Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle was one of my anticipated Spring releases. Coincidentally, I went to Costco and they had this on sale. Of course, I gladly grabbed a copy. This is my first Rebecca Serle novel but I’ve come across a couple of her books but never gotten around to reading them.
“Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a new man, she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it—the exact amount of time they will be together. The papers told her she’d spend three days with Martin in Paris; five weeks with Noah in San Francisco; and three months with Hugo, her ex-boyfriend turned best friend. Daphne has been receiving the numbered papers for over twenty years, always wondering when there might be one without an expiration. Finally, the night of a blind date at her favorite Los Angeles restaurant, there’s only a name: Jake.
But as Jake and Daphne’s story unfolds, Daphne finds herself doubting the paper’s prediction, and wrestling with what it means to be both committed and truthful. Because Daphne knows things Jake doesn’t, information that—if he found out—would break his heart. Told with her signature warmth and insight into matters of the heart, Rebecca Serle has finally set her sights on romantic love. The result is a gripping, emotional, passionate, and (yes) heartbreaking novel about what it means to be single, what it means to find love, and ultimately how we define each of them for ourselves. Expiration Dates is the one fans have been waiting for.”
My thoughts
Wow, this book had me hooked! I couldn’t put it down, finished the whole thing in under 24 hours.
I found the premise of the story quite interesting. It centeres around Daphne, a 33-year-old woman from LA who works as an assistant to a producer. Daphne’s love life is guided by anonymous notes that predict her romantic partners and the length of their relationship, a tradition that started back in high school. At first, it seemed like a joke, but these predictions are pretty accurate. When she receives a note with a name, Jake and there is no end date, it raises all sorts of questions: Is this her last shot at love? Could this be her happy ending? My morbid thoughts went straight to death. LOL We’re left to follow her journey as she navigates her relationship with Jake – who for some reason was perfect on paper. The story alternates between her present relationship with Jake and all her past relationships. The timeline not being chronological was a bit annoying as I was really invested in the present timeline and just wanted to stick with that or have it at least be chronological.
It was well written but for a romance novel, it had a few twists, reveals, and surprises – some I thought came very late in the novel and didn’t add much to the character development. Overall, it was a wonderful read and I enjoyed it.
Rating
You will like this If you’re into:
- Friends-to-lovers trope
- Magical Realism
- Novels set in the vibrant backdrop of LA
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