I was so excited to read Rebecca Serle’s newest novel, Expiration Dates. Daphne, the main character, goes into each romantic relationship knowing exactly when it will end. Since she was young, Daphne receives a slip of paper at the beginning of each relationship that has a name and a time frame. Then one night she has a blind date with Jake. She receives a paper with a name - Jake, but no time frame. Daphne wonders if the universe is telling her Jake is the one.

Daphne meets Jake and he is great. The story is told both in the present and in the past with the backstory of each relationship Daphne has had. Including Hugo, former flame who, after his expiration date, is now her best friend. But then Hugo drops a bomb and we learn Daphne’s backstory.

This book kept me guessing and I didn’t want to put it down. I wish the ending had a little more substance, but other than that, I loved it! The idea of knowing when something would end, even before it begins, is an interesting one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. A solid 4 stars!

4.5 stars - Although Expiration Dates isn't released until March 2024, when I received the arc of this new Rebecca Serle book, I knew I couldn't wait to read it. Rebecca wrote one of my favorite books of all time, In Five Years, and the parallels between that book and her newest release were evident. I FLEW THROUGH Expiration Dates. Expiration Dates follows Daphne, whose relationships have been defined by a slip of paper that she receives, with the person's name and an expiration date for their relationship. Daphne, the main character, attempts to navigate her love life and her tumultuous adult life. Expiration Dates is more than a romance, but a study on the challenges of opening yourself up to love and letting others in. I loved how this book explored chronic illness, grief, and the fear of missing the opportunity to find love the older one gets. I connected to this book the most in terms of the secrets Daphne keeps about her illness, and how she seeks someone who understands her and her hesitancy to love and trust others. Rebecca always comes up with the most creative ideas for her romances, and I love her plots every time. I thought it was brilliant how we followed Daphne as she went through her various relationships and saw her grow as a person and as a partner throughout the story. I loved learning about the secrets she kept hidden from others, and seeing her come into herself by the end of the book. I saw a lot of myself in Daphne and Rebecca once again provided me a bit of hope that the right person comes around when you are in the right place to be open for them. I cannot recommend this book enough and I hope everyone checks it out when it is released at the beginning of next year!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with this ARC!

This new novel is classic Rebecca Serle (in mostly a good way!). More In Five Years than her other works, we have a magical realism element driving the story forward, of course with a small twist toward the end. I do believe the less you know, the better with Serle's novels.

The main plot focuses on the protagonist knowing in advance when her relationships will end, and exploring how this affects her buy-in to the relationship and how it affects other aspects of her life. The twist did feel a bit predictable to me, but that may be because I was guessing at it the whole time and expecting it, as Serle does tend to follow a formula. However despite this, this was a very enjoyable read and the writing style was fantastic.

I admit this book took me a bit to get into, but I’m glad I hung on. I was in love with the story by the end of the book. I wish it was a little more clear when the story was about present day Hugo vs past Hugo, but it didn’t ruin the story for me. I didn’t love the timing of the illness “bomb”, but I also understand why it was brought up when it was. It makes sense to introduce her heart issues when she talks about the boyfriend she was with when she was diagnosed. But I also feel like we could have learned about it earlier. It felt like a missed bombshell. My favorite thing about Rebecca Serle’s books are how they are non-traditional romance books. I felt like the love story in In Five Years was more the love between two best friends and the love story in One Italian Summer was more the love between a mother and daughter. In fact, I think there’s several love stories in this book and the main is Daphne learning to love herself. I love how her story with Hugo wrapped up. He didn’t believe in the idea of them having an expiration date and learned to love her from afar if that’s all he would be able to do.
Favorite Quote: We have to be cracked open sometimes. We have to be cracked open sometimes to let anything good in. What I see now, emerging in the mirror, is this one, simple truth: learning to be broken is learning to be whole.

