I really enjoyed this book. The friends with benefits trope can come off a bit contrived at times, but I found this one believable. I bought into The Rules of Forever hook, line and sinker. This is mainly because the characters are so likable. Campbell does a nice job developing both leads. Cara and Lauren are relatable and reliable while remaining interesting and unique. Campbell sketches them with sensitivity, compassion and humor, paying close attention to the kind of details that promote connectivity to the reading audience. Additionally, their chemistry plays out well on the page; it’s authentic and convincing. It comes off as fresh, not forced and contributes greatly to the success of the romance.

Besides well-developed characters, Campbell uses sound literary devices that give readers a romance they can count on but not find overly predictable. She charms readers with her delightful dialogue, entertaining subplots and engaging secondary characters. In addition to that, her use of conflict and sexual tension is masterfully done. Readers quickly become engrossed as well as captivated. The romance flourishes because of it.

Final remarks…

This is another writer whose debut has taken me by surprise; Campbell’s romance shows adeptness and skill. The storytelling flows smoothly across the page and absorbs the reader quickly and completely. This is a solid book. I look forward to reading Campbell’s next tale, which comes out sometime in April of next year.

Strengths…

Well-written
Well-constructed
Well- penned dialogue
Well-developed, likable characters
Amusing
Charming
Sweet

This debut bu Nan Campbell might not be perfect, but it was a great read none the less and I am eagerly awaiting to see what she follows up with. I loved the realistic take on the start of a relationship and the fact that Cara and Lauren actually communicate like normal people. Yes, maybe the whole poor/rich girl trope leads to repetitive arguments without anything getting really resolved but haven't we all been there? For me it added to the realness of this couple where bumps in the road inevitably circle back to the same issues that bother you in your partner again and again. Personally I loved following Cara and Laurens journey from friends with benefits to something more substantial and I was rooting for them the whole time. The art references sprinkled throughout the story added an extra interesting layer. In short: I can wholeheartedly recommend picking up this book for any romance fan out there!

***Thank you Netgalley and Bold Stroke Books for giving me the chance to read and review this book***

Cara Talarico is determined to pay off her sizable student loans before the age of 35. Her single-minded determination doesn't allow for a relationship or any fun at all. After her high school reunion, she finds herself riding back to New York City with her crush, Lauren Havemayer, who is just as intoxicating as Cara remembers. The only thing that has changed it that Lauren notices Cara now and the crush is no longer one sided. What begins as a friends with benefits arrangements gets complicated when feelings get involved.

I enjoyed this debut from Nan Campbell. The chemistry between the two leads is believable and I wanted them to overcome their issues to find their happiness. If I had one issue with the book, it was Cara's fixation on Lauren's wealth. Lauren comes from a wealthy family. She is an Assistant Curator at the Met. Art is her life. While she has money, she isn't pretentious and doesn't think herself better than anyone else. She is down to earth and wants to make her own way. Cara is way too concerned about the financial disparity between the two and I wish she had focused less on it. Lauren's wealth doesn't define her and it took too long for Cara to come to that realization.

Aside from that, this was a book that drew me in. I loved that art was a supporting character in the book. I learned some things that I didn't know previously, and I liked that it was something that brought the two women together as well as showed what a good teacher Cara is. All in all a worthy debut, well worth a read. I look forward to what comes next from Nan Campbell.

An ARC was received from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley for an honest review.

A high school reunion gives Cara and her crush, Lauren, a chance to reconnect. Sparks fly immediately, but it could be that their different social classes and life plans will derail the relationship before they give it a chance to start.

The chemistry between the Cara and Lauren is believable and their relationship is playful and threaded with honesty and true affection. It's a quick read, and one I would definitely add to my library for repeated reading.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

This book highlighted the fragility of trust, which I liked. I also thought Cara was refreshingly honest and direct. Lauren I found harder to get a handle on. I think that’s because the rich girl/poor girl trope was pushed a little bit too much. But once you block that out the story is pretty engaging. I also enjoyed looking up the real art work references and I had no idea that tiles could be so interesting.

