A gorgeous, poignant romance that touches on the meaning of home and found family. Firkins elevates her game with this touching tale of second chances and first loves. One of the best romances I’ve read this year.

I really wanted to love this one and I did start off loving it, but along the way I kept getting distracted and I felt like it didn’t really hold my attention. I don’t think I really connected to the love story and it felt like it dragged on. There were definitely some moments I loved and I enjoyed it enough to keep picking it up, but I did struggle through it a bit.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC!

This is a wonderful read! One of my biggest takeaways from the story is how the author just GETS her readers. I found this to be a relatable read and I know many women will feel the same. The cast of characters were excellent!

A solid five stars for this touching and endearing novel. Imogene and Eliot were friends as children and as teens. He broke her heart and she never answered any of his texts or emails. Back together in the same town, they cannot help but cross paths. I found that the personalities of Imogene and Eliot reached out and grabbed my heart with every insecurity and personal obsessions. I really enjoyed the novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute second chance/friends to lovers romance, with introspection and growth by both the female and male protagonists. There's a nice amount of tension, angst, few steamy bits, and fun supporting characters. It kept me so thoroughly entertained that I finished it in one sitting on a long flight.

CW: infidelity, death of parent(s), plane crash (recounted), depression (recounted)

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for inviting me to review a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Imogen Finch has always been second best. Whether it’s her on-hold dreams of becoming an artist or the seventeen times she’s been cheated on, she’s learning to kind of be okay with always being second after the ominous prediction her mother made about her twenty years ago. But, when her childhood friend and secret crush, Eliot Swift, comes back to town after being gone for a decade, he decides that now is the time to break the prediction by giving Imogen her first win and through various competitions, Imogen wonders if her predicament can finally be broken.

Now, it’s not that I don’t like this book, but it was just really meh. While Firkins does a great job with creating interesting characters, it all falls flat in the most boring of plots. For me, there wasn’t a lot to keep my attention and some parts dragged on way longer than necessary. As for the whole “cure” plot, I felt sorry for Imogen and I wondered why Imogen’s mom thought it was necessary for her to know about it (especially as a kid). I also had a hard time dealing with suspending my belief at the ways Imogen’s curse interferes with her life since it didn’t really make any sense.

Don’t get me wrong, I thought Imogen was a great MC. I think a lot of people can relate to her struggles of being a people pleaser and the book’s message that it’s okay to put yourself first. I did enjoy the relationship between Imogen and Eliot and I was rooting for them to stay together.

I really wanted to like The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch since I enjoyed Firkins’ debut novel when I got an e-ARC for it last year (Marlowe Banks, Redesigned), I don’t think this book was for me. If you’re a reader who doesn’t mind suspending their beliefs for a second chance rom-com with a hint of magical realism, you might get something out of this book.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Imogen is single and is thinking about her past. When she meets a previous crush, she strives to be the best. This book was a fast read.

I just loved this book. It was so easy to get lost in and I just loved meeting these characters. I look forward to seeing what’s next from this author.

Predictably, there was romance. Unexpectedly, there was an education on self-worth.

Imogen has been under a curse, prophesied by her mother no less, to always be second in life. Her whole life - childhood to her late twenties - shes not been the best or favored or winner in contests, studies, or career success. And in relationships, her curse has meant every relationship has ended when her partner 'upgtades' to a true/new/anyone-but-her love.

(Re)Enter her high school crush, Eliot Swift. The boy who was so broken by his toxic home life, he chose cutting all ties to travel the world alone to gain a semblance of personal safety. Returned to their small hometown for a funeral, he carries apologies for ghosting his friends along with his own 'what if' feelings for Imogen.

You will love Imogen for her kindness. She may not always extend it to herself, but her acts of compassion and epathy are admirable. I wanted to jump into the page and make her watch hours of JVN's daily positive affirmations. This whole read you're cheering for her to choose herself. You're in her shoes offering patience to Eliot, caring for her mother, and stretching herself so thin to be happy and content in her small sleepy town.

The romance was skimming the edge of the instalove trope. There are only 4 or 5 full days on page for our couple to reconcile and reunite. And they are basing their 'now' feelings on a crush they had on eachother 10 years ago. 10 years ago being high school. They really don't know eachother for who they are now. Or, at least they shouldn't. But cosmically, I guess nothing in them changed and they're just as in love with eachother as they were as kids. This was the biggest 'ask' of me as a reader. Yes, the instalove was even harder to believe than the mother who prophesies death & destruction and also tells her child she'll suck at life always.

The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch is a great read still for its second chance romance, friends to lovers relationship, small town setting, and self-love journeys. Just be prepared for some 'suspend your beliefs' moments.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press / St. Martin's Griffin for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Imogen is cursed, or so she thinks, after having gone through yet another break up. She's ready to give up on love for good when Eliot Swift, her high school crush, comes back into town, and leaves her feeling like she should give love one more chance.

While I really enjoyed this spicy second chance romance, I didn't feel like there was a definite HEA, more of a HFN (which I'm not too big of a fan of). I really enjoyed this though!

