Have absolutely loved a few of Stephanie's previous books so I was excited to read her latest, Overdue. It's a bit slow paced, but overall I enjoyed it. Slow burn, endearing characters, and lovely friendships. Put this one on your list!

I was so excited when I saw that Stephanie Perkins was releasing an adult romance novel. I was a massive fan of her Anna and The French Kiss books and spend four years as a bookseller recommending them over and over again to people. So years later this felt like the perfect read from her, a love letter to books and the people that work with them.

This story is definitely a slow burn, but for me the end was gratifying. I found it such a cozy read and loved following the ups and downs of Ingrid’s year as she transitioned from one season of her life to another. Normally slow burns are not my favourite because you don’t get to spend that much time with the characters on the same page together and it’s all pining, but Ingrid and Macon’s story wasn’t like this. Ingrid had more going on in her life than pinning after a man, and the same could be said for Macon. They worked together both literally in the library, but through each of their stories as well which I really appreciate. I personally really enjoy a slice of life story where I get to spend time with the characters, feel like I’m hanging out with them and Overdue fit the bill for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Stephanie Perkins and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

My most anticipated release of the year!

I discovered Stephanie Perkins’s YA debut Anna and the French Kiss as a sixteen year old and, and fell in love — with her writing, her characters, her voice (and, of course, her swoon-worthy heroes). Getting to read her adult debut as I approach thirty feels like the biggest gift.

If you love Stephanie Perkins’s YA romances, you’ll love her first adult novel, too. The characters and world feel tangibly real. While this is a slow slow-burn, I wouldn’t have sped it up by a second. I wanted every moment with Ingrid and Macon that I could get.

While the romance was wonderful (duh! It’s Stephanie Perkins!), Ingrid’s personal journey resonated with me most. So relatable and so richly draw. I already know I’ll be returning to this story. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy!

Overdue is a slow burn in every sense of the word. It’s not just about romance—it’s about rediscovery, healing, and figuring out who you are when you’ve been with someone so long, you’re not sure where you end and they begin.

Ingrid has been with her college boyfriend Cory for eleven years, and when they decide to take a one-month break to explore what they might be missing, it sets off a journey that’s less about dating others and more about learning yourself. The plot moves at a medium pace, and at times it felt like the romance took a backseat to the emotional work Ingrid needed to do—which isn’t a bad thing, just not what I expected going in.

I definitely gravitated more toward Macon, the grumpy (but secretly sweet) co-worker who Ingrid clearly has unresolved feelings for. He’s layered and dealing with a lot, and I honestly wished we got to hear more from his POV. Meanwhile, Ingrid, while cheerful on the surface, often came off a little ungrateful or emotionally distant—which may be the point, but it made it harder to connect with her at times.

The book has its charm: solid banter, a cozy vibe, and yes—there’s a cat. It leans more women’s fiction than romance, and while I kept waiting for things to pick up between Ingrid and Macon, I did end up smiling by the end. If you like slow burns, emotional growth, and a touch of grumpy-sunshine energy, this one might work for you. Just be prepared for the long haul before the romance kicks in.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC!

4.5 stars! There’s nothing like starting a book and knowing within the first few pages that you’ll love it—and that was my experience with OVERDUE. The story takes readers through a transformative year in the life of Ingrid Dahl. Sunny, sweet Ingrid is mostly content with her job as a librarian, her life in the cozy mountain town of Ridgetop, North Carolina, and her relationship with her longtime boyfriend, Cory. But when Ingrid’s sister announces her engagement, Ingrid and Cory are forced to question whether they’re truly right for each other, and decide to take a one-month break to figure it out and date other people. What will happen when they keep wanting to extend the break…and when Ingrid’s long-buried secret crush on her prickly yet charming coworker, Macon, turns into something a little more complicated?

There were so many things I really enjoyed about this book! Ingrid and Macon were just such great characters, both as individuals and as a couple. I personally prefer single POV to dual in a romance, and loved getting to follow Ingrid throughout her life-changing year! Ingrid grows so much through the story, as she learns that it’s long overdue (ha) to pursue what she wants in life. Her journey gets messy, complicated, emotional, but she’s also just a cheerful, warm character you can’t help but root for. And Macon definitely earns a spot on the perfect book boyfriends list—fabulous vegetarian cook, animal lover, passionate about books, great gardener, sensitive and shy, I could go on, lol! His quirky charm and quiet devotion to Ingrid were so sweet to read about. I also loved how both Ingrid and Macon were introverts, and while Ingrid was more bubbly and Macon more reserved, they just complemented each other super well. AND I liked that they were both happily and confidently childfree (and neither changes their mind about this throughout the story).