I loved this book so much I’ve only just finished it and I already want to read it again. The chemistry between the main characters jumped off the pages. They were so sweet together, I absolutely loved them. I really rooted for them to find a happy ending and shed a few tears for them along the way. I hadn’t read anything by this author before but I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any future releases.

This book was adorable and I loved the characters. Cara’s personality was fun and precious showing that you don’t need a ton of money to be happy. Lauren was someone that was down to earth and a perfect match for Cara. I found the story to be real, the issues real, and the drama at the end was not forced and contrived. I found a new author that I will be looking forward to reading.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cara is a public school English teacher and Lauren is an assistant curator at the Met. Cara had a big crush on Lauren back in high school and the two take interest in each other at their 10 year high school reunion. The story follows their time since the meet up and throws in pieces from their time in high school life their senior quotes. Having had the quote "forever is composed of nows" on my wall during my high school years, I enjoyed that element of the story.
I appreciated both of them working in their elements collaboratively to engage Cara's students through art and poetry. I thought some of the book was repetitive related to money thoughts but maybe that was done to drive home a central point. Overall, I enjoyed the queer representation and the story flowed fairly quickly.

Good book. A bit slow at times, but still really good. The relationship between Cara and Lauren was equal parts funny, sexy, and cute. These two ladies went to boarding school together, but didn't hangout with each other while there. They meet again at their schools reunion and this is where their relationship starts. I liked that this started out as a sort of friends with benefits story and morphed into friends to lovers. The push and pull of this relationship was sometimes hard to read, because Cara had a huge problem with Lauren being born wealthy. And, Lauren had a problem with people only liking her for her money. I can understand being intimidated by wealth, but to harp on it so much was a bit tedious, at one point I just wanted Lauren to walk away, but then Cara came to her senses and the story got better after that. The supporting characters were written well and helped move this story along. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and family and I look forward to what's next from this author.

'ARC provided by both NetGalley and The Publisher (Bold Strokes Books) in exchange for a honest review'

**'When telling a story sometimes use your ideas as an educational tool towards the readers..'

3.5stars!
'THE RULES OF FOREVER' is both an intricate and reverberating debut book about love, life, trust, societal norms, friendships, relationship issues, art and the wonderful inescapability of family legacies etc. etc. etc.. The storyline could have been much much more enjoyable if not for every other sentence, one of the leading characters mentions having lots of debts and how poor that she was while constantly criticizing the other leading lady about being rich and having so much money. It was a bit discouraging and even annoyingly tedious at times but then the storytelling eventually got much better maybe from chapter 22 until the ending. Don't get me wrong, they had chemistry and a nice group of supportive friends & families that urge them on every time.
Perhaps the most challenging to understand or get a feel of and relate to, is Ms.Campbell trying to balance her storytelling, flesh out each character and then explain why each leading character had so many issues with trusting each other -- even after establishing this friends with benefits rule and at the same time setting their own boundaries. To both (Cara & Lauren) this should be very simple with no added expectations, right? -- but then feelings and falling in love hits which cause an angry outburst with Lauren voicing her displeasure not to get into any serious relationship because of past unhealed relationship issues of being used.
In the end, their desire to be together did outweigh those old relationships wounds and the strained of avoidance then led to them getting back together. So even though i may have been a little discouraged with a few chapters, i do encourage all interested readers to have a go at this book.
Recommended novel!

Cara had sworn off relationships and fun until her student loans are paid off. Lauren has recently returned to the city as a curator and is avoiding serious commitments after her last relationship failed. Both girls return for their 10 year high school reunion, where Cara gets to face her high school crunch, Lauren. Sparks fly and both decide a friend with benefits relationship is best. (You can guess what happened from here)

This book was great. I was able to guess what would happen next with this being a friend with benefits style book, but definitely recommend it!

The Rules of Forever had the three C’s: Communication. Chemistry. Complexity.

The communication between Cara and Lauren was a major highlight for me. From their journey that started with talking to friends with benefits to lovers, the communication was perfection. I also loved all of the art and NYC sprinkled in which added to the story. How this was a debut novel is beyond me as the details and storyline couldn’t have been better.

