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The One & Only
Cover of The One & Only
The One & Only
A Novel
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The beloved author of Something Borrowed and Where We Belong returns with an extraordinary story of love and loyalty—and an unconventional heroine struggling to reconcile both.

This ebook edition contains an excerpt from Emily Giffin’s First Comes Love.


Emily Giffin, the beloved author of such novels as Something Borrowed and Where We Belong, returns with an extraordinary story of love and loyalty—and an unconventional heroine struggling to reconcile both.

Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas—a small college town that lives and dies by football, a passion she unabashedly shares. Raised alongside her best friend, Lucy, the daughter of Walker’s legendary head coach, Clive Carr, Shea was too devoted to her hometown team to leave. Instead she stayed in Walker for college, even taking a job in the university athletic department after graduation, where she has remained for more than a decade.
But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she’s chosen is really enough for her. As she finally gives up her safety net to set out on an unexpected path, Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she has always trusted most—and is forced to confront her deepest desires, fears, and secrets.
Thoughtful, funny, and brilliantly observed, The One & Only is a luminous novel about finding your passion, following your heart, and, most of all, believing in something bigger than yourself . . . the one and only thing that truly makes life worth living.
Praise for The One & Only • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY POPSUGAR
“A page turner.”—Southern Living
The One & Only is one to read.”—Associated Press
“Giffin scores again by bringing her discerning understanding of matters of the heart.”—Family Circle
“A poignant story about growing up and growing into your own skin.”—BookPage
“Touching.”—New York Daily News
“Deep, beautifully written . . . [Emily Giffin’s] latest focuses on a forbidden love of sorts, but in a new setting: a fictional small college town in Texas.”—Marie Claire
“Each and every page of this story is entertaining. . . . Find a shady spot; get a cool drink, and just luxuriate in the joy of a book well written.”The Huffington Post
“Brace yourself for a tearjerker: A tale of friendship and loyalty in a small, football-crazed Texas town shows how quickly things can change when tragedy challenges all that the characters hold dear . . . [A] page-turner.”InStyle
“[Giffin’s] protagonists . . . live full, interesting lives outside the purely personal realm—no more so than Shea Rigsby, the funny, flawed, but sympathetic central character in the The One & Only.”The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“In bestseller Giffin’s much-anticipated latest, a young woman’s life is upended when tragedy strikes the football-obsessed Texas town she’s always called home.”People
“To fill your Friday Night Lights void: A tale of die-hard love in a diehard...
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The beloved author of Something Borrowed and Where We Belong returns with an extraordinary story of love and loyalty—and an unconventional heroine struggling to reconcile both.

This ebook edition contains an excerpt from Emily Giffin’s First Comes Love.


Emily Giffin, the beloved author of such novels as Something Borrowed and Where We Belong, returns with an extraordinary story of love and loyalty—and an unconventional heroine struggling to reconcile both.

Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas—a small college town that lives and dies by football, a passion she unabashedly shares. Raised alongside her best friend, Lucy, the daughter of Walker’s legendary head coach, Clive Carr, Shea was too devoted to her hometown team to leave. Instead she stayed in Walker for college, even taking a job in the university athletic department after graduation, where she has remained for more than a decade.
But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she’s chosen is really enough for her. As she finally gives up her safety net to set out on an unexpected path, Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she has always trusted most—and is forced to confront her deepest desires, fears, and secrets.
Thoughtful, funny, and brilliantly observed, The One & Only is a luminous novel about finding your passion, following your heart, and, most of all, believing in something bigger than yourself . . . the one and only thing that truly makes life worth living.
Praise for The One & Only • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY POPSUGAR
“A page turner.”—Southern Living
The One & Only is one to read.”—Associated Press
“Giffin scores again by bringing her discerning understanding of matters of the heart.”—Family Circle
“A poignant story about growing up and growing into your own skin.”—BookPage
“Touching.”—New York Daily News
“Deep, beautifully written . . . [Emily Giffin’s] latest focuses on a forbidden love of sorts, but in a new setting: a fictional small college town in Texas.”—Marie Claire
“Each and every page of this story is entertaining. . . . Find a shady spot; get a cool drink, and just luxuriate in the joy of a book well written.”The Huffington Post
“Brace yourself for a tearjerker: A tale of friendship and loyalty in a small, football-crazed Texas town shows how quickly things can change when tragedy challenges all that the characters hold dear . . . [A] page-turner.”InStyle
“[Giffin’s] protagonists . . . live full, interesting lives outside the purely personal realm—no more so than Shea Rigsby, the funny, flawed, but sympathetic central character in the The One & Only.”The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“In bestseller Giffin’s much-anticipated latest, a young woman’s life is upended when tragedy strikes the football-obsessed Texas town she’s always called home.”People
“To fill your Friday Night Lights void: A tale of die-hard love in a diehard...
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Excerpts-
  • From the book 9780345546883|excerpt

    Giffin / THE ONE AND ONLY

    One

    I should have been thinking about God. Or the meaning of life. Or simply grieving the fact that my best friend was now motherless and my own mother without her best friend. Instead, I found myself gazing into the sleek mahogany coffin lined with generous folds of ivory silk, silently critiquing Mrs. Carr’s lipstick, a magenta with blue undertones that subtly clashed with her coral dress, the same one she had worn to Lucy’s wedding nearly five years ago.

