The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch

A Novel

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Pub Date Oct 31 2023 | Archive Date Nov 14 2023
St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin

Description

Jacqueline Firkins's The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch is a beautiful story of friendship, and second chances at love.

Imogen Finch has just been through her seventeenth breakup. She saw it coming, so she's not as crushed as she might be, but with all seventeen of her exes leaving her for other partners, she's come to believe a prediction her well-intentioned and possibly clairvoyant mother made over twenty years ago: that Imogen would never come first at anything or to anyone. Is her love life failing due to a magical curse? Insufficient effort? Poor timing or personality mismatches? Everyone has opinions on the matter.

Imogen's ready to give up altogether. But when Eliot Swift, her secret high school crush, returns to their small coastal town after a decade of nomadic travels, Imogen has new motivation to try again. Eliot's full of encouragement. He suggests that her curse is not only imagined, it's easily breakable. All they need is one win--any win--and she can believe in love, and in herself again.

From trivia games to swimming races to corn-shucking contests, the pair sets out to snag Imogen her first first. But when victory proves more elusive than Eliot anticipated, and when his deep-seeded wanderlust compels him to depart for far away places, Imogen fears she's destined to remain in second place forever. Fortunately for them both, sometimes magic lingers in the most unexpected places. And love is far from predictable.

Jacqueline Firkins's The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch is a beautiful story of friendship, and second chances at love.

Imogen Finch has just been through her seventeenth breakup. She saw it...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781250836526
PRICE $18.00 (USD)
PAGES 352

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Average rating from 455 members


Featured Reviews

I loved loved loved this friends to lovers story. Imogen was raw and real. She struggled with her moms vision of her “fate” to always come second in everything. It was an adorable backdrop for Eliot to swoop in and try to prove her wrong. It set up for silliness and seriousness. I adored the character growth throughout the book, but especially at the end. Imogen did what was right for her and finally accepted who she was fully. This book was well written, got you attached to the characters, and left me desperate for more follow up.

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I really enjoyed this story. Second chance, friends to lovers. It took some time to get there and you get some wisdom along the way.

Imogen is so relatable to me. Always putting the needs and happiness of others before herself. Believing her mother's prophecy that she would never be first at anything or to anyone and just accepting it.

Imogen and Eliot finding their way back to each other takes time. This is a slow burn. You do get an open door.

I felt bad for Dutch, it felt unnecessary to throw him in at the end.

Overall, cute read with some life lessons.

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I loved this friends-to-lovers, second-chance romance novel from Jacqueline Firkins—so much so that I could not put it down, and read it in less than 24 hours. A story that could have felt familiar and overdone was in fact fresh, new, and completely compelling, thanks to the storyline of the curse, the clear and honest communication between the characters, and the growth each experienced on their own.

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You'll easily love this book with your whole heart...at least I did! For fans of second chance, friends to strangers to lovers, and steamy romcoms, The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch will deliver exactly what you crave! Imogen and Eliot were close friends when they were younger but as they grew up, they also grew apart. Imogen went on to pursue her dream of being an artist before she had to devastatingly return home to care for her ill mother who revealed a potential curse of heartbreak that Imogen was destined for. With this predicted curse on her mind, Imogen was surprised to find Eliot had also returned home after traveling all over the world the past few years. With both of these estranged best friends together in the same small town, funny shenanigans, inspiring revelations, and blossoming love ensue and Imogen and Eliot realize heartbreak may not be a magical curse, when their burgeoning love is the magic itself! Definitely check this one out when it releases in October so you can understand why it's so meaningful to them and so you can fall in love with these two cuties yourself!

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I love this book so much - it’s about curses and second chances, and beach towns and found family. It’s absolutely beautiful and heartwarming- my heart expanded several sizes. Oh and it’s sexy.

Read this if you liked Every Summer After - very similar

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10 * stars. I loved this beautiful and emotional love story. It was so wonderful to see these two broken people find love for themselves, love for each other, and ultimately their happily ever afters. This author never disappoints.

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loved this romance and her trying to find love and finding herself. loved the friends and and the romance. I would read this author again. I really enjoyed the pacing and how the story and the character worked things out.

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As with Marlowe Banks, Redesigned, I was happily surprised with the depth there was to this romance. The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch is a quiet romance that mingles grief and love in a way that feels real; it never feels overdone or shallow...it hits just right.

In this novel, Imogen Finch is coming off her kazillionth break up when Eliot Swift, the true owner of her heart, returns to town to take care of things after the death of his father. Fairly quickly we learn that both Imogen and Eliot consider the other one 'the one that got away' and they decide to take some time to explore what being together would be like. Interspersed with that are little vignettes of Imogen's various failed love affairs and snapshots of town life in their home town, a town Eliot couldn't run away from fast enough when he graduated from high school. And mixed in with all of that is an exploration of what it means to love yourself, what it means to be responsible to and for others, and what it means to truly give space to those around you to grow and learn about themselves.

While there are some funny moments, I felt a sense of nostalgia and longing tinged throughout and it's that combo that enriched an already good read. When you throw in some really interesting secondary characters and a moodiness that almost begs you to sit back and reflect on your own evolution, how can you not enjoy The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch.

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AHHH 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Just from the title & cover itself, I knew this was going to be good. And yes, from the first chapter to the last, I like this so much. so much love for this!! putting this in my favorites list

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