Beyond OVERDUE’s central love story, I also enjoyed how it was a love letter to reading and readers. Sometimes, bookish romances can feel a little cliche, but here, the characters’ love for books just shone through in a way that never felt forced or over-the-top, and that I’m sure will resonate with so many readers (it definitely did with me)! Stephanie Perkins clearly has so much experience in this realm, as she’s worked as a librarian, bookseller, and now novelist, and I appreciated all the detail she infuses into the story about some of those different career paths.

One thing I will say about this book, that other reviewers have mentioned, is that it’s quite the slow burn! Then, when Ingrid and Macon do get together, their relationship progresses pretty quickly. I personally enjoyed the pacing overall, how the slower nature of the story fully immerses readers in the characters’ world, and also thought it made sense for Ingrid and Macon to move a little faster because they’d been pining for each other for so long! That being said, I could understand why the pacing might feel a little off for some readers.

Needless to say, I would definitely recommend OVERDUE! I can’t believe this is my first Stephanie Perkins book, after hearing so many great things about her YA romances, but now I’m excited to read more of her writing. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Saturday Books for the ARC.

This was a delightful book and I loved it so much that I'm afraid I won't even be able to articulate a review that does it justice. But in a nutshell, our protagonist, Ingrid, has been with her boyfriend for 11 years and then when her sister gets engaged after a much shorter relationship, Ingrid and her boyfriend start questioning where things are actually going. So they plan to take a temporary separation of one month and then get back together and probably get married. Of course, this is ridiculous, but our main character is in deep denial about it. However, she already has someone in mind! Enter her coworker Macon, who she has been crushing on for years. Then proceeds a lot of turmoil, angst, and the slowest of all possible slow burn romances. I will say the first half of this book is pretty much Ingrid coming to terms with the status of her long-term relationship, recovering from that, and kind of starting new and finding herself. The side characters were all lovely and didn't feel like just background noise. This was not just a romance novel, but a beautiful story about new beginnings and taking chances. I could definitely see some people critiquing this book as maybe slow-paced or too long but honestly, I loved that we follow Ingrid for a full year and all that she goes through in that time.

First of all, the title is PERFECT. I love Stephanie Perkins's YA novels, and it was so much fun to read an adult romance with everything she does so well. The yearning! The friends-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, slow burn tropey goodness is just so, so good. The portrayal of librarian life is spot-on, and I was giggling and blushing the whole time.

I am so sad I have never read more books by this author! It was absolutely fabulous! Such a fantastic read. My husband wondered how I stayed up so late!

This tale of a librarian going through an, ahem, long overdue transformation in her life in terms of career and relationships, got off to a slow start, but makes up for it as the story unfolds. There’s a well rounded cast of characters and a romance that feels very real at the center of the story.

Very slow burn, but I loved how sweet and heartfelt it was! I’ve was so excited to read this as I love everything I’ve read from Stephanie. I’d definitely recommend, thank you for the opportunity to read this!

Stephanie Perkins’ Overdue is a half good book. Literally. If you started the book halfway through it would be good. The first half of this book is not only completely unnecessary, it makes the book way too long, and then has to convince the reader to like Ingrid and Macon after being exposed to every undesirable feature of their characters.

The first half of the book is about the fallout, for lack of a better term, of Ingrid and Cory, her boyfriend of eleven years, deciding to take a break from their relationship to get jiggy with it with other people to decide if they should get married. The more than half sane person would tell you that just considering that idea means you shouldn’t get married.

Ingrid immediately hits on Macon, her coworker that she has a huge crush on (also another sign), and it goes badly. Having had the brilliant idea of trying to kiss a coworker at her place of employment where she will have to face him every single day she goes to work, Ingrid then decides to join dating apps as well as date one of the library patrons, without disclosing that she’s “experimenting” while still being in a serious relationship. Meanwhile Macon is being surly/cranky/curmudgeonly while Ingrid torpedos any respect anyone could ever have for her.

At the halfway mark or thereabouts, Ingrid and Cory finally come to the conclusion that the reader did about five pages into this book, which is that they do not belong in a romantic relationship with each other. Thank goodness because we have now finally reached the point in the book where I actually enjoyed the story more and would have never gotten to if I hadn’t been reading this for review.

As Ingrid and Macon finally start feeling their way back into a friendship that has the potential to become more, Ingrid starts regarding her breakup, the assistance she’s providing to Macon in renovating his home and her lack of interest in additional library education as a sign that she needs to evaluate what she wants to do with her life. She realizes that despite the anxiety and stress and financial complications what she really wants is to own and run a bookstore.

