Two people with the same last name meet and fall in love. They have great chemistry until the bride-to-be finds out her fiancee’s family were slave owners of her ancestors. Layla must reconcile the past to choose love over a painful history.

Layla, a biracial woman from England with roots in Jamaica, meets Andy, a white man with Scottish ancestry. Everything is going well, and Layla and Andy are madly in love until her childhood friend Sera disapproves of their relationship. Sera urges Layla to research her heritage, which reveals Andy’s ancestors were slaveowners. This causes a rift in their relationship. Layla discovers the truth about her heritage during a family trip to Jamaica. She also learns valuable insights from her mom and grandfather, who urge her to live free and with love. That life is complex, and we can’t fix the past.

I loved the novel’s premise and the characters, especially Layla’s grandfather, whose wisdom and living his own true life teach life lessons. Dominoes reveals a surprise ending, showing that we must come to terms with our past to move forward. I thank NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Dominoes. #NetGalley #Dominoes #LiteraryFiction

A tender and provocative debut novel about a mixed-race British woman who makes the shocking discovery in the days leading up to her wedding that her fiancé's family may have enslaved her ancestors


Layla is a mixed-race woman. Her mother is a black Jamaican and a white father. Layla is marrying Andy, a white man of Scottish descent. They met at a party and hit it off at once. And how curious that they share a last name.


Enter Layla’s best friend, Sera, who isn’t so sure of her friend marrying a white man. And the fact they both have a Scottish last name sends them into a search through her heritage only to find a shocking secret.


Could his family have owned her family? Did they make their money on the backs of hers? Layla travels to Jamaica for the first time to find her family and how they came to have the last name Mckinnon.


The past has a habit of making us look at it whether we want to or not. Until we deal with that, we can’t move forward. As uncomfortable as these conversations are, we need to have them.


Wonderful book.

WOW~~~~ What a stellar read! I was weeping at the end of the book! I loved everything about it! There were a few things as a Jamaican that made me go "hmmm" but overall, well done.

Saw this being compared as a mix of Maame & Black Cake, so I had to read — while it gives off vibes of those two, DOMINOES is completely its own story — it’s thought-provoking, incredibly relevant/needed, hard to read at times, reflective, & complicated — it’s definitely the type of book that makes me want to talk about it with others

I did have a major issue with a certain character (no spoilers here) but the relationship just didn’t seem 100% believable and then, I felt like the pacing at the end was a bit rushed.

Overall, I think this will be a very talked about book when it’s released in March 2024 — Thank you Netgalley for an advanced ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What if you find out that your fiancé, the one you love, has something unforgiveable in his background, and your best friend, the one whose opinion you most value, has called you out on this?

Layla’s fiancé Andy’s last name is the same as hers. Sera, her best friend, is very dubious about them getting married, and urges her to research her heritage. When she does, Layla finds out that it is highly likely that Andy’s ancestors owned Layla’s and that his family benefited financially when slavery was outlawed.

This starts her on a quest to verify what really happened, and we learn a lot about how one’s ancestry can be researched. Not everything can be uncovered, but in the process, Layla finds family she never knew before, and a way to move forward.

While I found this story dragged a bit in the beginning, I was glad I stuck with it. I appreciated the wisdom of Layla’s elders and their palpable love for their family. Layla had an important question to answer. Just as important was her decision about how to proceed once she finished her research.

I think this would make an excellent book club book because of its interesting premise. A half Jamacain/
half Caucasian British woman (Layla) is engaged to a white man, Andy, ( (with the same last name as
hers ) who's family had had a plantation in Jamaica and owned slaves. Layla's best friend Sara wants her to do a genealogy study on her fiancee. She is convinced that the slaves his family probably owned were probably relatives of Layla. Plus, she is highly irritated that the Andy is white and all of this would be a very good reason to call off the wedding.
What I would like to know is, in this day and age of equality and openness would this really be this big of a deal? I just don't see that it would for this generation, especially if she truly loved him.
This is why I think a book club should "hash it out".