Expiration Dates is a sweet and charming romance. To keep a plot "fresh" there needs to be a twist to the standard "boy meets girl" story-and Expiration Dates has several-although the revelation at the end is more of a "slight curve" than a "curve ball straight out of left field." Whenever Daphne begins a new relationship she finds a note with the just name of the person she is seeing and a date-Daphne figures out the date is a literal "expiration date" of how long their coupling will last. That is until Daphne meets Jake-the note she finds soon after meeting Jake only has his name. Surely this means Jake is the one Daphne is meant to spend the rest of her life with. And Jake is perfect-kind, smart, and clearly smitten with Daphne. Expiration Dates will keep you counting (and smiling!) from beginning to end. It's clever and wise, full of hope and heartbreak. It's a quick read, but the joy you'll find in its pages never expires.

I was fascinated by the of this story. It has left me thinking about it for days. I loved the characters. I was so invested in them I stayed up way too late so I could finish the story. Great read!

"Expiration Dates" by Rebecca Serle is a contemplative and emotionally charged novel that delves into the profound questions of life, love, and mortality. I had the privilege of reading an advance copy, and it's a book that left me deep in thought.

Serle's writing is elegant and thought-provoking. She effortlessly weaves together a narrative that revolves around the intriguing concept of knowing the expiration date of one's life. The premise is both fascinating and unsettling, and it serves as a springboard for exploring the characters' motivations and choices.

The protagonist's journey of self-discovery and personal growth is at the heart of this novel, and it's a journey that many readers will find relatable. Serle paints a vivid picture of the emotional turmoil that comes with facing the inevitability of death, and she handles the subject matter with sensitivity and depth.

The characters are well-drawn and multidimensional, making it easy to empathize with their struggles and dilemmas. Their relationships and interactions, particularly the central romance, are portrayed with authenticity and emotional resonance.

One of the strengths of "Expiration Dates" is its ability to spark introspection. It invites readers to ponder their own lives and consider how they might approach life if they knew their expiration dates. This philosophical element adds a layer of depth to the story that elevates it beyond a typical romance novel.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I'm awarding it four stars instead of five due to a couple of pacing issues in the middle of the story. There were moments when the narrative felt a bit slow, but it did pick up again as it neared the conclusion.

In summary, "Expiration Dates" is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant novel that explores themes of life, love, and mortality. Rebecca Serle's storytelling is both compelling and introspective, making it a worthwhile read for those who enjoy contemplative romance novels with a touch of existentialism. It's a story that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page.

4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced digital copy of Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle. I rated the book at 4 stars, but in reality it’s more like 3.5/3.75. I loved the premise of the story. It was a cute quick read that I really did enjoy. However, some parts of the story fell flat and Daphne’s ending was too rushed for my liking. Also, the most important question was left unanswered! Where are the notes coming from? Some of the supporting characters were underdeveloped and left me wondering why they were there. Overall though, it was a sweet clean romance.

I have enjoyed Rebecca Serle books since I first read The Dinner List. This book is right up there with her others. She creates amazing characters, and the plot of the story is unique. This is a very good book to read if you are in a reading slump.

Expiration Dates is a sweet and heart-warming romance novel. The premise was interesting. Rebecca Serle gets her readers thinking and questioning life’s choices. If you knew the future of a relationship, would you behave differently? If you knew how long you would be dating someone and when it would end, would that change how you spent your time with them, the topics you discussed or the things you did together?
Like other Serle novels, the story contains a touch of magical realism, however, not enough to make me loose interest.


Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My first Rebecca Serle....admittedly at the beginning I was hopeful and skeptical....but omg what a delight! This was a read I didn't want to end.

I loved how the author posed questions, thought proving ideas to the reader.

I'm going now to see what others if hers I need to add to my tbr!

5 stars!

An enjoyable read! The plot was intriguing and the character growth was good. The reason I couldn't go with a full five stars was because of how Daphne was portrayed. Half the time she was a pretty annoying protagonist and I just didn't feel like I could trust her. Part of this was because she was so incredibly insecure all the time, and yet described herself previously as feeling "better than everyone else" and she was bold and outgoing in owning her oddness. So the differing characterizations of her just made her unlikeable to me. I did like the journey though and what Daphne learned about herself and the world around her from it.

