How would you feel if your life was predetermined?

What would you do if basic decisions that affect you, such as who you will date and for how long, were beyond your control? Are you the type of person who accepts life as it comes or do you make your own destiny? In Rebecca Serle‘s latest novel, Expiration Dates, Daphne doesn’t have a choice. Every time romance is ready to knock on her door, she receives a piece of paper with a name and the length of time that relationship will last. Ever since figuring out what the notes meant, she has lived her life accepting and embracing the relationships and the allotted timeframe. Until one day, her note includes only a name. Has she found the one?

The story alternates between the present, where Daphne’s relationship with Jake (the no-expiration date man) is developing and the past, where we meet all the men and learn about all the notes that have led us here. I wasn’t too interested in the glimpses into her past relationships—only a few end up being pivotal to the story—but I was pretty smitten by Jake since I find stability, commitment, and reliability pretty sexy these days. (Did I mention he also loves her unconditionally?)

The story, the setting: I ❤️ it all
In Expiration Dates, we finally get to feel our hearts flutter with some romance, this time in the city of Los Angeles and from the perspective of a trendy set of characters that are deeply engrained in its film production culture. However, true to Rebecca Serle’s style, the story ends up being more meaningful than a simple love story. It’s a story of self-discovery and hope. Reading this story made me reflect on how I approach love, all kinds of love, and what it means to feel loved. With her signature element of magical realism, Rebecca Serle takes us on a journey that will undoubtedly inspire reflection. While the story is slower in the beginning, once it takes off, you better be ready to see it through the end because it will be impossible to put it down.

“One month. That was all it took. Four weeks to know that I wasn’t going to listen. That no matter what that paper said, it wouldn’t matter. I wanted him. I wanted to wake up with him and go to sleep with him. I wanted to stand behind him in the bathroom mirror in the morning, my face pressed against his wet back, as he got ready for work. I wanted his feet to find mine in the middle of the night. I wanted to be his first phone call, the place he rested from the chaos of the rest of the world, the constant friction of the pace of his life. I wanted to be it for him. I wanted so much more than ninety days. I wanted everything.”

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
Expiration Dates features loveable characters & beautiful stories of breakthroughs and courage
I have so many other thoughts about Expiration Dates. I’m choosing not to discuss most of them here because I don’t want to spoil all the best parts for those of you who decide to read it. I will say that Rebecca Serle always surprises me with unexpected twists that are full of meaning and emotion. The book is short and, once it takes off, it packs a punch of insight that will inspire self-reflection while also being (somewhat) light and fun. I loved all the parts of this story just as much as I loved her previous novels (all stand-alone books) In Five Years and One Italian Summer.

3.5 stars, rounded up

Overall thoughts:
- I love Serle's writing style; it is so easy to get swept up in her novels and this was no exception!
- The concept of each relationship having an expiration date was so intriguing and I enjoyed how it all played out!
- The twist was super surprising to me, yet I did question some of Daphne's life choices and her reasoning for keeping secrets from Jake.
- I think I am in the minority in not liking Hugo. He just rubbed me the wrong way. I liked their friendship, but he did a few things that really made me dislike him and it felt like Daphne let him off easy!

What I loved:
- The settings - L.A., Paris, New York, Big Sur - were all described in such vivid detail and provided the perfect backdrops to Daphne's life. I don't even like L.A. all that much, but this book made me want to revisit and take in all of the amazing locations Serle wrote about.
- Daphne's family! Her parents were adorable and I loved how much they cared for Daphne.
- Irina is an amazing boss/friend and I adored her character.

What I disliked:
- Hugo really annoyed me throughout, except during the time he and Daphne dated. Especially how he acted during/after the dinner with Daphne and Jake.
- The ending was unsatisfying and kind of made me mad...without spoiling it, I didn't find that Daphne really grew as a result of everything that happened in her life and the ending cemented that feeling.
- Daphne seemed spoiled at times and seemed to expect all of her boyfriends to fall for her right away without her putting in much effort.

I think many readers will love this book! It was hard to put down, even though I didn't like the ending as much as I had hoped.

Thank you to Atria Books for an early copy of Expiration Dates in exchange for an honest review!

My thoughts and feelings on this book are a little complicated.

