I didn’t love this one, but I think that it was the mental health aspect that caused me to struggle. I find that after dealing with mental health situations in real life I don’t enjoy reading stories with these heavy parts. It may be a great one for someone else!

I appreciated how real this book is. Not a worked up happy ever after but a true portrayal of how many loves and relationships play out in the real world. Certain parts felt like they were dragging along and I feel the story overall was much longer than it needed to be. I liked the story itself though and look forward to future books by MacMillan.

The following review will be posted on Sunday, June 5th, two days before publication. It will be shared on Twitter and Instagram between that Sunday, and the publication date (Tuesday, June 7th), but the review has already been posted on Goodreads. The blog post includes links to pre-order the books and to its Goodreads page, so readers can add it to their to-be-read books.

“She was living the life she thought she should, not the life she thought she could.”

Genre: Fiction, New Adult, Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Depression and suicidal ideation.

“The Heart of the Deal” is Lindsay MacMillan’s debut novel and it follows Rae, a young Wall Street investment banker who is originally from Indiana, and whose poetic dreams make her feel stuck in her job and, at times, even stuck in New York. She is in her mid-twenties and seeing how life is flourishing for her friends and yes, she’s happy for them, but she’s also heartbroken that she isn’t getting her happily ever after… but what even is her happily ever after supposed to look like? That’s for her to find out and for us to follow along.

First things first, wow. This is a heavy one, but one that’s worth reading. Don’t let the cover fool you, this book is partly about depression and mental health struggles and how they affect the person going through them and how they shift the lives of everyone around them as well.

I’m not the biggest fan of third-person narratives, but I actually really enjoyed reading this book. Because it was in third-person it took me a bit longer to get hooked on it, but once I was, I finished the book as soon as was humanly possible with my work and school schedule.

Full-on disclaimer, I am a big swiftie (aka Taylor Swift superfan) and I can’t even begin to explain how much I loved all the Taylor Swift song references here and there. I had my suspicions that the author was a swiftie (I can usually tell) but with the lil’ Paper Rings scene (and the “fuck the patriarchy” and the “forevermore” and the “single strand of golden thread” and many more), it was all confirmed. It couldn’t be a coincidence anymore. This just made the book a little more enjoyable for me, as I was trying to find all the other imperceptible references.

I feel like there was a lot going on in this book. I’m used to romances that are more straightforward—where the whole plotline revolves around one thing or one period of time. But this book? It’ll take you across state lines and it’ll have you see Rae fall in and out of love various times, something more akin to real life and its volatileness, not just have the main characters fall in love and live their happily ever after right away. Yes, I know that that is what we all want and what a few get, but then there are more of us that have thought we’ve been fully in love with different people at different stages of our lives. Love is always different. Even love between the same two people at different stages of their lives could look radically different when compared, as was also seen in this book. But that’s what makes love so wonderful, isn’t it?

I feel like this book, that’s about a quarter-life crisis, could easily induce a quarter-life crisis on its readers. Lindsay MacMillan will have you thinking about life and what you want from it and what (you think) will make you happy. It’ll make you want to take a leap towards your dreams.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who’s single or casually dating under 30, as that seems to be this book’s target audience. Nonetheless, if you’re happily taken or above that age range, don’t hesitate to grab this book. I, myself, am taken and I enjoyed this book thoroughly even though I have never used dating apps, which was a side of the story I couldn’t directly relate to. I think this book would be a wonderful addition to the shelves or any New Adult and YA literature lover. Don’t expect this to be an all-consuming, explicit romance, because it’s not that, but the romantic bits and pieces will still succeed at warming your heart.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 07, 2022

“But love wasn’t just the lightness in the air and sunny days with mountain views that stretched for miles. It was the clouds and the weights and the fog that blocked even your own feet sometimes. Real love required finding a way, not walking away.”

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

As someone with depression, the way it was talked about in this novel veered into offensive territory multiple times, as did the way the character with depression was talked about as if he weren’t a fully functioning adult was incredibly jarring. I have to agree with other reviewers who said that it seemed like Rae had a saviour complex, and it made for a very uncomfortable read.

All of this overshadowed everything else about the book for me, but that didn’t matter much anyway, since Rae and her friends didn’t come across as particularly likeable. Plus, as a 28 year old, there’s only so much agonising over turning 25 I can bear to read before I become exhausted.

I really enjoyed this story. It was easy to relate to the characters and be invested in their relationship. Definitely a worthwhile read.

I think it's clear from the one star, but I did not like this book.

Every character is annoying, especially the main character. The relationship between her and Dustin comes one so suddenly and is incredibly toxic. It would be one thing if the author showed this and them improved their relationship over time but she spends most of the book not even with him.

The "Scramblettes" are the girls you went to high school with posting bougie brunch pictures every Sunday that you avoid like the plague. They were obnoxious and immature the entire time.

My main issue with this book, that many others had, is that this is not a contemporary romcom. It's not even romance. I am frustrated and disappointed after reading this.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this one. Their relationship had a lot of potential, and they were fun together.