I want to thank Netgalley for an advanced copy of Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle. I’ve read other books by her and loved them all.
It’s about a girl, Daphne, who serial dates. She gets a paper ( not sure how) of how long the relation is going to last in days, weeks, months and years. I never read a book like that. Then she dates these guys and her relationships end accordingly.
She holds on to one of her previous relationships and stays friends.
The question is: Do we really want to know how long a relationship will last or don’t we?
I think we should all just enjoy the ride. Enjoy this book aw well!

It's another magical realism book from Serle. The FMC Daphne gets a slip of paper for each romantic relationship that gives her the amount of time the relationship will last. One day she gets a name with no timeline...
How would you behave if you knew the time line for each relationship?

This book took a bit for me to get into. I really didn't connect with any of the characters and I thought the FMC and MMC lacked chemistry.
However, if you like the author's other work One Italian Summer and In Five Years you'd likely enjoy this one.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC

Her entire life, Daphne Bell has received a note at the beginning of each of her romantic relationships telling her how long it will last. Now before she leaves for a first date she has received a note with just a name - Jake - and no expiration date. Daphne believes the universe has determined that Jake is supposed to be her forever, but as their relationship unfolds Daphne begins to have doubts about whether Jake is her destiny. She's been keeping secrets from him, and doesn't know how they might impact their forever.

It's a fascinating premise - how would knowing where a relationship is headed impact your investment in it? Is there someone we are each destined for? How much of life is free will and how much of it is fate? And can you really be with someone forever if you haven't shared all of who you are with them? These are some of the questions Serle explores in Expiration Dates. I won't spoil the storyline, but there also were two additional key plot points which were interesting twists and really changed where I thought the story would go.

Serle is the master of taking a common storyline and turning it on its head with just a hint of magical realism. Her writing style is very reader friendly and I flew through Expiration Dates in under 24 hours and thoroughly enjoyed the novel. 4 stars out of 5 as a I felt that there were a couple of characters (most notably Hugo) who could have used further development/fleshing out.

Expiration Dates is due for publication March 5, 2024. I was very excited to read and review this book as I love Rebecca Serle's work and the touch of magical realism in her thought-provoking novels. I highly recommend it for fans of hers or readers who enjoy fiction with a hint of magical realism.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.
Unfortunately, this one really missed the mark for me. I didn't feel a connection with the characters and I found so many of the details unnecessary.
I was looking forward to this one as the premise was intriguing but it fell flat for me. 3 general stars.

Cute easy read! Read in a few hours cus it keeps you entertained and just all around a good read. The execution of plot and character development was also beautifully done!!

Each time Daphne begins a new relationship, she knows how it ends. Literally, the universe tells her via a random slip of paper that lets her know how short/long she'll be with each person. It leaves little to chance - until Jake. His note has no amount of time, so he must be "the one," right?

I found this to be a unique premise as all of Rebecca Serle's book are. I will say that like the other books by this author that I've read there is a plot twist/reveal about 2/3 of the way through that was quite the "punch in the gut" (Note: I've never actually been punched in my gut, so I'm imagining with my comparison, but you get the point) that was a lot for me to process. I liked that this was such a creative twist on a love story. I do still have many questions about how this whole process worked, and I wanted to know if Daphne was the only human out there with these tips, but alas, I did not get that resolution. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this March 2024 release!

First, thank you Atria for an ARC of this book! I found Expiration Dates to be a quick and easy read, similar to other books written by Rebecca Serle that I’ve read. While I enjoyed it, I felt like we could’ve done with more character development across the board. The flashbacks of Daphne’s past loves gave me more insight into those characters than I felt like we got with Daphne, Hugo or Jake throughout the story. This is a great pick for someone who likes romance without any of the spice, and I’ll keep it as a recommendation for friends I know in that category. While I didn’t see the one main plot “bomb” coming, I did find the end a little predictable. Overall a quick and easy read that I enjoyed.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Unfortunately, the execution of the concept of this book was lacking for me and I did not finish the book. I found the writing stodgy and jerky, and I could not get into Daphne as a protagonist. I wasn't invested in a single character in this book, in fact.

Also, the fact that we never learn WHY Daphne gets these notes and who they're coming from. It's so unsatisfying.

This was a miss for me.