I loved the Freedom Clause by Hannah Sloane - this book shared a powerful message about listening to yourself and taking up space in your life. We meet Dominic and Daphne just as they decided to open up their marriage with the freedom clause - they can have one night or experience a year with another person in an effort to give them room to explore their marriage. What follows is a lot of exploration indeed! I just loved Hannah and found myself rooting for her all throughout. A lovely, quick read that remains on my heart months later. Don’t miss this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. The Freedom Clause is out now!

Daphne and Dominic were married right after graduating from university. Their love is pure and simple, but sometimes they wonder if they would do things differently if given another chance. So one New Year’s Day, they decide upon a Freedom Clause, one night each year where they can sleep with another person, no questions asked. Daphne is hesitant, and after her first night of freedom, decides to write about it on a Substack, breaking the rule of not telling anyone. And so goes the spiral that both Daphne and Dominic find themselves in, trying to navigate their freedom while staying true to themselves. But was the freedom clause meant to be broken? And will it save the marriage like it’s intended to?

Hannah Sloane has presented an interesting premise with her debut novel. Can a semi-open marriage bring a couple closer together, or will it push them apart?
Daphne and Dominic are 25 and met and fell in love while in University together a few years earlier. Now, having been married for four years they find themselves in a pickle with their love life. Dominic poses the idea that for the next five years they each get a pass day, where they can sleep with whomever they please (with a few exceptions) no questions asked. While Daphne is skeptical, they come up with rules for their Freedom Clause and so it begins. As each year passes, we see changes in each of Daphne and Dominic, and of course changes in their relationship.
My favorite thing about this book is the development of both characters. Each chapter is another year and with each year they change a little more. Written in third person and present tense, each paragraph (or so) alternates between Daphne and Dominic. Sometimes they are happening simultaneously and others months have passed. Because there was no breaks between months it sometimes made it hard to follow along, as the new month wasn’t always mentioned.
Overall, though, this book gave a very interesting look into marriage, sex, and learning to love yourself. It must be noted that the sex scenes are not terribly spicy or graphic, as they aren’t the main focus.
I truly enjoyed this and hope Ms. Sloane has more for us in the future.

I loved this book. The story of Dominic and Daphne and how they realize what life, love, and marriage really means felt like one of the most realistic takes on a relationship I have ever read.

This book had an intriguing premise about something that I've been hearing from a few young couples nowadays: the idea of an open marriage. Not sure if that was the author's intention but this was a bit more awkward of what was expecting. It mainly showed the negatives of that side and not necessarily touched on the positives (even if they lasted for a shorter amount of time).

What a way to debut! A great glimpse into the what-ifs post marriage. I loved the character of Daphne as she grew more self assured but didn’t love Dominic as he was a bit of a villain breaking all the rules of the freedom clause! I absolutely loved the ending to this because as much as we always want a HEA this one ended the way that it absolutely should have!

I didnt expect to enjoy this becuase I dont like the thought of an open marriage but I loved the women's fiction territory this veered into. I didn't really like dominic though.

The Freedom Clause by Hannah Sloane was just an okay read for me. I felt like I was eavesdropping on highly personal and cringe-inducing situations that were super uncomfortable. I even found the supporting cast of characters to be disappointing and not people I would enjoy being friends with. But, with all of that said, I didn't stop reading it, I had to read to the end to find out how things turned out for Dominic and Daphne. The premise of their Freedom Clause seemed like a disaster from the beginning, how could things not go awry and I wanted to be along for what I thought was a train wreck from the start.

The Freedom Clause by Hannah Sloane was an interesting read about a married couple who loves each other but are not quite happy. When the husband suggests the freedom clause, one night a year to sleep with anyone they want with rules in place, what can go wrong? But even one night a year can change everything. After five years, have they found what they wanted?
Through the years, so many things change between them. While Daphne seems to grow and find her way, Dom seems to lose his and sometimes love is not enough.

Pleasantly surprised by this one! Don't judge a book by its cover! Not my favourite read of the year but a solid 3 stars.

I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy The Freedom Clause but it dug its claws into me so deep I read it in two days. I really liked Daphne a lot and liked how she grew as a person. She kept getting stronger and more confident. Dominic had issues and was a weak man. He was a little shit and Daphne stayed with him way too long. Hannah Sloane knows how to weave a story with interesting characters. I look forward to seeing what else she writes.

3.5 stars! THE FREEDOM CLAUSE features a married couple named Daphne and Dominic who met in college.