    More problematic than the shade of lipstick, though, was the application. Someone, clearly low on the beauty-­industry totem pole, had colored just outside the lines as if to create fuller lips. It was an optical illusion that never fooled anyone and seemed wholly unnecessary given the circumstances. After all, there would be no photos taken today. No professional albums filled with various combinations of family and friends, posing with Mrs. Carr, horizontal but front and center. In fact, the entire custom of fancying up a corpse for an open-­casket funeral seemed suddenly ridiculous. Cremation was definitely the way to go. It was the way I wanted to go, rather than risk the possibility of going out on a bad-­hair day. Without a husband or sibling, I made a mental note to convey my final wishes to Lucy after some time had passed. She was really the only person it made sense to tell. Besides, Lucy got shit done. She was like a decisive committee with no dissenting members. At least none who dared speak up.

    “Do you need anything?” I whispered to her now, breaking into the endless line of friends, family, and virtual strangers offering condolences. I had never seen so many people at a funeral, and, combined with everyone who had come to the wake the night before, it seemed that most of our small town had made an appearance.

    “A Kleenex,” she whispered. In contrast to the past three days, she was dry-­eyed, but looked to be on the verge of a fresh breakdown, her blue eyes glassy and round. I handed her a tissue from my purse, once again conjuring her wedding, when I had vigilantly shadowed her with mints and a compact of powder.

    “Anything else? Water?” I asked, thinking that it felt good to be needed for once, and it was a shame that it took a major rite of passage to turn the tables on our usual dynamic.

    Lucy shook her head as I returned to the second pew, where she had instructed me to sit, along with my parents. She had all the details covered—­from the seating to the hymn selection to the white orchids on the altar—­which was why it was so surprising that she hadn’t noticed her mother’s lipstick last night at the wake, when there was still an opportunity to fix it. At least I hoped she hadn’t noticed it, because as a corollary to her efficiency, Lucy was cursed with the crippling capacity to dwell on even the most trivial matters for weeks, sometimes years. Like the grudge she was sure to hold against Angel, her mother’s hairdresser, who dared to be away this week, on a Caribbean cruise no less. If not to return to do her mother’s hair, Lucy had ranted, then at least to pay her respects to her best client. Secretly, I thought Angel should have been afforded some slack; surely her vacation had been planned for months, and logistically it must be pretty tough to get off a ship on such short notice. But it wasn’t Lucy’s style to cut anyone slack, especially when it came to a slight to her family, whether perceived or real. As her oldest and closest friend, I was also a beneficiary of her extreme...
About the Author-
  • Emily Giffin is the author of eight internationally bestselling novels: Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love the One You’re With, Heart of the Matter, Where We Belong, The One & Only, and First Comes Love. A graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law, she lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children.
Reviews-
  • Cosmopolitan "A page turner."--Southern Living "The One & Only is one to read."--Associated Press "Giffin scores again by bringing her discerning understanding of matters of the heart."--Family Circle "A poignant story about growing up and growing into your own skin."--BookPage "Touching."--New York Daily News "Deep, beautifully written . . . [Emily Giffin's] latest focuses on a forbidden love of sorts, but in a new setting: a fictional small college town in Texas."--Marie Claire "Each and every page of this story is entertaining. . . . Giffin is a talented writer who always comes up with a plot that is just a bit different than anything others are writing about. . . . Find a shady spot; get a cool drink, and just luxuriate in the joy of a book well written."--The Huffington Post "Brace yourself for a tearjerker: A tale of friendship and loyalty in a small, football-crazed Texas town shows how quickly things can change when tragedy challenges all that the characters hold dear . . . [A] page-turner."--InStyle "[Giffin's] protagonists . . . live full, interesting lives outside the purely personal realm--no more so than Shea Rigsby, the funny, flawed, but sympathetic central character in the The One & Only."--The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "In bestseller Giffin's much-anticipated latest, a young woman's life is upended when tragedy strikes the football-obsessed Texas town she's always called home."--People "To fill your Friday Night Lights void: A tale of die-hard love in a diehard Texas football town from the bestselling author of Something Borrowed."
  • San Francisco Chronicle Praise for Emily Giffin "Emily Giffin ranks as a grand master. . . . She has traversed the slippery slopes of true love, lost love, marriage, motherhood, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption that have led her to be called 'a modern-day Jane Austen.' "--Chicago Sun-Times "Giffin's writing is true, smart, and heartfelt."--Entertainment Weekly "[Giffin] excels at creating complex characters and quick-to-read stories that ask us to explore what we really want from our lives."--The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "A dependably down-to-earth, girlfriendly storyteller."--The New York Times "Giffin's talent lies in taking relatable situations and injecting enough wit and suspense to make them feel fresh."--People "When it comes to writing stories that resonate with real women, bestselling author Emily Giffin has hit her stride."
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