What a beautiful book! I am so grateful that I got to read this one, and I highly recommend it. It is well written, with excellent character development and I did not want the story to end.

“In Five Years” by Rebecca Serle was the perfect novel I needed to break up the thrillers I’ve been reading.

Dannie is the typical Type-A Manhattan lawyer on the verge of being hired at the most prestigious law firm. After nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing is she right on track to achieve her five-year plan. When she wakes up she’s suddenly beside a different man and the same date, but five years in the future. Dannie wakes again back in 2020, and can’t shake this dream. Now 4 1/2 years later, Dannie meets the same man from her long-ago vision.

First off - this book is so much more than a typical romance … in fact I wouldn’t even place this book in the romance category. I think this book is more about the friendship between two women and how they’ve been through everything together.

This story is told from Dannie’s perspective who is such a Type-A personality and finds herself with the perfect life, but she has yet to marry the man who proposed to her five years earlier. Her best friend, Bella is the typical hippie style character who loves to everything on a whim. Bella suddenly finds herself falling for a man that five years earlier Dannie had a dream about.

This story is about the remarkable ways we’re always there for a best friend through the good, bad and the ugly. The relationship between Bella and Dannie is completely breathtaking. I love how Bella is such an honest character and wants Dannie to do more in her life than what she is expected.

I highly recommend this book. It is a super fast read - basically finished within 2 sittings. However, you will need to pour yourself a glass of wine and have the ice cream ready, because you will cry!
Pub. 3.10

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle is a beautiful tribute to love and the various forms it can take. This emotional tale is centered around friendship, passion, ambition, and destiny. You can count on this one to pull at your heartstrings and leave you with tears in your eyes.

Dannie Cohan is an ambitious corporate lawyer in New York with her life on a one way track to achieving all of her goals. During an interview for her dream job, she is asked the question, where do you see yourself in five years? Of course, she has her answer meticulously crafted and snags the job. Her life continues down the perfect path as her boyfriend proposes to her at dinner that same night. When they get back home, Dannie drifts off to sleep and wakes up five years in the future—in a strange apartment, with a strange new man, wearing a different engagement ring. She is completely rattled by the experience and the next time she wakes up, she is back to her old life. The life she is comfortable with. So, when she meets the guy from her dreams five years later, she will do everything she can to keep her perfect life on track, but of course destiny has other plans.

This story completely shredded my emotions. I cried, and laughed, and cried some more. Serle did an incredible job of creating characters that were real, raw, and flawed. I truly connected to every single character and experienced all of their emotions. This is a beautiful, haunting story that will linger long after you’ve finished it.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Atria for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this book so much!! It ended up being not AT ALL what I expected to dive into, but it had my attention completely. I couldn’t put it down, and ended up reading almost the whole thing in one sitting. It also definitely made me tear up quite a bit, which I did not see coming!

While it was a fantastic love story, it wasn’t at all your typical romance. I just loved getting to know the characters, their relationships, and how everything played out. I’ve seen so many reviews of other books saying “it’s best to go into this one blind”, and I’ve never FULLY understood that until THIS book. I would completely recommend going into this one knowing as little as possible!

Overall, this was just not at all the book I thought I was getting myself into, but I loved every minute of it and am SO glad to have had the opportunity to read this advanced e-galley! Thanks @netgalley and @atriabooks!

The author of The Dinner List is back with another un-put-down-able book. Here's the premise: Dannie, a hard-charging corporate attorney, engaged to a the man she loves, falls asleep one night, and when she wakes, it is five years later, a new man in a different apartment. Stuff happens that freaks her out. When she wakes, from this dream-like reality, Dannie cannot get this image out of her head and the changes it wreaks in her life are monumental because...wait for it...that new man? Yeah, come to find out, itt's her best friend's new love. I think I make this premise sound silly, light, fluffy, but this book is absolutely not. It tells of a deep and abiding friendship, of how we arrange our lives to meet certain expectations, of how we love and what we will do for that love, and of the influences that push us to our destinies. I read this one in just 24 hours, staying up well past midnight because I kept saying, "just one more chapter." It is that good. The next time you want an addictive read, pick this one up - you won't be disappointed.

I absolutely adored this book!
Dannie is a successful lawyer in Manhattan. She has it all, landed her dream job, has a perfect boyfriend that she knows will be proposing soon, and a great group of friends. But on the night of her engagement, she has a dream that feels real. It's five years in the future, she's in a different apartment, with a different boyfriend. She tries to forget the dream, but years pass and her and her fiance still haven't gotten married. 4.5 years later, she meets the man from the dream.
This was such a good book! Incredible writing; a story I wasn't expecting, and it absolutely gutted me. Will definitely go on my top 10 books of 2020 so far!