I wasn’t expecting the rich girl/poor girl trope and loved that inclusion in the story. Highly recommend this one. 🥕🌊

The Rules of Forever was an engaging debut novel from Nan Campbell and a book that makes a reader contemplate how our lives are impacted by past hurtful relationships. The story focuses on New York public school English teacher, Cara Talarico, who is saddled with student loans that limit how she spends her free time. Nonetheless, she is determined to pay back the remainder of her student loans before she turns thirty-five. Despite her student loans, Cara does plan to attend her ten year boarding school reunion where she was a day student since her mother worked for the school. Cara is wondering if she will run into her school crush, Lauren Havenmayer, who probably doesn’t even remember Cara.

Lauren is an assistant art curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and has just returned from several years in Europe. Lauren is from a New York family who is quite well off financially. Lauren is suffering from past romantic hurts from her European girlfriend whom we find out later in the story took advantage of Lauren financially.

The book has several themes including a rich girl/poor girl class struggle, high school crush, and friends with benefits. The story also exhibits an artistic theme due to Lauren’s job, their enjoyment of poems, art work and architecture, and the extensive art collection of Lauren’s aunt.

Some things that I enjoyed about this insightful book include how Lauren and Cara progressively got to know each other better and know one another’s actions and potential feelings. The book also felt true to life for me about the repetitive nature of some of their discussions. The reality is that nothing is rarely clear cut in a relationship, even a friends with benefits relationship, the first time around. Finally, I enjoyed the chemistry between Lauren and Cara and wondered why they didn’t explore that further while in school. 4 stars

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In The Rules of Forever the high school reunion is approaching for Cara who had a crush on Lauren but Lauren never showed any interest in her.
Now as they come face to face their friendship rekindles and a shared ride has the possibility to lead to more but are they the same people they were then?
Cara is a teacher and has lived on a tight budget. Lauren on the other hand is very successful but also is wary after her ex girlfriend took a lot of that away.
Cara and Lauren will find a middle ground to become friends and maybe that will open the door for them to discover those long ago feelings. It won't be easy but it might be worth it.
This is a quickly growing romance that I'm sure you'll enjoy.

Thank you #NetGalley #BoldStrokesBooks #TheRulesofForever for this ARC

Insightful debut novel
Campbell explores in this insightful debut novel in depth the hang-ups of the two female main characters. There is a strong rich / poor girl dynamic right from the start and esp. Cara Talarico, a struggling-with-debt school teacher in the public NYC-system brings this - in her opinion - unequal footing constantly to the forefront. I admit that the constant repetition of Cara’s issues with Lauren’s wealth in the first part of the book started to irk me and there might have been potential for a more economical story development. The second half which I termed in my mind „the silent siege“ after the first attempt of a fling/romance is doomed was in my opinion much better paced and very well worth reading.
I loved how thoroughly Campbell makes art and literature part of the story. And I liked as well how she fleshes out the „gilded cage“ Lauren is living in and its ugly side. It all lends depth and texture to the story. The writing is fluent, at times erudite (beware of the „id“) and I hope the author learns to curb in her tendency for too much information, too much detail and repetition, because this debut shows a lot of potential and was notwithstanding some weaker points a good read.

Thanks to netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC. This is a voluntary review.

The Rules of Forever gives a lot away in the title really. This book is all about rules, well maybe not, but they play an important role in the story.
This debut falls into two tropes; rich girl - poor girl and friend (with benefits) to forever.
I usually don’t really care for the rich girl - poor girl tropes, I only like it when it’s a given and dealt with once or twice, not being a main theme. In this book it is a main theme.

