I am *so* glad that I read the existing NetGalley reviews before reading this, because I would definitely not have been prepared for how intense this was based on the cover. This is the story of Rae, who is freshly 25 at the start of the book, works in investment banking (but is an aspiring poet), and has a very specific plan to get married and have three kids by the time she's 35. She goes hard on dating apps but realizes quickly that they're not for her, until she meets Dustin, someone she matched with months prior who reaches out after he's been away. They click and start dating immediately, and Rae falls pretty hard. The issue is that Dustin has major depression, and his lows are extremely low, and they struggle through those. They decide to just be friends until Dustin feels like he can be there for her, and they really struggle through Dustin's darkest times. This felt like a very authentic portrayal of what it would be like to love someone with major depression (and who won't stick with therapy or meds), but that authenticity made it hard to read sometimes. Rae gives so much of herself to Dustin, completely upending her whole marriage and motherhood by 35 plan for him, only to have a tumultuous, on again, off again relationship. I'm glad I read this book and got to go on Rae's journey but again, I am very glad I knew about the content. My only real qualm with this is the constant use of financial metaphors - it was a thread through the whole book and I don't mind a schtick like that, except that I had no idea what any of the terms Rae and her friends were using actually meant. Content warning for major depression, self-harm, and self-destructive relationships.

This book did not properly load onto my kindle and was then archived weeks before the publish date. I'm so sorry I am not able to leave a review.

I DNFd this at almost 30%. I couldn’t get into it and it felt pretentious. I was bored by the characters, the relationships, the inner monologue of the MC. It was also filled with corporate/financial industry references which I didn’t find particularly funny or relatable. A lot of pages (of the first 30% anyway) were dedicated to Rae’s mind numbing Wall Street job, descriptions of New York, and her sad dating life. I had a hard time sticking with it. It just wasn’t for me. The writing was okay but the story wasn’t what I was looking for.

I enjoyed the feminist viewpoint and how often the author would make a point to talk about all the ways sexism is still so prevalent, and the strong friendship between Rae and Ellen was nice. Unfortunately nothing grabbed me and made me want to keep turning pages. I tried and tried. I also didn’t find the book to be terribly diverse. It’s mostly populated with privileged white cishet characters. (There was one token lesbian in the friend group who got very little page time.) It felt a little SATC. Yawn.

I actually cannot believe that this is the debut book of this author--this was actually an unusual romantic novel. Not just those typical cheesy romantic novels you feel like watching from Hallmark movies. This is a bit different type of romantic novel. Basically, it's more realistic and will teach people like us how to live your life.

Raelynn known as Rae is an investment banker working in a Wall Street Bnak. She is going through a dating recession, and makes a plan of herself to go on a date and then maybe settle down when she becomes thirty. She gets into a dating app and while meeting weird guys, she eventually meets Dustin. Dustin might be a typical hero of the story but this actually deals with depression, Dustin is going through.

First of all, I actually enjoyed author's writing. Despite the fact that it's a work of fiction, the author has done a good job of drawing the reader into the story and making the reader feel like a part of the story. Rae's character reminded a bit about myself, four years ago, when like Rae, I used to work in a bank, and then decided to quit to live a life. I do like her optimism, how she allows Dustin to deal with his depression by breaking off things with him and then her friendship with Ellen and all the others who like Rae is working grueling hours at the work. Reading about working in the bank, reminded me of my days as a banker when I literally didn't really have a life.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. For anyone looking for a realistic romantic novel, this one is for you. Worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

This was a sweet love story. I really connected with the main character's career struggles and that overall feeling of not being quite where you want to be in terms of your life plan. I thought the friend group was really relatable and I enjoyed reading about their New York life together.

I struggled with this book, The cover art and even the blurb suggest that this will be a light-hearted romantic comedy but the reality of the book is very different.
Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this at all - the plot and the characters were both lacking and it wasn't for me.