Reviewed for NetGalley:

I adored this book.

Imogen Finch, former artist, now holding down six part time jobs to make ends meet and caring for her eccentric, future telling mother, spends her days dog walking, arranging flowers, and waitressing.

It's no surprise that while trying to handle it all, Imogen cannot catch a break with any of her relationships to the point of every breakup being nearly expected to the point of it being comical.

Well, that is until her former best friend and crush, now traveling wander YouTube superstar returns to town and Imogen realizes maybe her multiple heartbreaks really only boil down to one.

Beautifully written, funny, and poignant.

I wanted to love this book, and in many ways, I did. The characters were diverse, and I came to care about all of them. The plot moved along well with the flashbacks to past relationships and the current day. I appreciated seeing how Imogen's past influenced her today.

It's very spicy, and reads like a rom-com. My only hesitance to fully love this book is that I didn't get a sense of a true Happily Ever After. Though I did appreciate that this book had a more nuanced look at what counts as a HEA and recognizes that relationships are often complicated. I won't explain further to avoid spoilers, but I would have preferred knowing that this is going to read differently than a traditional rom-com.

Overall, it is a wonderful book, and I would recommend it!

💛BF to Lovers
💛Slow Burn Romance

i was instantly gripped by the main idea of the story, Imogen being cursed to being second to everything in her life and everyone. this story had all the feels. one minute id be swooning, giddy, crying, irritated and cheering on the MC or just trying to process all of the things that she went through and was still going through till the end of the story.

Imogen is such a selfless person and I felt for her for so many different reasons. I loved Franny and I really hope the author writes her love story!!! I was swooning for our hot nerdy tattooed broody adventurous man Elliott❤️‍🔥 I loved Imogen's mother, Ed, Kym and even Sophia!

Imogen and Elliott both help each other transform and change to their best selves. It's painful, it's a process but it ultimately makes them both happier people.

I loved how insightful this story was, how deeply moving it can be. The importance of accepting life with all its flaws as it is and making the most of it by pursuing the things you love or are passionate about.

Jacqueline Firkins's last novel, Marlowe Banks, Redesigned was one of my favorite books i read last year, so i was pretty excited to read her follow up, The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch, and let me tell you, it was as fantastic as her previous one.
The romance was adorable. I'm always up for a second chance romance and this one fit the bill. It was swoony but also heartfelt at times.
The mother/daughter relationship between Imogen and her mom was also great. I loved that Imogen, as frustrated as she was by her mom, still loved and stood by her.
I liked how the ending wasn't at all rushed or tied with a bow, but was actually believable. It made the HFN better.
I was also a fan of the "resolution" of Imogen's prediction/curse. It made sense and wasn't the "love cures all" thing i was expecting to happen.

All in all, i would recommend this one to everyone who once (or still) believe themselves not worthy of love. You are.

Imogen lives in a very small town where everyone knows everyone… and they all know that she just went through a breakup. So they also all watch with interest when Imogen’s high school best friend and secret crush, Eliot, comes back to town. Imogen’s mom is a psychic who predicts that she will never come first in anything or to anyone, so Imogen wasn’t too shaken up by the breakup at the beginning of the story… but can she finally break the curse and maybe come first to Eliot? I found this novel really slow and hard to get through, since I wasn’t eager to pick it up and keep reading. It felt much longer than it needed to be, and Imogen was kind of a doormat and hard to root for. Overall, this was fine, but not my favorite.

“..you’re good….you know doing what you love isn’t pointless….
….
Because I was too focused on attending to everyone else’s needs since they were all more important then mine”

Imogen Finch, perpetually single, always cursed. So relatable in terms of ambition and hiding in the shadows. The gritty second chance romance I needed. I loved the storyline and the self love discovery within. It was sex positive and the characters were so relatable.

“Honestly? Right now. In this moment. I have two fears. Not sure which of the two is greater”

I love romance novels and this is a great addition to my love list. Imogen is the type of character you tirelessly root for to become her own cheerleader/heroine/savior. The romance with her friend was a cute "I love you for you' progression that suited both of them as they each grew. I did enjoy this and recommend for romance lovers.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

Honestly nothing super special. Just a normal second chancey romance. I really did like Imogen and Eliot though, but unfortunately there weren't that many moments where I loved the book.

Imogen came first for me in this book! She had my heart, as did Eliot, and I just could not get enough of their story. I laughed out loud at Eliot's many attempts to get Imogen to come in first at any and every contest he could imagine (the pancake contest! HA!). I also cried a little at Imogen's confessions that she never felt fully loved because she never came in first, especially after prom. But, much like Christina Ricci in Penelope, Imogen has to learn to love herself first, just the way she is. This book is full of love, friendship, second chances, and a mother's wackadoodle predictions that have you wondering maybe she isn't so crazy after all.

I really enjoyed this twist on a second chance romance! I love the whole 'curse' aspect of the book. I also really enjoyed the cast of side characters, which really helped bring this book to life.