55 pages 1 hour read

John Marrs

The One

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016

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Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Mandy Summary: Chapters 1, 6, 11, 16, 21

More than anything, Mandy wants true love, security, and a child to mold and love unconditionally. Three years ago, after Mandy’s second miscarriage, her husband, Sean, left her. Without telling her, he had registered with Match Your DNA—a company that claims to use customers’ DNA to “Match” them with a soulmate. When Sean found his Match, he divorced Mandy and started a new life. Now Mandy has recovered enough from the loss to register for the service, herself.

Richard Taylor, her Match, is handsome, athletic, adventurous, and has traveled the world. Mandy has traveled nowhere and has never even used her ongoing gym membership. Despite their differences, Mandy has complete confidence in Match Your DNA. The science is never wrong. Already, she is practicing introducing herself to everyone as Richard’s wife. She just hopes she won’t be breaking up someone else’s marriage to get the husband and children to whom she already feels entitled.

Mandy’s mother and three sisters—Paula, Kirstin, and Karen—are eager to meet Richard. They encourage Mandy to make the first move, but when she researches Richard online, she finds an announcement for a remembrance service in his honor: He was involved in a hit-and-run accident several weeks earlier.