Just one day / Gayle Forman.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From the New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay

Allyson Healey's life is exactly like her suitcase--packed, planned, ordered. Then on the last day of her three-week post-graduation European tour, she meets Willem. A free-spirited, roving actor, Willem is everything she's not, and when he invites her to abandon her plans and come to Paris with him, Allyson says yes. This uncharacteristic decision leads to a day of risk and romance, liberation and intimacy: 24 hours that will transform Allyson's life.

A book about love, heartbreak, travel, identity, and the "accidents" of fate, Just One Day shows us how sometimes in order to get found, you first have to get lost. . . and how often the people we are seeking are much closer than we know.
The first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem's story-- Just One Year --is coming soon!

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

He doesn't show up until act two. He's playing Sebastian, Viola's twin brother, thought dead. Which makes a certain sense, because by the time he does arrive, I am beginning to think he never really existed, that I've merely conjured him. As he races through the green, chased after by the ever-loyal Antonio, we chase after him. After a while, I work up my nerve. "Let's get closer," I say to Melanie. She grabs my hand, and we get to the front of the crowd right at the part where Olivia's clown comes for Sebastian and they argue before Sebastian sends him away. Right before he does, he seems to catch my eye for half a second. As the hot day softens into twilight and I'm sucked deeper into the illusory world of Illyria, I ffeel like I've entered some weird otherworldly space, where anything can happen, where identities can be swapped like shoes. Excerpted from Just One Day by Gayle Forman All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

The love story in Forman's If I Stay and Where She Went was wrapped in the finality of death. This story-about the romance between Allyson, a recent high school grad, and Willem, a handsome Dutch actor she meets during a whirlwind tour of Europe-is built around uncertainty and a kind of loss that's more akin to an open wound. Upon meeting, the two take an impulsive trip to Paris, but Willem disappears and Allyson is left stranded. Back in the U.S., Allyson is unable to wipe Willem from her mind, and her carefully planned future takes unexpected turns. In a romance that never quite answers the question "Whatever happened to Willem?" Forman explores how travel can lead to surprises and a redefinition of self. In college, Allyson breaks away from her mother's expectations, realizes her passion for theater and language, and tries to gather clues about Willem's whereabouts. Offering mystery, drama, and an evocative portrait of unrequited love, this open-ended novel will leave fans eagerly anticipating the companion story-written from Willem's perspective-due in fall 2013. Ages 14-up. Agent: Sarah Burnes, the Gernert Company. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-"We are born in one day. We die in one day. We can change in one day. And we can fall in love in one day. Anything can happen in just one day." Allyson's life has been carefully planned out by her well-intentioned, but overbearing parents, even her graduation present of an educational tour of Europe. Everything that makes Allyson "Allyson"-from choosing her hobby of vintage-clock collecting to selecting what her college major will be-has been orchestrated by her mother. So when, after a chance encounter with a young man named Willem, the 18-year-old rebels and ditches a performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company to see "Guerilla Will," live Shakespeare performed in a London park, even her friend Melanie is surprised. Shedding her good-girl cloak and adopting the nickname "Lulu," Allyson decides to spend a day in Paris with Willem, an actor from the theater troupe. She surprises herself with her bold and adventuresome behavior during their time together, not the least of which includes having sex in an artist's squat. When Allyson wakes up the next day to find Willem gone, she returns home but can't shake him or the whole day from her memory. After a tumultuous freshman year, she saves up enough money to return to Europe and track down Willem to get closure. In the process of finding him, Allyson discovers herself, which may have been the point of the trip all along. Reading like a teen version of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love (Viking, 2006), this tale of romance and mystery engages readers and will cause them to examine their definitions of love and self-identity.-Nicole Knott, Watertown High School, CT (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Call it an accident, serendipity, or a miracle, a single event comes to define a year in Allyson Healey's life. Straitlaced Allyson finds her postgraduation trip to Europe ( Teen Tours! ) underwhelming until she makes the uncharacteristic decision to follow Willem, an actor in a Guerilla Will performance of Twelfth Night, to Paris for a single day. Before you start thinking this is a teen version of Before Sunrise (and the first third kind of is), Willem seemingly up and disappears after a one-night stand. What follows is a tumultuous freshman year for Allyson, filled with what-ifs, severe depression, and, finally, strength as she decides to seek the truth of what happened that day. Although some readers may feel frustrated with Allyson's descent into the depths of despair after a 24-hour affair, others the romantics will get swept up in the story, which has it all: true love, Paris, Shakespeare, and, yes, the notion that anything can happen in just one day. The believers won't want the story to end; luckily, Just One Year, told from Willem's point of view, is on the horizon. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Forman's If I Stay (2009) and Where She Went (2011) were New York Times best-sellers. This is lighter fare from the popular author, and teens will be waiting for it.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist

Horn Book Review

Straight-laced American tourist Allyson meets charismatic Dutch actor Willem in London and impetuously accompanies him to Paris; in twenty-four hours she falls in love, and then wakes up alone. A challenging freshman year of college follows before Allyson embarks on a path to self-discovery (and a serendipitous quest). Readers will look forward to the planned sequel to this sweepingly romantic coming-of-age story. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

At the end of a European tour for teens the summer before college, a rules-following, 18-year-old girl impulsively travels to Paris with a handsome Shakespearean actor, a one-day adventure that becomes the catalyst for big changes in the way she sees herself and her place in the world. Nicely integrating the work of Shakespeare as a thematic jumping-off place, author Forman explores "the line between true self and feigned self," the multiple personae, roles and identities that coexist in a single soul. After Allyson, the dutiful, emotionally muted daughter of a pulmonologist father and helicopter mother, finally breaks out and has a romantic adventure with aforesaid handsome actor, she wakes up alone. She feels betrayed and played, precipitating a hard-to-buy psychological crisis. Once in college, Allyson finds herself unengaged by the pre-med curriculum her parents designed. Although she feels trapped by their expectations, with the support of classmate Dee (who tiptoes through various identities and roles himself) Allyson begins the business of figuring out who she is and what she wants. As she blossoms and emerges from her tedious depression, the novel becomes absorbing, and readers will find themselves rooting for Allyson's more autonomous and interesting self. An overlong coming-of-age novel that takes forever to get going but soars at the finish. (Fiction. 14 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.