings. The plot focuses much more on the mystery at hand than the relationship between the two characters, until much later on in the book.

As an American reader, I think that a lot of the humor was lost on me. The writing is filled with British colloquialisms that haven't yet made it across the pond. I think this also contributed to what made the story a bit slow and hard to get into.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cressida Tarbet loves her job at an animal rescue centre but she has to scrimp to make ends meet. Meanwhile, her best friend Ivo lives in his ancestral gatehouse stuffed with antiques and art. Despite their different upbringings, Ivo has held Cress’s heart ever since she met him at university but she has never told him so. So, when a mystery and a baffling crime throw Cress and Ivo together, she can’t help but wonder if fate is telling her something. They grow closer as their work takes them on an adventure across the English countryside, with Ivo finally understanding the cause of Cress’s risk-aversion. Likewise, Cress starts to appreciate Ivo’s uniqueness.
This was a sweet story highlighting the love between two friends that grows as they begin to see each other from another perspective. I found the awkward moments and their idiosyncrasies endearing. However, the mystery behind the crime was not quite the story that I thought it could be.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When a tame red squirrel is found in the pocket of an anonymous dead man in Yorkshire this sparks the interest of Ivo, a journalist. He enlists the help of his friend Cressida who works at an animal rescue centre to find the identity of the mystery man and how this red squirrel came to be miles from its nearest habitat.
When I first started reading this book I thought that it was the second in a series, however this isn't the case and their relationship is explained, although more information is gradually revealed as the story develops. Ivo is what would have been called "eccentric" in both his manner and attire - his description brings to mind for me at least (being of a mature age) of Peter Wyngarde as he appeared in the early 70s TV series "Jason King", albeit without the moustache. There is the mystery side of the story, which reaches its climax on the Isle of Wight, but also the friendship / romance between Ivo and Cressida. The reason for Ivo's mannerisms is explained and I thought that this side of his character was very carefully brought out, plus Cressida's aversion to risk. A very readable story, especially for me as I can see the Isle of Wight from my house across the Solent.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

We meet Cressida, and her friend Ivo. Cressida’s job is rescuing animals and Ivo is a reporter.

Cressida has wanted to be more than friends with Ivo but never actually told him.

When a body is discovered on the moors, the dead person has a red squirrel in his pocket, Ivo asks Cressida for her help in singing the mystery hen Ivo enlists Cressida’s help. She begins to think whether now is the time to bring her feelings out.

I recommend this book.

Cress is a wildlife rescuer . Her best friend Ivo is into art and antiques. They both get thrown together while trying to solve a crime and saving a squirrel.
I really thought the book was going to be more about Cress and her animal rescue. There’s only a squirrel to be saved instead. Overall I found the book a bit boring and it just never captured my attention

Thank you Netgalley and Boldwood Books for access to this arc.

I saw Jane Lovering was going to have a new book out and I skipped with happiness. Yay another Yorkshire lass will find twue lurve. Only, I must be honest. At the 25% mark, I had to talk myself into picking the book back up. Only some doozy already posted reviews and her stellar track record kept me going. In the end, I am very glad I stuck with it but I just want readers to be aware.

Let’s get this over with. The first fourth of the book was like trying to extract a car stuck in deep clay mud with bald tires. About every 10 pages, the same information got repeated and nothing seemed to actually be happening. I stared at my ereader in dismay. I read other reviews. Then I decided to keep reading to the halfway mark and see if things improved. Luckily they did.

It was very clear to me, even if Cressida who had known Ivo for years didn’t see it, that Ivo has ADHD. This is not just an affectation description but will play a major role in the outcome of the story. Cressida and Ivo have been friends for years but thinking that she would never fit into his lifestyle, Cressida has hidden her feelings. Ivo eventually calls Cressida on why she is the type to not try for more. There is also a reason for that which makes sense once Cressida tells Ivo all about her background.