“Dominoes” is a book by Phoebe McIntosh, based upon her one-woman (one hour) play of the same name. I did not see the original play, but I think I would’ve preferred that version to this one. I can see the play being more condensed and felt at times that this book had extra information to, well, just have extra background information. I think the overall question posed was a good one - can a Black person marry into a former slaving owning family. However, having done genealogy searching in the past, I immediately thought of the scenario that happened in this book with Andrew’s family. Did Ms. McIntosh mean for it to be a surprise twist? I don’t know, but it wasn’t for me. I also didn’t really like Sera. While I understand her stance and her reasoning, some of her comments and actions seemed way off the mark and it seemed that Sera was really saying “choose me or your fiancé,” which just bugged me a lot. I did, however, really enjoy the main character’s grandfather - loved his view of life, loved how he loved his family, and loved how much he cared about so many precious things in life. Overall, I’d give this book a 3.5 rating - great idea and in a play (or short story) format I think it would’ve been preferred, but as a long story, it missed the mark for me.

Wow, talk about learning something so profound and significant. This one really made me think and feel, at the same time. This is a powerful story that highlights the complexities of history and family. I enjoyed the story. Thank you for the opportunity to read this one.

A solid debut with a thought provoking plot. I found myself wanting to take a position on who was right and who was wrong and that brought home the point of the book for me - that there's sometimes just grey when we're searching for black and white. I wish that Andy's character had been flushed out more so I had a better understanding of their relationship. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What do you do if you are to be married in a month and you find out the worst possible scenario regarding your husband to be's family?
This is that story. Dominoes written by Phoebe McIntosh delves into the black and white world where the wrong things are said by future in-laws and what to do if the bride decides that she is not doing the right thing in marrying the man she loves. I felt every emotion Layla had, when she met her Aunt Queenie in Jamaica, to when her future in-laws mentioned the little colored girl at the register, to whether or not she should marry Andy. This story has it all! I couldn't put the book down. An incredibly intellectually written book, it had me at the first paragraph. A must read for everyone!I I LOVED IT!

This was an eye opening novel for me in more than one way. First of all this book takes place in London and is about a mixed race woman, Layla, who falls for a white man, Andy. It turns out that they both have the same last name and there is the possibility that Andy's ancestors could have been the slave owners of Layla's family. Layla's best friend tries to open up Layla's eyes to this fact and this sends Layla on a personal quest of discovery.

As an American, I never gave much thought to just how rampant racism could be in other parts of the world and the impact that slavery had in other places like Great Britain. It really opened my eyes to the fact that it is not just the United States. I also feel that reading a story like this helps me understand the struggles others are facing and really lets me into their point of view.

Besides what I learned, I just thought this was a good story about a young woman who wants to get married. It was interesting to read about her life and her family. I really did not like her friend Sera but I understand what an important role she played for Layla and her personal journey. There was a lot to unpack and really digest about this story. An interesting read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC.

The story centers on a mixed-race woman, Layla, who is set to marry her white fiancé, Andy. Coincidentally, they share the same last name. Layla’s best friend, Sera, doesn’t support the relationship and has doubts about Andy. Layla begins to question if Andy’s wealthy family once owned Layla’s ancestors, explaining their shared surname.

Although the story centers on the relationships between Layla and Andy, and Sera, the novel is so much more than that. The importance of the novel is that it explores the British slave trade. It is a very well researched novel, and the story is told in a fascinating way. I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

I'm so glad that I was given the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I loved the book. I found it thought-provoking and well-written. It gave me insights into the lives of black and biracial people, lives of immigrants, intermarriage, and many other contemporary issues. The author presented these issues in a very easy to read way- a mixed-race bride-to-be learning disturbing information from her disapproving black best friend about her white fiancé's family. I think it will be a perfect choice for book discussion groups; there will be much to discuss. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from the author.

Stimulating from the start, this book makes us contemplate how much influence our best friends have on who we are and who we marry.

Layla’s family is Black but she was born with light skin. She is getting married to Andy and they are very much in love – the type of love that is in a constant state of bliss. That is until her best friend, Sera, questions her decision to marry someone who is white. And there’s more at stake which means Layla has to search deep into her soul to find the answers.

It’s not easy to write an original story but Phoebe McIntosh did this with all the key elements revolving around love. She takes the reader into the days of slavery that have not been forgotten and continues to influence the present. Layla’s not a “colored girl,” not black like the color but a proud Black girl who wants to be absolutely sure that she will feel comfortable with a white husband and his family.

My favorite character is Layla’s 78-year-old grandad who shares his wisdom and warmhearted support. The author uses his dialect which makes their conversations feel genuine like getting a peak into their world. It’s very well written and makes an excellent book for discussions.

My thanks to Random House and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of March 7, 2024.