The cover make this look like a light romance. Don’t be fooled. The blurb is more accurate and I should have paid more attention to which authors were compared with this debut novel. Rae is turning 25 at the beginning of the book. She shares a small apartment with her college roommate and works on Wall Street in investment banking. She has a life plan to be married and have three kids by mid thirties which means counting backwards she should be meeting the one in the two years. After some dating apps burnout she meets Dustin. He is handsome, also works on Wall Street and shares her love of poetry. He also battles depression. It follows through the next five years as she is on and off in a relationship with Dustin and making choices about her work and interactions with friends and family.

Rae does have to learn that she can’t fix Dustin’s mental health issues. But Dustin is almost unlikable as he is written. He doesn’t like how pills make him feel but he can’t sustain therapy or any other coping skills so cuts people off including Rae. And yet she is continually drawn back to him after friends and family warn her again and again. To me it was not a healthy relationship and Rae literally gives up everyone of her goals except writing by the end of the book. It’s not a message I want to support. And the ending is frustratingly abrupt and vague. It is correctly labeled women's fiction with a romance as the Rae is the focus of the story.

This isn’t badly written but I can’t imagine suggesting it to any of my friends to read. Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars!

This book is a journey through your mid 20s to your 30s. It's life and friendship and love. The thing is I felt that Rae sometimes didn't have opinions of her own or the choices she was sure of then suddenly fell flat for the sake of the plot.

I liked where it was going but I felt that the characters were all over the place sometimes.

Overall, this is a fast read at times and a slow read at others. Romance isn't the main point of the story, so if that's what you were looking for then I'm not sure you may like this one. Also, there are portrayals of depression and mentions of suicide so please keep this in mind.

I am definitely going to be buying this book and re reading it! I was so enthralled by the story with the deeper look into emotions. I love how it depicts how friendships are to vital to our character and functionality through love, live and careers.

When I first saw the cover for this book, I immediately wanted to read it because it just screamed rom-com to me. And as I read the description for the ARC, I thought it sounded good, but maybe not like it'll be one that stuck with me after reading. I was wrong.

The Heart of the Deal is about dating in New York, but it's about so much more than that. Rae, a young investment banker, and wannabe poet, is about to turn 25 when she does the marriage and kids math to realize that she needs to find a husband before she turns 30 if she wants to have the family she's always dreamed of. Her roommates convince her to download a dating app and for the first several dates it does not go well. But then she meets Dustin who can also recite lines from poems and seems to be exactly who Rae wants in her life.

But as they get involved in a relationship, Rae learns that Dustin struggles with depression and sets out on a mission to cure him and still stick within her marriage timeline. She slowly begins to realize there is no cure for depression and she has to ask herself if she's willing to lose herself to help Dustin.

As I mentioned, I thought this book was going to be a rom-com. And it was not that at all. I have a feeling that might throw some people off if they were looking for a rom-com and got this book instead. For me, I loved that it was so much more than I was hoping for. Yes, a relationship is at the heart of this book, but it's truly about mental health, about being in a job that you hate when you have big dreams for a different path, it's about friendships and the found family that you can make within those friendships. This book is so much more than you see at face value - and within the description.

This book will be featured on episode 42 (out June 8th) of Reading Through Life podcast.

An amazing journey from mid twentis to your thirties. The pressure society puts in women to settle and to start a family and how it clashes with a corporate job and climb the hypothetical ladder in your career . About true friendship through the years, by sharing meals, flats, dreams and everything in between. And the irony of choosing between pursuing your dreams or choosing comfort and save. You will cry and laugh and feel all the emotions while reading Rae’s journey to finding herself. A gem to read and enjoy doing it.

2.5/5 The Heart of the Deal is dubbed as a contemporary romance. It reads more as a contemporary, with a romance in it.

I struggled with reading this book and now reviewing it. You have Rae, who creates a timeline to get married by 30, when she turns 25. What follows is a series of dates, and self discoveries about herself both personally, and professionally. She then meets Dustin, whom she feels and instant connection with, but he has struggles with depression. What follows is an up and down relationship that really seems toxic. Dustin is not only experiencing depression, but he seems to blame everything on his depression. He runs hot and cold, cutting Rae off for weeks and then getting angry at her for things. Rae has this belief that his depression can be "fixed", and that she is the one that can do it. This is another trait that is so detrimental to those who struggle with mental health. I get that the point of the book is for Rae to discover that she cannot "cure" or "fix" Dustin, but how she is continuously pulled back to him just seemed harmful, and it made me feel uncomfortable reading it. Perhaps this is just the lens I read the story from, as someone who has worked in mental health and had family struggles with mental health, it seemed very toxic and dangerous to me.