While it wasn’t my favorite read of the year, there were plenty of enjoyable parts to the story and I lived that it included recipes too.

*many thanks to PRH and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

The first chapter of this book was slow and didn’t draw me into the characters, to the point where I considered making it a DNF… but WOW, I am so glad I kept reading – I ended up loving this book so much! Dominic and Daphne met at 18 and were each other’s first loves; when they got married after college, they were happy together, but sad feeling like they missed out on the thrill of dating and spending their 20s free. So at 25, Dominic suggests they enact the “Freedom Clause”: they can sleep with one other person one night each year, no repeats and no talking about it to their friends or each other; they’ll do this for five years, then reevaluate. The book has a different chapter for each of the five years, and the chapters are LONG, but by year 2, I was thoroughly invested in their relationship, how they would navigate the Freedom Clause, and what would come next. While at first I found Daphne a little odd and unlikable, I soon started rooting for her to succeed. I loved the character arcs and the messiness, and I LOVED Daphne’s cooking blog entries where she weaves her personal life into the recipes. (I normally hate cooking blogs where there’s lots of backstory to the recipe, but if this was a real blog, I would totally read it!) I absolutely adored this book, keep thinking about it, and highly recommend it.

Honestly, a disappointing book. I was very intrigued by the plot, and the idea of the driving action, but the writing was amateurish and the character's actions made me uncomfortable. It ended up being a strange premise that didn't make much sense at the end of the day.

Thank you to netgalley and random house for a copy of this book. One person in a marriage throws out the idea of sleeping with someone else once yearly with essentially no guilt. His wife is unsure of it. After all of this is settled, jealousy, insecurity and anxiety take over the book.

The Freedom Clause revolves around Dominic and Daphne, a couple that have been together since they were 18. They were each other's first everything. Now, at 25, things are boring. Their sex life is dead and they need a way to spice up their relationship. Here inlies the Freedom Clause. One night a year, they can choose another person. It must be a different person each year and cannot be a friend or family member. The other rule, they cannot ask each other about their one night.

This book was a pleasant surprise! I expected to see their marriage decinegrate after they decided to have an open marriage, however, that was not the case. Daphne shows tons of growth throughout the novel and is my favorite character. This book would make a fabulous book club pick as it centers around controversial topics! 5 stars!

Dominic and Daphne married straight out of college about a decade ago and are living and working in London. Their marriage and sex life seems to have hit a plateau. To provide some fizz, Dominic comes up with an innovative idea called The Freedom Clause. In effect, this means that each of them will be permitted to sleep with another person one day in a year each year for the next five years. Initially appalled and distressed by this concept, Daphne eventually finds her life has actually taken a turn for the better - and not just where sex is concerned. The same can't be said for Dominic however. I loved this refreshing story with a pretty unique plotline. The lucid yet pertinent writing style of the author also served to fully enhance the narrative and make it a captivating read. This is a debut novel from the author. I really enjoyed reading it and I'm definitely looking for more from her in future.

Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing and Hannah Sloane for the free e-copy.

I loved this soooo much more than I actually thought it would. I loved seeing her discover herself and take up space. It was really so so good.

I actually really liked this book and the concept which is probably very taboo. Imagine if your husband came to you and expressed he wanted a threesome, or for the two of you to start dating other people outside your marriage? Um most of us would probably act in a punch to the face kind of way, but what if your needs aren't being met? What if your missing the intimacy you crave, the spontaneity? Maybe your spouse isn't capable of meeting your needs and you want to find someone who does and can do it without leaving the comfort of your marriage. Hmmmmm
In a careful what you wish for story Dominic and Daphne have a conversation about having an open marriage. Dominic is the one who starts the conversation and Daphne is obviously hurt but the more she thinks about it the more she realizes it might be a good idea. The two agree that they will have a "hall pass" one day a year with many rules set in place to make sure they both feel good about the arrangement. It's scary and exciting but the couple sets off to find that one experience they've been looking for. Of course it doesn't go as expected, in a good and bad way, and the two will need to reevaluate the agreement. But what happens when one person wants to end the agreement and the other doesn't? What happens when the rules are broken and the trust is gone? Can these two get past the arrangement and get back to where they were, or is there no going back?

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC! This premise/synopsis was incredibly intriguing. I was fascinated by the thought of exploring the relationship between two people when the idea of a “freedom clause” is introduced. This book didn’t quite deliver on the premise in the way I hoped. It was interesting though!