After Ivo does a little investigative work about the dead man and they discover where Fred the squirrel ought to be, Cressida and Ivo head there. Ivo tells and keeps telling Cressida that his brain works differently than most people’s. He sees different connections, thinks in different ways, puts things together differently and something is telling him that things aren’t quite right. This is when the thriller part of the book kicks in and once that happens, I was glued to the book. The situation is dire, the villains are evil, and will our MCs escape the trap and live to tell the tale? Like I said, I was glued. Things come together and in a way that makes sense.

The romance is a sweet and gentle one. If these two had tried for something earlier on when they first met, I’m not sure they would have been ready. It takes a while before they both own up to how they feel and that they’ve felt that way for a while but never dared dream … I like that both are also honest that they’re not going to have a neurotypical life. Ivo stresses that he’s faced lots of romantic rejection from those skinny damn models who just couldn’t deal with him. But I think that Cressida, knowing him for years and now aware of how he sees and experiences the world, is ready. Plus they’re going to get Fred, for a while. B

I’m very disappointed in the way this story played out. The plot line felt very underdeveloped and got more confusing at the chapters went on. I hated the portrayal of Cress as a love-sick FMC left to the whim of Ivo. I also was so offended by the portrayal of disability in the novel. Thinking that ADHD is just for children or the person is on drugs, and assuming that someone with mental health disorders is violent was not only hurtful to the disabled community, but also upsetting in its ignorance. I think for the future the author needs to be mindful of the way that they tell disabled stories.

Thank you Netgalley, Boldwood Books, and Jane Lovering for this e-ARC. This book was pretty short and I felt like it was too rushed and there wasn't much character development, but overall a really good book because it was engaging in the beginning, it just wasn't what I was expecting. 4.5 :)

One of a kind written by Jane Lovering
Pub Date Jun 13 2024 |

When a dead body is discovered on the Yorkshire moors, with a small red squirrel on the body, Cressida and Ivo band together to try and solve the mystery.

Ivo, a journalist who lives for excitement enlists the help his dear friend, Cress, a wildlife rescuer. They have been friends since uni and Cress has had a major crush on Ivo all this time.

This was my first book by Jane Lovering. I loved the ADHD rep and insights the book offered. Ivo and Cress go on an adventure or solving this great mystery as well as learning about themselves and each other.

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an E-arc.

I usually enjoy reading Jane's books and this one started off so promising. Unfortunately half-way through it fell flat and I got very bored I did finish it but it wasn't one of her best. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The start of this sets the scene and introduces you to Cressida, who works at an animal rescue centre, and her best friend Ivo who is a local reporter, and who Cressida has always secretly wanted more than just a friendship with. When Ivo enlists Cressida’s help when a body and red squirrel are found on the moors she wonders if this is an opportunity to share her feelings towards him. They embark on their own investigation to try and find out who the man was and why he had a rare red squirrel with him. This soon gathers pace and I found it an easy to follow read with a definite conclusion. Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC

Three and a half stars.

Cressida works at an animal rescue centre in Yorkshire, which less about nurturing sick bunnies and more about shovelling manure, being called at 3am to rescue animals that are perfectly fine, and being bitten ... a lot. She is in bed with a heavy cold when she is woken by her BFF Ivo calling her. Ivo is a journalist for a local newspaper and he needs her help. The police have found a dead body on the moors, they don't think it is a suspicious death, but the man randomly has a live squirrel in his pocket, and not just any old squirrel, a red squirrel when the nearest known family of red squirrels is hundreds of miles away.

Ivo has always been very intense, at college Cressida wondered if he took drugs, she definitely saw him palming some tablets once, and gets very focused on trivialities at times. He is convinced that there is a mystery to solve. Who is this man? How did he get on the moors? How did he get a squirrel to sit in his trouser pocket (and isn't that dangerous)? This is very much a case of cherchez l'écureuil (which is what I have just discovered is the French for squirrel).

Cressida has been in lust with aristocratic Ivo with his model looks and eclectic dress sense forever, so despite her better judgement she gets drawn into Ivo's quest to find where the squirrel came from.

I liked this but I didn't love it. Maybe it was too quirky?

