Publication Date: October 14, 2025
From a stunning new voice in romance, Lauren Okie’s The Best Worst Thing is an intimate story about starting over, second chances, and two people who cannot help falling into each other’s orbit once again.
All things considered, Nicole Speyer has a pretty amazing life. At least that’s what she tells herself. She’s got a beautiful house, a relatively successful fertility podcast, and a perfect husband, Gabe. The only thing that’s less than ideal is her years-long struggle with infertility—and how, with every passing day, she and Gabe seem to drift a little further apart.
But then, mere hours after a Hail Mary embryo transfer to her gestational carrier, Nicole discovers Gabe’s been sleeping with their dog walker, and her world turns upside down. Suddenly, a jobless, childless, and now-husbandless Nicole finds herself at the doorstep of somebody she tried to say goodbye to a long time ago.
Logan Milgram: a former colleague with serious golden retriever energy who happens to be laugh-out-loud funny, a colossal nerd, and legitimately kind of hot. When Logan opens his door that night, it’s like no time has passed. And as they fall back into each other’s lives, Nicole starts recognizing herself in the mirror again. She even begins to like what she sees. And then, like a cruel joke, she gets the news she’s spent a lifetime waiting for: her surrogate is finally pregnant.
As her relationship with Logan develops from a blast-from-the-past fling into something much deeper, Nicole struggles to balance her past, present, and future. Racing against the clock, she must learn to forgive her body for falling short and recognize that sometimes, it’s the biggest betrayals in life that set us free. With everything on the line, can Nicole accept love from the greatest man she’s ever known . . . even if it’s nothing like the story she’d written for herself?
Nicole Speyer’s desire to have a baby overshadows everything else in her life, making her oblivious to the strain on her marriage.
Author Lauren Okie serves up a heartfelt story about Nicole’s struggle with infertility and decisions following her husband’s betrayal. The Best Worst Thing offers flawed characters who must learn the importance of love.
Enter in a quirky man from Nicole’s past who distracts her with laughter. Even with her world imploding, Logan manages to give needed perspective. The flashbacks were a bit confusing, but they did provide key details about their shared past.
With the surrogate giving surprising news, Nicole must navigate a future she never imagined. Does she give her husband another chance, or will she explore something new?
The Best Worst Thing serves up a multi-layered quest for a woman seeking happiness.
Lauren Okie studied English and American Literature at New York University. When she’s not mining old traumas or blocking sex scenes on the backs of grocery lists, Lauren works as a copywriter. Originally from Miami, she lives with her husband and daughter in the Los Angeles area.