Beginning this book I felt I had read it before. I thought the plot was very similar to "one day in december." Oh, it is not. I cannot say too much without ruining the book for you.

I cried, happy tears and sad tears. I'm ready to file this in "one of my favorite books."

Thanks Netgalley for the prepub ebook! I loved it, clearl

There was so much hype about this book that I had to read it for myself. A rom com; yes but not what you think. Plus I really dislike the main character and her wishy washyness ans self-deprecation. Great plot and premise and love the idea as a whole but not what I expected.

This book quickly became my favorite book of all time. I won’t give a synopsis, because, frankly, that would be very hard to do. It is a book about love and the lengths we will go to for the ones we love. It is about life and how we live our lives; what matters and who matters. This book is filled with love, sadness, anger, desperation, happiness and every single other emotion you can think of. This is not a light and fluffy romance. It is beautiful and heart shattering.

I love Rebecca Serle's books. Her YA is amazing, and I absolutely adored her adult debut, The Dinner List. This one is my favorite, though. By A LOT.

The blurb will have you think that this is a love story, and it is. But it's not a romance, per se. The central relationship here is between Dannie and her best friend, Bella. Their friendship is the longest one either of them have had (they've been friends since they were seven) and so they know each other better than anyone else has or could.

I love stories about friendships and this one is likely my new favorite, full stop. It's absolute magic (also, sweet, funny and, at least in parts, heartbreaking).

Highly recommended.

In Five Years is easily one of the most beautiful books I’ve read in a long time. The book revolves around Dannie, a driven Manhattan lawyer and meticulous planner. She has a plan for everything: her education, career, relationship, house, etc. But then she has an almost-too-real dream that shakes her up and makes her question more and more her plans when things go astray. The story is deeply emotional in its exploration of ambition, friendship, and love in its rawest form. I can’t even tell you how many times I started crying while reading this book.

I am also amazed by and love how the book opens and closes with the same dialogue and scene, however, it takes on a completely different meaning after reading the whole story. From that first time I read the situation I thought something completely different would play out in the end than did. It was absolutely beautiful in its design. It’s a definite must-read of the year.

This has the feel of One Day in December meets 13 Going on 30, but this goes so much deeper. You think you know what will happen. You think your feelings toward the characters and the situation is concrete, valid. Then the story will rock your soul and give you all the feels. I heartbreakingly loved this story!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy of this book to read and review. Let me start off by saying this book was totally not what I expected at all! It was a great story but took me off guard. I as expecting a light hallmark like movie where the main character sees a glimpse of the future. This book was not that! This will give you all the feels! On the night of her engagement and a brand new job of her dreams, Dannie falls asleep! During her sleep, she has a “dream” of what the future will be in 5 years and it is not what she expects. She is with a different man other than her fiancé to name one. The story continues and 4 and a half years later she meets the mane from her dream. He is her best friends new boyfriend. I can’t even explain where it goes from there but tragedy happens! It was a heartfelt journey of self discovery!

In Five Years is so much more than just a romance and chick-lit book. It is a story of friendship, love, fate, and self-discovery. Dannie is such a likable character and even with all her flaws and imperfections, she is one of those characters that you cannot help to love and cheer for. The beautiful friendship between Dannie and Bella is such an inspiration, and oh my was I ugly crying at the end of this book. I was as much heartbroken as Dannie was. It is a thought-provoking and emotional read, and even with some magical realism mixed into the plot it is still a believable and captivating story.

Rebecca Serle is a great storyteller with a wonderful writing style, and I am looking forward to reading more books from her.

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and the author for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

December 15, 2020. Dannie Cohan has just nailed the most important interview of her career and accepted her boyfriend's proposal at their celebratory dinner. December 15, 2025. Dannie wakes up to find herself in an unfamiliar apartment, with an unfamiliar man and a new ring on her finger. When Dannie wakes back up in 2020 she can't forget what she experienced and when she meets the man from her vision 4 1/2 years later, she does everything she can to make sure that vision doesn't come true.

I love the unique stories that Rebecca Serle comes up with for her novels. Most of us have imagined where we might be in five years before, and I don't know how I would react if I had an actual vision into what my life is like five years from now. It was interesting to see how Dannie grappled with the experience and how it shaped some of her decisions, especially once she meets Aaron, the man from her dream. The real strength of this story was in Dannie's relationship with her best friend, Bella, and that was at the core of the story the whole time. The downfall for me was just in some of the pacing - it's a relatively shorter story so some times it felt like we were jumping around to fast, but I do understand some of the reasoning behind that choice.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars

New York lawyer Dannie is asked an all too familiar question during her dream job interview: "Where do you see yourself in five years?" She of course has the perfect answer prepared and nails her interview. Dannie's boyfriend proposes that night and everything in her life seems to be falling into place perfectly. When Dannie wakes up from the best day of her life, she is in a different apartment with a very different man than the one who just proposed to her. She sees that the year is 2020-five years in the future. After an hour or so, she wakes up again, but now Dannie is back in her old apartment with her fiance. She decides to put the experience out of her mind until she meets the same man four and a half years later.