Cara and Lauren went to the same high school, when they meet again, or really meet for the first time at their ten year reunion, they strike up a friendship. The friendship turns into an arrangement (benefits) that they both seem to want. Their own hang ups and misgivings are clear from the start and repeated over and over. For instance, Cara has real issues with Lauren’s wealth. It’s not something Lauren flaunts or does anything bad with, if anything she doesn’t care for it much, Cara does. Every time the characters had a nice moment this money thing or something else pops up and they get in a fight, or there is lots of tension. You can do this once or twice as an author until I believe the characters need to have a good conversation about it. While the overall dialogue is fine, it keeps circling the same things and I don’t like the repetitive nature of it.
There’s a lot of repetition in this story, in dialogue, in actions, in thoughts, it makes it hard for me to really enjoy this book.
It was pretty decent for a debut and I would try another book from this author, this one just didn’t click for me.

Cara Talarico and Lauren Havemayer have sworn off dating and love for their own respective reasons, but running into each other at their 10 year high school reunion has sparks flying. A friends with benefits arrangement seemed simple, but things get complicated once their feelings grow--and their differences become harder to ignore.

--

A pretty cute lesbian romance that I warmed up to over the course of the book. Cara and Lauren are interesting characters and I could understand both of their mindsets throughout the book; like Cara’s conflicting feelings about Lauren’s immense wealth, and Lauren’s reservations about serious relationships. Although I do admit I sympathised with Cara a lot more, especially since we don’t learn the full truth about Lauren’s past until closer to the end of the book (and Lauren is really ridiculously wealthy after all).

They had lots of cute and corny moments full of pick up lines and spent a great deal of time learning more about each other. I was also surprisingly interested in the art aspect; the book had me pausing to look up some of the artists and tile pieces mentioned throughout (Cara’s obsession with tile was endearing to read about). The spice in this book was relatively mild, and more full of fun and silly moments that made it more real than intense which was cute.

One thing that impacted my reading experience however was the way interactions between the two seemed very similar in the first half of the book; they would get together, have fun hanging out until someone eventually said something that offended the other, and then it would be tense for a hot minute before they started making up and making out. At first I was really glad to see them communicating to each other about how they were feeling, but then it started becoming exhausting seeing them go through the same motions over and over knowing that they hadn’t really resolved anything. To the point where I was glad for the inevitable climatic blow up because it meant we’d finally go somewhere this time.

SPOILER: But it was cute seeing Lauren be the one all over Cara from then on; the two of them almost like the ‘she (Cara) fell first, but she (Lauren) fell harder’ trope. END SPOILER

Overall, despite the lowkey exhaustion I had reading Cara and Lauren have essentially the same conflicts over and over, I warmed up to them near the end and was super happy seeing them make up for real.

What are the rules of a friends with benefits arrangement? No commitment, expectations and certainly no catching of feelings. On the surface of it all, ex high school classmates Cara and Lauren thought they knew them until they broke every rule and fell in love; rather spectacularly.

Cara Talarico swore off commitments of any kind in order to finish paying off her student loans by the age of thirty five. At her high school reunion she got a lift from her teenage crush Lauren Havemayer and thereafter her resolution and dreams took on a dramatic turn when they decided on a plan that neither knew how to get out of.

The Rules of Forever is a book on love. The type of love that overcomes social status, income disparity, temperaments and past experiences. It was a journey of love that the pair alluded to not wanting but through the highs and lows, doubts and convictions, became a type of need. This is a wonderful debut where the author made love tangible through the characters’ gestures, acts, motivations and reactions. The ride I took with Cara and Lauren was tumultuous at times but deeply satisfying at the end. I love the characters and will be looking forward to Nan Campbell’s next book.

I just reviewed The Rules of Forever by Nan Campbell. Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were both likeable. I liked the dynamic and chemistry between the two. I feel like this book is a good example of why open and honest conversation is crucial in a relationship. I recommend.

I enjoyed this. The standard rich girl/poor girl plot. A whole lot of will they/ won’t they. I think what I enjoyed most was the way the dialogue was written. Conversations between characters flowed well. However, there were instances where it felt like the main characters were having the same conversation repeatedly but differently, if that makes sense. I’m not the most stubborn person so I had trouble relating to one of the main characters woes as well. But overall, it was a good read. It didn’t necessarily suck me in though, it took me a couple days to get through.