It is hard to believe this is a debut novel. I absolutely love books like this! It is so thought provoking and would be wonderful to start so many discussions for a book club.

Layla is biracial and she falls in love with a white man Andy. They both have the same last name. Layla's best friend is against the relationship and starts digging into the families history. Could it be that Andy's family owned Layla's family as slaves? Now Layla questions should she go ahead and marry Andy? She has to dig into the family history and come to terms with the past and learn to be comfortable in her own skin.

There is just so much to think about and process in this book. It brings up different issues with both families and friends.

This is a book with an important plot. I liked and connected with the characters. Unfortunately after about 30% of the book, the story dragged for me. I finished it as I wanted to know what happened but the middle of the book didn’t do enough to hold my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release in return for a fair and honest review.

“Dominoes” is based on an intriguing concept: that a young black Englishwoman is set to marry a man whose ancestors most probably owned her ancestors on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. With only days before her wedding, she must grapple with painful racial prejudices from the groom’s family, as well as her best friend’s anger at marrying someone from the oppressor class. Layla, the narrator, decides to go to Jamaica to see if she can uncover family secrets to determine whether her beau’s family actually owned any of her predecessors. It’s a clever set up, and makes for a page-turner.

People who love women’s fiction with like this book very much. So will readers interested in the Jamaican diaspora. There is lots of passages describing Jamaican culture as it exists in the UK today. Some of the dialect may be hard for readers to understand unless they are already familiar with patois. I enjoyed the descriptions of shade prejudice and the difficulties that people of color still experience in England. Putting so much emphasis on the main character’s relationship with her best friend made this feel a bit like chick-lit. But it was very entertaining.

It was the women’s fiction part that made me take off one star. There were way too many descriptions of characters’ wardrobes and other personal details to make this genuine literary fiction, IMHO. But that’s okay. The novel doesn’t exactly have literary presumptions. Instead, it is a fun-to-read look at race and color in a new way, told by a fresh British voice.

DOMINOES is a banger of a novel. A British book which is grappling with ideas and themes that I have never encountered in fiction, I was floored by the plot of the novel and McIntosh's style of writing. Layla meets Andy at a party in London. They form an instant bond, especially when the realize they have the same last name. Layla is biracial, and Andy is white, and while Laylaa doesn't really think twice about this, her best friend Sera has other thoughts. She sends Layla a documentary about Jamaican slaves in Scotland, where her ancestors are from (as well as Andy's), and this send Layla into a spill about her family history, and the possibility of marrying into her family's oppressor.

The book jumps around a bit, so you really have to pay attention to what time frame you're in, but it allows the story to unfold slowly and somewhat shockingly. Sera is one of the most complicated characters I've encounter in a book. While you completely understand where she is going from, she is also utterly frustrating and treats her best friend like crap. I wanted to shake her, and huge Layla because of what she was going through because of Sera. But then, I completely understood why Sera did what she did. This is a book that makes you question lots of stuff, and fall in love with these incredible characters - especially Layla's family. It's a beautiful book and I can't wait to hear what everyone else things of the novel when it comes out next year.

Overall this book has really beautiful writing, and is an interesting story. It does lag in the middle and I almost considered DNF because of how boring it suddenly became.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Dominoes.

Dominoes is about a young couple, Layla, a biracial Black woman engaged to a white man of Scottish descent, Andy.

When Layla's BFF reveals Andy's ancestors may have enslaved Layla's descendants, Layla is faced with a difficult choice, and a chance to discover her heritage and her true feelings for Andy.

I really enjoyed learning about Layla's heritage and background, but I found her an irritating character. She came off as sort of wishy washy, and though I understand she's afraid of making waves, it felt as if she was afraid of herself.

Sera, her BFF, read as less like a BFF, and more like an instigator and a closet racist. It's as if she already resented Andy because he was white, and begrudged Layla for not marrying her own 'kind.'

I did like the premise, a timely subject as our society reckons with its slavery past and its ramifications on present and future generations.

What do you do when the person you love is descended from a family of enslavers? Is he to blame for his descendants' actions?

I was glad Andy was a nice guy, understanding and supportive, and naturally, genuinely shocked, when Layla confides in him.

The writing was good, but the narrative dragged, mostly because I usually read thrillers and suspense.

There were long, tedious paragraphs with no breaks.

I'm not sure if this is a UK thing because I just read another book based in the UK and there were few to little paragraph breaks in the writing as well.