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

An interesting and heartwarming read, Ivo’s character drew me in and I loved their developing relationship, the story was well written with hidden depth - well worth a read

When I began reading One of a Kind I expected a typical well-written, focused Jane Lovering story. This was not that.

While it started off with a bang, the discovery of a man's body with a squirrel in his pocket, an endangered red squirrel, at that, it didn't continue in that mode. Instead, the storytelling meandered with Cress constantly analyzing Ivo and her feelings for him. Initially Ivo came off badly and I wondered why she was so fascinated with him. His looks, I deduced, although his penchant for dressing like a 70's disco clubber had me doubting.

The middle, unfortunately bored me so that I ended up reading three other books, and may have declared this one a DNF. I might finish just to see if there is an end to the mystery but I don't know if I'm that intrigued.

Hope this is a one off because I normally love Jane's books.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy.

It was OK and would give it 2.5 stars. I usually love Jane Lovering's books and always look forward to reading them. Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me and I wasn't really invested in either character. I thought it would be more about Cress and her work with animals. There was only one animal, Fred, a cute little Red Squirrel. We only saw Fred when Cress was putting him in or out of a cage. I would have been holding and cuddling him. It's hard to resist such an adorable, furry critter. Ivo and Cress are a whole other matter. It was tiring with all the back and forth between them. They did so much talking without saying much and rehashed the same stuff over and over. Ivo has ADHD, not cancer. I really don't know what the problem was and it all seemed ridiculous. It wasn't until the book was nearly over that it got interesting and stuff started to happen. Cress and Ivo wanted to solve the mystery behind the squirrel. More time could have been spent on what was actually going on with the squirrels than Cress and Ivo. When the truth about Fred was finally revealed, I didn't know what to think. It all happened so fast and seemed a bit anticlimactic. The ending was rushed. There could have been more about the squirrel rescue and everyone involved.

Definitely recommend giving the book a try, it just wasn't for me. I didn't hate the story, just didn't love it like the previous books. Not sure if this was supposed to be a mystery or a weird love story. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Boldwood Books, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Cressida Tarbut is a wild life rescue ranger (is ranger the word I need? Anyways, she rescues wildlife) which has unsociable hours, doesn't pay much, comes with lots of bites and scratches, but lets her feel warm and heroic and she seems to genuinely like her job. When her friend, an energetic human whirlwind called Ivo, asks her to come and rescue a red squirrel, she goes out on the moors to do so.
Except this squirrel has been found in the pocket of a dead man. Cressida realises that the squirrel (nicknamed Fred) has been hand reared.
The police think that the man's death was an accident, but Ivo wants it to be a bigger mystery that needs unpicking. Cressida would like to get Fred back to his home ... and an excuse to spend more time with Ivo is always welcome. So they embark on an adventure which turns out to be far more eventful than either of them (or Fred, presumably) anticipated.
Cressida is in love with Ivo from the start of the book, but they've known each other for years and she's pretty sure he's not interested in her. So a lot of the romantic tension comes from her trying to work out what he means with some of the things he says and does. Their backgrounds are vastly different too - she has very little money, whereas he's from a posh and monied background.
Ivo was really sweet and definitely quirky. It was nice to read about a hero who is not neurotypical. I also liked that he didn't dislike himself because of it. In fact, it was part of who he was and he wouldn't have it any other way.
As always with Jane Lovering's books, this book was funny. It made me chuckle out loud several times.

I wasn’t really sure what type of book this was when I started it (romance/crime/cosy mystery) but it was a nice little read. Relatively short which meant that everything felt a bit rushed and wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been.

I went into this book blind and definitely enjoyed it. Cozy mystery vibes with a love story entwined. I really enjoyed the characters and how real they felt.

I really loved this book! The story was very heartwarming and I loved the dynamic between the main characters. And the story was very well thought out.

One of a Kind, is Cress and Ivo's story, primarily from Cress's POV. It is a quick, short read and may feel like you've read the highlights and a few indepth incidents of their lives.

I felt this would've been a more rounded , interesting story had we had more from Ivo's POV as well.