All that glitters...
Not your typical fuzzy rom com but I can appreciate the honesty it leaves in it's path.
Being an adult is harder than it looks at times and with this story we get a glimpse of Rae's life - the good along with the bad. Not always fun, but not a downer either. A thoughtful and honest look into what is and what will or could be.
Thanks Netgalley for the copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book gave me the same vibes of watching a Hallmark movie with a glass of wine. With that being said, it unfortunately missed the mark for me. I did not like the main characters or their relationship. It seemed like every chapter alternated between a date and Rae talking about the date with her friends. I think if there was more depth to the characters or the plot, I may have enjoyed it more.

Thank you so much to Alcove Press and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

The Heart of the Deal by Lindsay MacMillan is a sweet romance with some light humor and finding yourself. A well-written story with intriguing characters.

This was so cute. It almost reminded me of gossip girl kind of, I am not sure exactly why but probably because it was in new york city. I give this one a 4.5 stars!

With Rae's Wall Street banking job consuming so much of her time, it seems she's put dating on the back burner. But no longer. She's aware she's on a deadline and plans to be married by the age of thirty in order to have children before she's "too old". Signing up on dating apps, Rae finds herself meeting Dustin. But is Dustin her happy ever after? And when Dustin confides in her that he struggles with depression, Rae's life plan suddenly does not look as set as she had hoped.

Have you ever felt conflicted about a book? That's me with this one. I really enjoyed the story and while the depression angle was incredibly well written, I did not particularly like either of the main characters. The ending was unexpected for me and it felt a little too abrupt. The writing style was amazing though and I am genuinely looking forward to reading more by this author.

This book was read thanks to NetGalley.


It's a romance book, but that's not what i want to highlight, i want to highlight the conversation that we are starting to have about how many of our identities as women is linked to roles society expects from us, being mothers, and the author in a way, takes us in this journey of our protagonist in her 30s feeling the pressure to get married and have children.

The journey our protagonist goes is one that is worth discover on its own without any spoilers, so if you want to please, give this book a chance, is definitely one of a kind.

Wow! There's so much to unpack here. This author is definitely something special as is this book.

First of all, I'm in my mid fifties. I know it doesn't sound like the book would resonate with me but it does. I clearly remember my twenties and working crazy hours in corporate America as an accountant for a large retailer. Even though I was married, finding time to prioritize my own life outside of work was challenging. Much more so than for my male counterparts. This book was such an accurate depiction of feeling forced to schedule everything in your life....including relationships. I can remember often thinking how unfair it was that men never had to worry about their fertility clock ticking the way women did.. So when that comes up in the book, I all but stood up and cheered.

Rae is the main character and she's real and relatable. She's a woman turning twenty five when we first meet her. She has a time table in her head for how she wants everything to go down. She knows she wants three kids, so she's done the math and figured out when she needs to meet her future husband so that she can squeeze everything in. Rae uses her financial and practical mind to apply a rational approach to love. It just makes sense until she starts using the dating apps and finds that men in the dating pool aren't the greatest. Eventually she meets Dustin who initially seems wonderful. As time progresses, you discover he suffers from severe depression. Even though I completely empathize with his character for what he was experiencing, there are a lot of things that infuriated me too. Unfortunately for Rae, she's completely head over heels for Dustin and convinced that she can help him recover and believes they'll still make it down the aisle and to her dream of a happy family.

I see a lot of myself in Rae. She's a fixer like many women. We see a problem and immediately start looking for solutions. We research it and come up with new approaches to tackle the old problem. Rae takes Dustin's depression on this way. She tackles it like she would a project at work. The problem is that Dustin isn't always receptive to being "fixed." Eventually, Rae will have to acknowledge that she only has so much power over him.

Meanwhile, her best friend, Ellen is madly in love and moving forward with her life. Even though Rae is happy for her, it's hard not to be a little saddened that everything seems to be going her way when it isn't for Rae. In addition, Rae busts her tail at work to get phenomenal reviews but isn't always rewarded the way she should be....mostly because of the good old boys system. In her heart of hearts, Rae wants to write poetry but she's found that her struggles in life are draining her of her creative juices.

As the story progresses, you also discover that Rae has a very dysfunctional relationship with her father. He left her mother when she was twelve and remarried. He and his new wife have twin girls that he showers all of his attention on now. Rae resents that he seems to have moved on from her and replaced her. It's a wound that impacts many facets of her life.

This is just an outstanding book. I'm not sure what else I can say. Oh....I can say that the prose is amazing. Ms. MacMillan's descriptive abilities are wonderful. It makes reading the book an experience for the senses.