On one hand, I really enjoyed it and liked the execution of the initial premise where our main character receives notes telling her how long her relationships are going to last. I was invested in the main character and really liked the flashbacks from her previous relationships and how they impacted her life. The short length of the book and the short chapters within made this a very quick, bingeable read.

On the other hand, there were two things that I didn’t like that I just can’t get past because they overshadowed the good. I was not a fan of how a MAJOR part of Daphne’s life didn’t come into play until over the halfway point. I get not wanting everyone in your life to know about your chronic illness because people come and go, BUT you have to mention it to your partner as soon as your relationship starts to get serious. That is not something you keep from them, ESPECIALLY after he’s told you that his previous wife died from an illness. This congenital heart disease diagnosis quite literally came out of nowhere for the reader too? Everything was fine one second, but the next second you’re reading about her going into sudden cardiac arrest and that hospital stay and the ones after.

The other thing, or person I should say, I didn’t like is Hugo. Hugo, Hugo, Hugo… where do I even begin with you? I was not a fan of his behavior towards Daphne and Jake after Daphne told him she was dating Jake. I get you’re still in love with her, but do you have to be such a dick? And after the plot twist where it’s revealed that he wrote the note with Jake’s name and no time on it, things started clicking about why he tried to sabotage Daphne and Jake’s relationship. The fact that she ends up with Hugo really pisses me off too. If my best friend tried to sabotage my relationship because he’s still in love with me and then give me a bullshit excuse, he would no longer be my friend. Jake deserved better.

There are a lot of good life lessons that can be learned from this book, but it was overall a miss for me unfortunately. However, I can see why others have loved this book, so it is one I would recommend to the right person.

Would you want to know how long each relationship would last?... Short answer, Yep! Where is my fairy godmother?

Daphne gets a slip of paper with a name and a length of time at the beginning of each relationship. All her life the paper has been 100% accurate. Then one day a name comes but no time. Is this her person?

This was such a sweet story. I absolutely loved it. I gobbled it up all the way to the end. And that is where I am disappointed. I wanted in on the last scene, I wanted to hear that conversation. Rebecca Serle are we going to get a sequel or an extended epilogue? I neeeeeed to see more of that!!!

This is my favorite Rebecca Serle novel so far! I really enjoyed the premise of knowing your next relationship time line. I also liked the realness of all the characters. This was a great story with depth & humor. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Oh, my, what a little gem of a story. Things I loved about Expiration Dates: the detail in the descriptions of everything, from the settings to the clothes the characters wear. It really brought L.A. to life for me and helped me visualize things. Some people might not like that type of writing, but I find it helps me picture people and places much better.

Let’s hear it for disability rep! I love that more and more books are writing about people with disabilities. It made this story more emotional than a simple rom-com. I loved Daphne and her optimism about life. I liked some of her mates, and wished for a couple of them, like she did, that they would stick around longer than the piece of paper said they would

The magical realism was just enough to make it interesting. Not a lot of time was spent trying to justify it, which is great, because I’ve found when stories do that, it literally takes the magic out of the story!

What I didn’t love about this story: that the disability was introduced so late in the story. Also, I did find the character development a little lacking, but not too much that it detracted from my enjoyment of the story. This is my first Rebecca Serle novel, but it probably won’t be my last.

This was such a cute and unique story. I really enjoyed the novel and it felt very heartwarming and cozy. My only issue is the novel is very predictable. You know who the MC will eventually end up with and how the story will go. I also feel like this novel would have been better as a short story.

This is my first Rebecca Serle read and I expected more based on how people talk about her other book. It started out great and I couldn’t put it down, but at some point, it became very predictable and trying to finish it became a chore. A shame, because it did start out great

Expiration Dates is a book with a unique magical realism premise where the main character, Daphne, finds slips of paper every now and then with a man’s name and a length of time. This slip of papers tells her the name of the guy she is going to be with, and how long she is going to e with him. The book highlights two of these such relationships, with the main character having to decide if this is something good, or is this a curse? The book had some sweet moments and hit a lot of emotional points to make the reader laugh or tear up. Loved the twist in the end, as it really made the book even better in my opinion. This is my second Rebecca Serle book, having read In Five Years first, and I can say I liked this one even better.