As her relationship with Macon grows and she delves into a new career path we finally get to see the characters grow and have a better understanding of what they like so much about each other. It still feels like it reads really slowly but I like the characters better and I’m finally invested in there being a happy outcome.

The book does a good job of exploring a relationship between two very introverted people, I just don’t know how many readers will be willing to stick with the story until it gets to the point where it’s more enjoyable. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I read this book in just a couple days. I love the aesthetic of it and it was a sweet read. I would recommend to others!

Thanks to Netgalley and Saturday Books for the advance copy.

As a library worker, I'm inclined to like this book. I loved the friendship between the staff, and with the patrons as well. And I know all too well the anticipation of the early closures for snow.

Slight spoilers:


As for the romance, talk about slow burn (also the friends to lovers and grumpy/sunshine tropes)! It was kind of a slow moving plot but there was still enough will they/won't they things that popped up to keep it interesting

Delightful story that starts the way any romantic disaster should: "Let's take a one month break before we get engaged."
It's a delightful story: almost a coming-of-late-age as the main female character is 30 without a well-defined career and particle board furniture in her rental (the specificity really drive this point home, great detail). As for calling it a romance? Hmm. It's certainly romantic. Just not sure it is a capital R Romance. The burn is so slow, we as readers are frantically blowing on the sticks as our hands callous over from rubbing them together. Like, is there even any smoke? Luckily it does catch fire. I'd also classify this as a grumpy-sunshine romance as Macon is a disgruntled librarian and Ingrid is outwardly bubbly. The details of being library staff were also a nice surprise but not sure the general public would think they were entertaining.

2.75 stars
Several cracked door scenes throughout the whole book

This was a finding yourself after a huge life change type of novel, with a sub-plot of very slow burning romance. I usually like these kinds of books but honestly this one didn't really connect with me that much. We follow the FMC through a year in her life and it honestly felt very long and kind of boring. She does go through a fair amount of character development but I didn't feel overly connected to her or her journey - the lessons she learned were very subtle and gradual, and overall it was just lacking something for me.

The romance was cute, very slow burn, grumpy x sunshine, and had its good moments - but they definitely weren't my favourite couple and there could have been better communication between the two of them. It was also more spicy than I would have liked.

I did like that this was an ode to books/booksellers and libraries, and the setting was nice. I liked the FMCs relationships with her friends and her family and how those evolved during the book.

Honestly not sure if this was 100% the book for me. It was just okay. But I do see it being the kind of thing that others would love!

Loved this romance for book lovers of all kinds! Also wouldn’t mind a dreamy cottage in the mountains of NC…

Overdue
Next up on my list of Top Ten Cozy Fall Reads is Overdue, by Stephanie Perkins. Dating is messy. Dating after a long-term relationship is even more so. When Ingrid’s fiancé and high school sweetheart decides they need to take a break to see other people for one month, she sets her sights on her curmudgeonly coworker, Macon. As the one-month deadline keeps extending, Ingrid begins to find her self-confidence, passion, and that being comfortable is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Set in a quirky small town in the upper corner of North Carolina, this book is perfect for fans of library romance, those who love the grumpy sunshine trope, and those who appreciate the real-life details of librarianship. Five stars.

This is a charming and heartfelt contemporary romance that offers a delightful blend of wit, warmth and relatable characters struggles. Known for her ability to craft endearing young adult stories, Perkins delivers another engaging read that focuses on the sweet, often awkward journey of falling in love. The book centers around characters connected by a shared love for books and their local library, creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere. Perkins excels at developing genuine connections and believable chemistry between her MCs, making their romance feel authentic and easy to root for. Her writing style is light and engaging, filled with charming banter and thoughful observations on life and relationship. Overdue is perfect for readers who enjoy feel-good stories, character-driven narratives, and a touch of everyday magic in their romance. It's a sweet escape that highlights the importance of communication, vulnerability, and taking chances.

I read this before I knew that the author had also written Anna and the French Kiss. I loved that book and am not surprised that I loved Overdue as well. It is the perfect rom com for a rainy day. I really enjoyed going along for the ride with Ingrid and reading about all her adventures. The author had me laughing out loud at times and tears streaming down my face at others. I will definitely check out the next book that Perkins' writes and can't wait to recommend to all my friends!

i was so excited to receive an arc of this book.
i did finish this book rather quickly, I found it easy to read. there was a few things that I didn't care for, and some parts i skimmed. overall I enjoyed it, but it was not a favorite of mine. I would absolutely read another romance book by Stephanie Perkins.