But ultimately, the relationship is just too toxic. Her desperate hope that he is going to be "fixed" and that they'll get to be happy together soon got hard to swallow. His "I can't be what you need!" while taking up all of her time and leading her on... I understand depression fairly well, but I also don't think that it is an excuse for someone to treat you so poorly.

So, this just didn't work for me. Which makes me sad because it was so damn well written! It just was too reminiscent of real-life sad situations, and then ended the way it did (better for it to end with them apart, in my opinion! She deserved more!).

I really struggled with how to rate this book. This is some gorgeous writing - really well put together phrasing and random unexpected insights that had me highlighting more than I usually do in a fiction book. I thought the finance puns sprinkled throughout were clever and the thread of infusing business jargon into Rae’s relationships was very relatable to me. I saw myself in Rae, reflecting back on that time period of my life.

However, I was so disappointed by the end. I felt emotionally drained and didn’t really get any sort of return on that investment in the story. There was so much that I related to in this story - and I can even appreciate that this is not really a romance novel as expected. I get where the author was trying to draw out the emotional highs and lows of the main character, but it really felt like the lows outweighed the highs and I feel almost cheated to get to an ending that didn’t feel like a destination.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove & the author for an advance e-ARC for me to read & review.

Cute cover but it felt off.

The characters and story felt like they didn’t have any direction more of the time.
I was bored and nothing interesting was said or done. It was cute at times but that’s about it.

dnf 50%

The cover is cute, the blurb is interesting but the story feels directionless 99% of the time.

There was no:
- meet cute (they literally go on a date off-page and we’re reintroduced to Dustin at their second date)
- No chemistry (even Rae acknowledges that she didn’t have the best time with him)
- Kiss off page (again, this is something that would have helped make their attraction more believable if shown)
I don’t know what to say.
In theory, this book should have worked, but it didn’t.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Heart Of The Deal tells the story of Rae, a 20-something year old woman living her best life in New York City, with friends and a career which she loves. But something's missing. Love. Tired of being single, her friends convince her to join a dating app, and low and behold she meets Dustin. But a relationship with someone suffering from depression may seem harder than she imagined.

This book was definitely not what I expected. It has much deeper depths and themes, addressing depression and sexual assault. I loved the New York setting, Rae's friend group was everything, and her relationship with Dustin was emotional, impactful and heartbreaking. If you are into books with deeper and heavier themes, I'd definitely recommend this one.

Trigger warning, contains themes of depression and sexual assault.

I definitely was expecting something a bit more upbeat based on the cover and description, but it was pretty good overall.

This book is about Rae and her exploring the life of New York while trying to follow her dreams, the book follows Rae over a 5 year period. Rae lives with her best friend Ellen and has 2 other best friends, all 4 of them make up ‘the Scramblettes’. On her 25th birthday Rae panics as she wants to be married by the age she’s 30 and have 3 kids by 35. The Scramblettes convince her to download a dating app and that’s where she meets Dustin.

I was expecting a cute romantic book but this book is quite the opposite. We see Rae and Dustin work through their relationship as Dustin struggles with depression, Rae wants to help him and be there for him but Dustin wants her to stay his “Rae of sunshine”. Trigger warnings for depression, suicidal thoughts and self harm!

I loved the friendships between Rae and the Scramblettes, we see them grow up over the 5 years and how they were always there for each other. I really adored how Ellen was a true friend by telling the truth to Rae even when she didn’t want to hear it. Ellen was my favourite character and i’m glad she got her happy ending! Loved their idea of toilet naps, will definitely be trying it out to catch up on sleep.

Dustin and Rae’s relationship had its up and mostly downs as Dustin was toxic and wouldn’t let Rae into his life. Dustin was affecting Rae’s mental health but she kept ignoring how she was feeling, this annoyed me as she was just focused on trying to ‘fix’ Dustin. Dustin was great, loving and a good guy when he wasn’t feeling depressed but he had some issues he needed to go through before he went out with Rae. I didn’t like how he treated Rae when she just wanted to help him get the help he needed. I would’ve really liked if this book was dual pov, i’d like to know what Dustin was thinking throughout this story and during this 5 year period.

I felt like the ending was really rushed and I would’ve liked to see more with Dustin and Rae then, I wanted to know if he was going to atleast treat her right this time. So happy that Rae finally decided to quit investment banking and followed her dream of becoming a poet but I wished I got to see how it ended up for her.

Bonus: This book has chapter names!!! I loved this so much.

Thank you NetGalley, Alcove Press and Lindsay MacMillan for this arc! This book is going to be published at the start of June this year.

I received a copy of this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really different from what I expected. The synopsis made it sound like a light, fun book and it was actually dark and sad. I had a hard time sticking with this one.

In this debut novel, The Heart of the Deal, by Lindsay MacMillan, thirty something Rae has a great career but wants romance.. Her friends encourage her to try some dating apps but Rae doesn’t like the stigma and hassle of playing the pick me game or relying on an app to find her guy. Rae finally meets Dustin and she intensely feels that he might be the one for her. Dustin who suffers from depression might seem perfect but can the two make it work?
This book was a fun read and the characters were really relatable. I was laughing, crying, and cheering them on. If you are looking for a book “with all of the feels, then this is the one for you.