I will admit that at times it is a difficult read because you are emotionally tired for Rae. You can see her making decisions that you know she'll regret, but that's life isn't it? We've all been there and done things we later regretted. That's how you learn. If you are subject to triggers, then please be cautious, there is mental illness and some discussion of suicide in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I really wanted to like this one. I was expecting a light, fun romance, but that just wasn't the case.

Rae has a clear plan for her life, including to marry by the time she’s 30, but she quickly learns that life doesn’t always follow accordingly.

Rae just isn’t a likable person from the very beginning. I found her to be more than a little condescending and way too picky and judgmental. While you could argue it made her more realistic, she just wasn’t someone I cared about or was rooting for.

But this isn’t the biggest problem here: this book just left me emotionally drained in a bad way. So much attention is paid to depression and I just don’t think it was handled with as much care as it could’ve been. I will concede that a lot of it seemed realistic, but it was painted in a hugely negative light throughout the novel.

All of this culminates in an ending that cannot really be viewed as happy. It felt more like an inevitable cycle, and not one that would result in positive change. Arguably worse, however, is the overall negative picture I’m left with about relationships when depression is involved.

While I did enjoy the writing and the general premise of the story (single in your 20s, looking for love), it just fell woefully short.

Thank you to Alcove Press for providing me with an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

as someone adrift in my late twenties, i felt quite connected to this mc. i definitely agree if you enjoy jojo moyes, you might like this book, it felt that kind of normal human going through things and then something changes and their life starts making sense type of book.

I know they say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but when I looked at this one and read the description and I thought “hey! This could be a cute romcom” right?! Right?!?!?! Well, WRONG!!!

The story’s beginning was nice, I was having a good time…right until I wasn’t…

The portrayal of mental health issues was so off, I understand getting out of a toxic relationship is hard, that you lose perspective, that you want to help someone you love so much that you’re willing to sacrifice yourself, yes…but there’s a difference between being depressed and just being a horrible person who happens to struggle with depression and that for me, is what Dustin was.

And don’t get me started on the ending, just…😩…just, NO!

So, for me, the most important thing that needs to be said for anyone that needs to hear it - no one, and I mean NO ONE, should make you feel worthless, treat you like a punching bag or steal your light or peace…if you find yourself in that situation, talk to someone you trust and seek help. You deserve better.

I can’t recommend this one, but I do appreciate NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing an eARC of this one in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This review was posted on my IG account @bm.bookish.girl

Told across several years, Rae is on a calculated journey to find her soulmate and get married, all by the time she turns 30. With the support of her friends, Rae starts online dating, but only seems to find duds. However when she's not looking for love, she finds Dustin, but friendship is all he's capable of right now. As Rae grows up, she struggles and stumbles all in the name of finding what she truly wants out of life.

The Heart of the Deal was a solid debut novel. I liked that Rae's life was told through several years, instead of a small snapshot of her finding "the one." Rae questions her career path, tired of the Wall Street grind, which was relatable. With passions for writing, Rae was realistic with her career timeline, yet struggled when it came to love. I didn't particularly love either love interest in the book, and was frustrated at times with how much Rae gave up of herself in order to find marriage. Without going into spoilers, I didn't love the toxicity of Rae's relationship with Dustin and the ending left me wanting more. One highlight I appreciated was the handle and care the book used to deal with depression and mental health. It was vulnerable, realistic and well done.

The Heart of the Deal by Lindsay MacMillian is an unexpected story to say the least, so I advise everyone that expects to be reading a cute rom-com novel to prepare themselves for another kind of story. While it's true that the novel still includes moments of romance involving the main character, I wouldn't go as far as to say that these moments would appease someone that enjoys reading romance books. Although the book is also categorized as women's fiction, I believe that one is spot on for the story at hand.

The story is focused on Rae, a 25-year-old investment banker, who recounts how she's getting by through her years until her thirteenth birthday, since she has a plan to get married by that age and start trying for a family with whoever ends up being her husband. So, this story tells the struggles of Rae while she experiences dating in her 20s and trying to gain ground in her workplace in order to achieve her dream of becoming a writer of poetry.

I enjoyed the book quite enough, mostly because sometimes Rae and her internal monologues were relatable. However, there were some other things that I couldn’t stand to really enjoy and I tried passing by. One example is one of Rae’s love interests, Dustin, whom I felt like was putting depression as an excuse to being an asshole, which is not good. The other example is the ending of the story, it made me honestly so mad about the progress of Rae and the story itself (making me take one star down of the rating).

I think that if the next reader goes into the story with the correct expectations they might enjoy it more than I did!

