OOOOHHHHH a domestic lil romp?! Loved it. Definitely not right for people who don't like cheating though. Reading about the connection between all 4 people plus the kids in this book made me feel like I was a fly on the wall in these relationships. I love how this book was written and how engrossed the reader is able to be in the relationships. While this was a 5 star book for me, it certainly won't be for everyone!

I’ve always been intrigued by family dramas and The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers definitely piqued my interest.

Cora and Sam meet in a baby class. They’re both happily married with families of their own. Neither of them think of having an affair…but as their lives become more entwined, romantic tensions boil to the surface, until their lives unravel in two different timelines. In one, they have an affair, the other, they don’t. As reality splits, Cora starts to see her husband, her kids, her job in a new perspective. It shows what she has and what she can lose if she pursues one path over the other.

While the premise of this story intrigued me, I felt like the execution was lacking a bit. We’d usually get a small hint of what life in the affair timeline would be, but not enough of a peak. The way Cora’s life is presented, I can see how she’d be tempted to pursue the affair. At times, the book feels like it’s building to an event, and once we get there, I don’t feel like there was much to it. The pacing of this story also felt a bit off. Overall, I liked the idea, but ultimately I didn’t feel like this worked well for me.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for a honest review.

Cora meets Sam at a local baby group and realizes that not only is he the sole other parent she can stand, but she is also very attracted him. Sam feels the same but they cannot act on those feelings and potentially destroy two families. But then what if they did? Which path brings happiness? Is that something adults should even aspire for? I really loved the way this story was told, managing to make suburban infidelity almost seem fresh. It was funny and gripping if a touch too long. I wish Cora had been a little more fleshed out but maybe that was the point. An easy, page turner that is also smart.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I read this book in one day because I was obsessed with the main character, Cora. I loved this author’s writing style as well, you got everything you wanted as a reader even if it didn’t actually “happen” Cora at least considered all sides. I hope the best for this book and will definitely recommend it to many readers. I also loved the length, sometimes a shorter book just makes me feel so accomplished.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A man and woman meet at a parenting group and become friends. They introduce their spouses and they begin a family centered friendship. There remains an undercurrent of attraction between them in one universe; in a parallel universe, they act upon it.

In the midst of middle marriage with her husband Eliot, Cora meets Sam at a baby group in their small town. Their chemistry is instant and though neither of them are the type to cheat, it doesn’t stop Cora from thinking about what that would be like. Throughout the book, we get two timelines, one in which the affair begins, one in which it doesn’t.

I thought this was a really clever premise, though at times it felt a bit confusing. Often in these types of sliding door novels, we have timeline splits between chapters. But what Somers did here is bring the alternating timelines into one story, within the same scenes to see what the characters would be doing in each of them. Once I got the hang of it, it felt less confusing though at times I did find that I had to re-read sections to understand the timeline I was in.

This is definitely a slower novel, and though it feels as if an affair timeline would propel the plot, it felt more like an examination than a plot point. I always enjoy these stories of middle marriage and how things can often go awry when you’ve been in it for a long time, especially once kids enter the picture. At times it felt a bit repetitive but I also never wanted to stop reading. I’m excited to see how this one lands for other people.

It took me a little bit to get in the swing of Cora's mindset and what was going on but essentially the storyline is told in reality versus fantasy which becomes reality with all the attendant consequences. Beautifully written with many thoughtful insights. I loved the book and never wanted it to end. About the only negative thing I have to say is I didn't care for the cover,.

This book is written almost as a diary, spanning a 10-year period told from Cora’s perspective. The main characters are Cora and Eliot, with Jules and Sam also playing central roles. The structure is unique—each chapter essentially represents a year of Cora’s life, showing her “normal” reality alongside an alternate timeline where she is making the opposite choices. It’s a clever concept that keeps you questioning “what if” throughout. Overall, I appreciated the originality of the story. The exploration of choices and consequences was thought-provoking, but it was sometimes difficult to truly care about the characters and their actions.

This follows the trajectory of two young parents who meet in a baby group with their newborns and spend the next decade trying to resist their attraction to each other as their respective families and lives become intertwined. It experiments with timelines, showing a world where they do start an affair and one where they don’t. She perfectly nails that unspoken, yet clearly reciprocated, feeling of desire between two people. This was also unbelievably funny in ways very specific to being in your 30’s with young kids. Full blown loved this.

Idk why this didn’t work for me. Maybe too much racing thru time not enough about the emotions anchoring the characters? A compelling premise that I am sad to say fell flat.

4.5 rounded up

A story that dares to ask, what if life had taken a different turn? Told in a dual timeline with a dreamy, almost haunting quality, this book pulls you into the fantasies and heartbreaks of a different kind of life. At times it left me a little lost—but always curious, always wanting more.