The book tells the story of a woman named Rae who is dating in New York while working her way up the corporate ladder in Wall Street. Rae is pushed into dating by her group of friends (which gives a more jovial note to the book). We follow Rae on different dates until she meets Dustin, another wall street broker who suffers from depression. The story shows the ups and downs of their relationship and highlights the struggles to be in a relationship with a person that has depression.

The first few pages of the book really hooked me as I myself as a woman have had that panic moment of my biological clock ticking and have had a regressive countdown. I also related with the dating scenes and how weird app dating is. However, what started as a funny (many economics-love jokes) turned into a deep emotional book. I didn’t mind this change, but it’s not necessarily what the blurb/synopsis of the book indicated.

I have to say that I found the book to be very moving and emotionally draining so I found myself crying at some points of it, but that is maybe due to the depth of emotionally involvement, due to this investment I have mixed feelings about the ending as its not emotionally fulfilling.

I am not an expert on depression and have the fortune of not have been affected by it, so I can’t judge the accuracy of the author in describing the effects of depression. Given that caveat, I liked the way the author describes depression and shows to the reader a toxic relationship that it’s not that obvious to the main character (which I believe is something that happens more often than not in reality).

I enjoyed the book and I personally would recommend the book to anyone who likes stories that require emotional investment and are a bit dark with a hint of humor (even though I don’t think it’s the funny book that some may expect it to be after reading the synopsis).

PS: I am available for beta reader services for books in this genre.

Brief Synopsis: Rae is a 25-year-old New York City investment banker is tired of being single so she dips her toes into online dating. Eventually she swipes right on a fellow investment banker, Dustin. Dustin gets her, he understands and appreciates her love of writing poetry. As she continues her relationship with Dustin she discovers he suffers from severe depression. She navigates several years in this relationship before she questions who she has become. She returns home to the Midwest to try to regroup and refresh. Will she ever find her true love?


My Thoughts: This book was heavy, sad, and left me exhausted. If you are looking for something light and enjoyable, this is NOT the book for you. The description on the back definitely does not accurately describe what this book is about. Trigger warning for sexual assault and mental illness.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel.

Given the past few years, the world has been so heavy that I've enjoyed reading lighthearted novels as a break from reality. The title and description of this book seemed like the perfect match for where my reading preferences are right now. Ultimately, the description of this title is so unlike the actual pages and the more I read, the more I fell into the doldrums of the characters.

Rae, our main character, is navigating through life with her two friends in Manhattan and decided to get on a dating app to meet new people. She begins a relationship with Dustin, who suffers from depression. It's unfair for me to continue an in-depth review because I did not finish this title. I skimmed through the middle and end in hopes that something would excited me enough to dig back in, but that didn't happen.

The writing itself shows promise, but the characters simply weren't likeable enough and the plot was too depressing for a lighthearted read. If the cover and description matched the content in a more transparent way, I wouldn't have walked into this novel expecting a fun beach read and could have been more open to the heavy material.

Thank you to Alcove Press for the ARC - I voluntarily read and reviewed this book so all opinions are my own.

I was excited to receive this book as the description was kind of reflecting what I was feeling regarding the whole "biological clock" ticking. The start was really well written and many can relate to the dating pool being plentiful but also scarce of potential matches. Seeing Rae's five year plan working backward was like reading my own plans from before so that was a laugh out loud moment for me. But that's where I only connected with this book - it was a struggle to finish it which is a shame because the premise of the story was quite promising.
This book does bring into light relationship struggles especially when at least one has depression and how it affects people around the couple (and each other). I might give it another re-read before the end of the year to see if I was just in a funk when I read this or it really just wasn't the book for me.

I wanted to like this book. I went into it thinking it would be a witty Rom-Com and it was anything but. I really think the blurb needs to be adjusted as it is misleading.

The book follows Rae over a 5 year period (25-30 years old) as she navigates life in Manhattan as an investment banker. She lives with her best friend Ellen and has 2 other friends that make up the Scramblettes. On Rae's 25th birthday, she starts dwelling on her biological clock, which as a woman, is relatable. Ellen talks Rae into getting a dating app to meet people and that's where Rae meets Dustin. Dustin suffers from depression and Rae really things she can "fix it" when she really needs to fix herself

Characters:
Rae is the MC. She is the most unlikeable character I've experienced in awhile. She lacks depth and seems to always be having a self pity party. The book starts with her turning 25 and really needing to find herself. That was a journey we did not see. She's incredibly pessimistic and self centered. Ellen found a wonderful boyfriend that and instead of being happy and supportive, it was woe is me. When Dustin came along, she just didn't want to be alone that basically pushed herself on him when he wanted distance due to his depression.

Ellen was my favorite. I really wish this book was from her POV. She was a friend that everyone wants in their life. She was supportive of Rae but also delivered harsh truths when she saw her friend. I'm glad she found happiness with Aaron.

I have mixed feelings about Dustin. He's fighting demons and was open about it. I think the mixed feelings I have stem more from Rae than it is really about Dustin.

Overall, I really had to power through this book. I was close to DNF at the 20% mark and it really didn't get any better. I think it really sends the wrong message to readers of that age group.