This book is not what you think. It sounds like a hard-hitting romance, but it is not really about that at all. It is about friendship and fate more than anything else. I prefer the author's previous adult fiction book, The Dinner List, over In Five Years. 

I rated this book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. In Five Years is a quick read at only 272 pages, so you can definitely read it in one sitting or over a weekend like I did. I just don't feel like it was marketed properly, so I was disappointed in the route the book went. The "love story" mentioned in the blurb of the book is actually between Dannie and her best friend, Bella, who is more of a main character than Dannie's fiance. If you go into this one knowing it is not going to be a romance where the main character has to choose between two people, then you might enjoy it way more. I do recommend this title, but be aware that it is not really a romance.

What would you do if you saw a glimpse of your future? Would knowing it somehow lead you to make decisions that inevitably lead to its fulfillment? Rebecca Serle explores this concept in this charming and heartwarming novel.

I went into this book thinking the main characters would be Dannie and her boyfriend; however, the book is really about the love between two best friends, Dannie and Bella. Dannie struggles to figure out the path of her love life, but the one constant and fulfilling relationship in her life is her friendship with Bella. These two characters are so different, but they balance each other. Serle does a great job of creating this contrast. Some might say that the two women are stereotypes, one grounded and serious while the other is free-spirited and laid back; however, it's not bothersome to me. I believe they are simply examples of real women, even if they are maybe portrayed to the extreme.

The plot line takes a turn about 60% into the book. It did not end up being the story I expected it to be, but that is not a bad thing. I ended up liking it more because of the new direction it went in. While some of the plot developments are a bit cliche, I still thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience. It was a fast, engaging read that I would definitely recommend to my fellow readers.

For anyone looking for a book about love and friendship that will both break and warm the heart, In Five Years is a great choice.

This is one of those books that you really don’t want to end. I was pulled in from the beginning, ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’, great question, right? Dannie had a perfect life, David, the perfect boyfriend, just hired for her dream job, everything was going exactly as planned until she had a dream. In the dream. It is five years in the future, and the man she is with is definitely not David, and this is definitely not their apartment. When she wakes up in her normal life, she just can’t shake this dream and a strange feeling that this dream is very real. Things take an even stranger turn when Dannie and David have dinner with her best friend, Bella and her new boyfriend.....the man from her dream. what happens next changes everything that Dannie thought she knew about her life and her plans for herself. I read another book by Rebecca Serle, and I liked it okay, but this book far exceeded my expectations. The writing is excellent, the story intriguing and the characters well developed. Someone once told me that the way to identify a good story is that one character goes through a transformation. This book nails it. I highly recommend this book. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of this book.

4.5 stars. Oh boy. This one is almost impossible to review without spoilers. I knew this book would be different. I'd read Rebecca's Serle's The Dinner List and loved it, so I knew her capacity to make me feel many things. The Dinner List was magical, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking, so I prepared myself for more of the same with In Five Years. And while in one way, it was exactly what I expected, in other ways, it still surprised me.

Let me tell you about the things I enjoyed without giving away any spoilers:

I loved the characters. Dannie is an unexpected character. She has unpredictable nuances that make her realistic and memorable. And while I never really felt like I got to know the other characters as well, it was okay, because this is Dannie's story and the other characters were just there to support her.

I loved the setting of New York. I'd finally travelled to New York for the first time Christmas before last, and knowing the places she named made the book come alive even more for me.

I loved how the author built the tension up slowly. I kept turning pages hesitantly, never knowing when the thing that was bound to happen would happen, whatever it was that was going to change Dannie's life. And when it finally did happen, it was not what I expected at all.

I read this one in a few hours, but be prepared to be immersed. And while it was almost a five-star read for me, there was one little issue that kept it under.

Overall, I loved it, and once again, I highly recommend Rebecca Serle.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the advance reader copy!

This book was not what I expected...but it was beautiful. The book description and the romance tag are what attracted me to In Five Years and I went into it expecting a story similar to the movie “Sliding Doors.” However, once I began reading, I quickly realized that although this is a story about love, it is definitely not a romance. The concept is unique and interesting: the main character, Dannie sees a moment in the future where nothing is as she expects it to be. You immediately become invested, eager to figure out how Dannie’s carefully planned life could possibly end up so differently. Dannie’s journey will break your heart and give you hope. Highly recommend.