*ARC kindly provided by Alcove Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This follows Rae as she navigates life between the ages of 25 and 30, with changing goals and thoughts. She's working hard in finance (great details) and she's happy with her friends but she wants more and so, thanks to a dating app, meets Dustin. Dustin has been struggling with his mental health, a subject MacMillan handles with sensitivity. It's not the focus of the novel but rather woven into it, even as he turns away from Rae. Rae's friend Ellen is terrific, btw. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. I suspect this will resonate with many readers.

This was a DNF for me. I think maybe it just ways a timing issue. I may go back and try it again. I’m sure many will enjoy

Wow, wow, wow!!

The cover of this book doesn't do it justice. I couldn't put this book down. From the cover, I thought it was going to be a cute, but it was so much more than that. The way Lindsay writes is stunning. The ability to show growth and and different stages... I found myself relating a fair bit to our main character, Rae, more than I thought when I first started this book. It truly makes your think about your life and it's hard not to find things that you can compare, especially if you work in the same lifestyle.

DNF at 15%. This just didn't hold my interest. The pacing was slow, and despite the cover, there was nothing fun or cute about it. It's more women's fiction than romance, and it didn't have the feels I'm looking for. People who prefer women's fiction may enjoy it.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

While you might expect this book to be cutesy rom-com type story, it offers a lot more than that. It showcases the reality of what dating in your late twenties might be like when real life happens and depression and other events come into play. The story centers around Rae, a 25-year old investment banker when we meet her. She seems to believe she is on a clock and wants to be married by 30. In order to achieve it, she signs up for dating apps and the expected hilarity of horrible dates starts (granted, Rae's definition of horrible may be a little different from mine). As she decides apps are not for her, she meets Dustin, and start to fall, hard. Dustin, however, is dealing with depression. The way both deal with it, results in a rather unhealthy and toxic relationship between our two MCs. If you go in with the understanding that this is what you will be reading, I think the book makes for an interesting enough story.

I will say that I found some of the characters to be somewhat naïve and a little pretentious. That might just be me being a little older and perhaps not the intended target audience for the story though. The financial jargon, and using it to refer to relationships and life in general was... funny at times... inappropriate at others. It makes sense given Rae's background, but I could have done without it. The ending of the story is particularly open-ended, which is something I find difficult, but again, given the reality of life The Heart of the Deal seems to aim to portray, makes sense.

What I appreciated most about this book is the way it explored all kinds of love, including love for oneself, strong (female) friendships and ultimately romantic love, especially in the face of what can happen in our day to day life. As such, it presented a much more realistic picture than many rom-coms.

All in all, a bit of a mixed bag for me, but a book that many will enjoy when going in with the correct expectations.

The story was just okay, i guess? The characters were sort of boring and did not make me care much about the the book.

This book is about a women in her late twenties who has a goal to be married by thirty but everything changes. This book was totally not what I suspected at all! It was really good but I went into this book thinking it was a cute rom-com. This book is not technically a rom-com but deals with personal struggles like relationship and depression. The author did such an amazing job with writing this book and talking about real life struggles that even adults deal with. This book talks about how even at your late 20s, life wouldn't be perfect with a great partner and living style. I enjoyed the setting of this story and how its over the span of 5 years which I thought was really cool. The pacing was also great with the storyline and I enjoyed the writing of this book.

The main character is Rae with Dustin being the main side character/ side MC. Rae is a banker who hopes to get everything set in her life in her 20s but things don't go as she wants and starts panicking until she meets Dustin on a dating app who is dealing with depression. I enjoyed Rae's character as I could relate to her so much. She wants her dream life and tries to help Dustin with his depression. She has an amazing character development in this book and I loved how relatable her character was. Dustin on the other hand was good but not great. Not because of his depression but the way he acted at some points. The romance in this book I have to say was kind of toxic but that was the whole purpose of the book to talk about how not every relationship will be perfect from the beginning.

The ending was great and overall I really enjoyed this book. I totally did not expect the story to be the way it was and I'm not disappointed at all with it. I think many readers should read this book because you can learn from it and feel so many different emotions while you are at it. Like honestly I went from happy to sad to crying to laughing at some scenes. Macmillan just knew how to touch your heart and I just recommend reading this book because I know it will be on the best seller list.

It is an unusual love story. Of course, there is excitement, first meetings, and moment worth remembering. But there is also one issue that makes this book so special - an obstacle, a barrier. One of them is suffering from depression.

I have never read something like this before. Depression here is so authentic - not like a slogan which does not mean anything at all. In this book, it seems different. It DOES matter, it does affect them, and living with it is not easy at all.

I really appreciate the way author is presenting the story. It's not sweet, not overwhelming - there are ups and downs, like in the everyday life.

The heart of the deal is definitely one of the most important and touching books I have read lately.