Lindsay MacMillan does a good job of portraying Dustin's depression, as well as Rae's enmeshment with the depression describing it as almost becoming part of her. But I think she failed to discuss just how unhealthy both Dustin and Rae's coping was for both parties. The ending of the book leaves us not knowing whether there was, in fact, any growth in the characters. I don't mind leaving

In the end, this just was not the book for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

I really liked this book. It was a wonderful novel. There are novels that feel loud and fast-paced, but this one was quiet and slow-moving, though it didn't feel like it was a "slow." book. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The characters and story were well-written, and it was a wonderful approach to a book with a subject matter like this one. IT was raw and real and I enjoyed this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The financial terms in this book tired me out, and so did the portrayal of mental illness in relationships, so here we go.

Rae works on Wall Street, and on her 25th birthday, she realizes life is flashing before her eyes and she's still single. Determined to be married by 30, she starts swiping her way through dating apps, until she meets Dustin. Will she be able to seal the deal?

Big note: Dustin is depressed (literally - that is his diagnosis). He is also toxic, hot and cold, and blames it entirely on his depression - no accountability. And yet, Rae is hooked, just hoping he will "beat his depression" and be everything she needs.

I know the point is to say that isn't how it works, but her pull to him, even though he continues to hurt her, just made me uncomfortable. It wasn't healthy, even for fiction. Not worth it.

CW: depression, toxic relationship, brief mention of self harm, infidelity

I had mis judged this book by its cover and the idea that this was going to be a light fluffy rom com. This is not a romcom so don't expect that, also this books covers some deep depression issues.

This was definitely a good read, I found myself heartbroken, frustrated, and all kinds of other emotions throughout it.

This book explores female friendships, mental health, and how much can you give of yourself before you need to reclaim yourself.

Thank you to the author, Alcove Press and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this, but I had a really hard time getting over the false advertizing in the blurb. This was not cute, funny or sweet. Instead, it was morose, depressing and cringey. And why on earth are we still producing books that preach this antiquated view of woman-/personhood, and that there are life goals that are tied to your calender years? Sorry, cannot recommend.

I had mis judged this book by its cover and the idea that this was going to be a light fluffy rom com. The first few chapters were great but then I found it took a dark turn quickly and never really recovered for me personally.

I’ve been up and down with my reading lately when it comes to romance novels and I feel like the topics of depression and anxiety are coming up quite often in the narrative. This can be hit or miss for me and I sadly felt it was a miss for me on this book.

I very much disliked Dustin and could not get around that at all.

There were aspects I did enjoy, and I could find myself identifying with Rae and remembering back to my late twenties and early thirties trying to navigate life.

I also was not a fan of how abruptly I felt this book ended.

Please make note of the trigger warnings if you choose to pick this one up.

Thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press for an advanced copy for an honest review.

⚠️ Depression. Self harm. Toxic Relationships.

This book was in such poor taste. I have nothing much to say on this book (I am obligated to at least write a review and not just think about it once every three years, thinking it was a fever dream), but I will say that the writing is immature with the topics it discusses (why is mental illness always a tool for character development!), discussed inanely.

There is nothing wrong with the writing itself but the characters and the way they behaved had me screaming into my pillow. Based on my declining mental health I could not finish this book.

Thank you for the ARC in exchange for an honest review NetGalley and Alcove Press. I promise I don’t hate you for the torture of this book.

I thought this was going to be a quick and light read. However, I found this book to be SO disrespectful and shallow that I jad a hard time even finishig it, and it was far from enjoyable.

This book took me a while to get through... it is a serious, slow burn, third person pov book. I found myself struggling to finish and while this should have been a quick read, it took me longer than expected. I did like the setting and friendship aspect but the romance just wasn't there for me.