It explores the raw realities of parenthood, grief, depression, and the quiet comparisons with neighbors and friends, capturing so well the drag called life. I also appreciated how depression was depicted in such a raw, unflinching way. I loved all four main characters, and though I wished for more yearning in the heartbreak, the story stayed with me.

At its core, it’s about an affair, but it also opens the door to much bigger questions—marriage, identity, parenthood, and desire. It’s the kind of story that lingers, making you want to revisit it again and again.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

meh. 2.5 stars rounded up.

the book is titled “the ten year affair” and, by golly, it felt like it took ten years for something to happen.
i may have gotten confused by some of the real life scenarios vs. the affair scenarios. i can typically follow a sliding doors format but this one blurred the lines a bit for me.
in the end, i was mad(?), sad(?), let down(?) that there were zero consequences to this entire affair. when you willingly set off a hand grenade in your marriage, certainly someone will get hurt?! maybe if this book had continued, there would have been some exploration of the fallout? i’m actually just glad it ended.

thank you to simon & schuster for providing this book for review consideration via netgalley. all opinions are my own.

Well written with some lovely insight, this account of mutual attraction is told as if in two timeframes, sliding doors, one side being will they? the other, they do. Ramifications on both sides. Unusual treatment of a mundane subject.

This review contains spoilers:

The Ten Tear Affair follows Cora and Sam, two married parents who meet at a baby group in the back of a store. A mild flirtation begins and Cora starts imagining a parallel world in which she and Sam are having an affair. In the real world, they are not. That is, until 70% into the book when they actually start having an affair which to me, felt like a relief. The book moved in the same time as a regular life in that nothing happens until something happens which I understand but doesn't make for a pleasant reading experience. Essentially, I spent the whole book waiting for this teased affair to happen, and by the time it did I had completely lost interest.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Was not able to finish - actually couldn't even get into this book. Something about the characters, voice, situation, just didn't click with me. Nothing against the book, just not for me

Right off the bat I can tell you this book won’t be liked by everyone, like the title says, there is cheating involved. Our narrator, Cora isn’t always well liked and many of her decisions are selfish and short sighted. After having her last baby she joins an infant and mother group where she meets Sam, the only father in the group. The connection is instant and slowly lines begin to blur a little bit more at a time. There were some very funny situations they get themselves into, especially when Sam and Cora decide to become “couple friends” to keep them from taking that first step to more. At first I liked Sam more than Cora’s husband and Sam’s wife drank too much and was too into her job, but as time progressed, I saw more cracks in Sam and Cora as individuals and not so much their spouse's. The “Sliding Doors’ description is subjective and without giving anything away, I got the comparisons being made. Life is monotonous and sometimes it’s in a good way and other times, it’s bad. Day dreaming, reading novels, watching tv…taking yourself out of the monotony can make time pass easier, but just don’t forget the grass isn’t always greener at the neighbors house.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC, as always I’m leaving my review voluntarily.

To be honest with you, I don't think I was old enough to read this book! I am 26 and none of my close friends are married/have kids, so this was totally out of my orbit. Add that it is definitely literary fiction that is taking itself too seriously, and this was just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
I LOVE books with alternate timelines (similar to The Names) and while I normally dislike a plot hinging on infidelity, I couldn't help but find this book delightful. The humor, the spot-on descriptions of competitive mothers, the frustration of trying to raise kids, all of it was so well-written that even a character who should have been deeply unlikeable was sympathetic. Cora meets Sam at a baby playgroup and they start an affair. Or, they don't. It's can be confusing-it's not always clear when the timeline is affair-timeline or not-affair-timeline-but it's not so muddied that it's frustrating. I particularly liked that each character was like a real person-wonderful in some ways and flawed in others.

The Ten Year Affair is about well…a ten year affair. But not quite. Cora and Sam meet in an absolutely intolerable baby group. Their chemistry is instant, but they quickly decide it’s not worth blowing up their lives and instead intertwine their families in friendship. Cora is consumed with thoughts of what their affair would be like in a different timeline. Years pass and their relationship evolves in both timelines. The book is well written and does a great job showing the complexities of marriage and family life.

Years ago This American Life ran a story about a man who said he thought often about having an affair. The way that unless you have one, you’ll never know what that experience is like.

“The Ten Year Affair” follows Cora and Sam, two parents of young children who find themselves drawn to each other despite both having seemingly stable relationships. Rather than stay away from temptation, they entwine their lives, but here is where the story splits and reality and imagination blur.

Incisively written and incredibly humorous and observant of the realities of millennial parents. “Another day passed. No major casualties.” Perfectly capturing the all encompassing nature of parenting young kids while also trying to figure out your post-kid identity. How careers and friendships and your relationship to your partner changes. How mostly you are the same person, but with a perspective shift so dramatic that everything looks different on the other side. Somers captures it all perfectly, in a wonderful novel well worth your time once the kids are in bed.