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle is an utterly delightful book. I adored the premise of a woman knowing the duration of her relationships as they begin and the narrative (which did some skipping around time periods) was very well constructed. The book included some "twists" (not thriller-like, but plot surprises) and these really worked for me in terms of having me adjust my understandings and expectations as the plot moved forward. The writing was good (though maybe a bit too much description of clothing for my taste!) and the characters were well-developed. In all, an excellent addition to Serle's corpus of novels and one I will definitely recommend to readers who want a meaningful but not-heavy read.

Reading Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle had me smiling the entire time. This book made me feel soft and bubbly, like a warm hug.

Daphne Bell know expirations dates, with each relationship she enters into a slip of paper magically appears with it's final expiration date. Until Daphne goes on a blind date with Jake, but no expiration date ever comes. Convinced that this is the "final" relationship, Daphne starts a committed relationship with Jake. However, Daphne begins to question if this is the direction she is meant to follow. Told in the present with flashbacks to previous relationships and expiration dates this book is a quick and whimsical read.

This book was such a fun read, it was warm and happy with just enough conflict to keep me immersed the whole time. Rebecca Serle has such a magical way of writing so that you can connect to the characters. This book reads like a favorite movie that you can watch over and over. I enjoyed the overall scenery that author describes, everything is so vivid and makes you feel like you are a part of this book.

Expiration Dates was a really enjoyable read. It was kind of slow to start, but was interesting and entertaining the whole time.

Expiration Dates is a wonderfully written magical realism novel with a unique romance storyline. I absolutely loved the way Rebecca Serle used expiration dates to convey so many lessons in this book. In the book, we meet Daphne who believes her current relationship has no expiration date, meaning it should last forever in her mind. Not knowing what that means for her, she explores her feelings and faces different issues she hasn’t had to face in other relationships. I loved watching her story unfold and the ending was just what I was hoping for. Read this if you like romance with some magical realism mixed in. Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC!

This book just wasn't for me. I have read all of this author's books and my favorite is In Five Years. The audio was well done. I just did not love any of the characters or the direction of the story.

I'm going to be completely honest. This received 3 stars for the simple fact that I didn't DNF it. The plot was interesting enough and should have been a great read for me however I didn't like the direction Rebecca sent this story. This was my first time reading Rebecca's work but if you have read her before and loved it then this will be for you. ai didn't like the giant surprise at 50% of the book that completely derailed the plot. You never get any resolution to the mysterious and part of the story is completely guessable by the time you read 1/4 of the book. I also didn't like how it felt like nothing was happening. We got more descriptions of what people were wearing than we did anything else. This was not for me.

Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks for the arc.

This was a really fun and unique romance. I loved the themes of friendship that were woven in. I will definitely be picking up more by this author. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

I loved Serle’s prior books and thought this one had an Interesting storyline. I was invested to start but eventually the book fell flat for me

Life is crazy and chaotic and I'm struggling to find anything that sticks for me right now. I decided to give this one a try because I have really enjoyed Rebecca Serle's books in the past.

I'm happy to say this one landed for me! I really enjoyed getting lost in the story. It kept me entertained (which is really hard to do right now); I kept wanting to fly through things so I could return back to the pages.

I feel like Serle writes relationships so well. I find myself rooting for the characters, and while there are some qualities that feel the same between all of her books, the details are fresh and welcome new ideas to ponder.

I also love how Serle wrote about California in this book. I lived in the Bay Area during college, and visited my brother a lot who lived in LA. I feel like CA gets a bad rap sometimes, but Serle painted a picture of this state that made me realize I kinda miss it! After reading One Italian Summer, I wanted to book a vacation asap, and I feel like I could use a vacation to CA after finishing this one! Serle writes a sense of place so well; sometimes, the cities become characters themselves in her books.

Serle has become an autobuy author for me - I can count on her to deliver a story with substance, but one that doesn't require a lot of work and attention on my end. Simply just a story to sink into...which is absolutely perfect sometimes!

I think this is my favorite new Rebecca Serle book. I loved the way the story was told between past and present and the commentary of spending the time we get here wisely and enjoying your life. There were a couple of big twists that I didn't see coming. The writing was beautiful and I found myself notating a lot of really great life quotes. I enjoyed all of the different relationship backstories compared to what was going on in the present. The pacing and length of the story were perfect in my opinion. The only reason it wasn't a solid 5 stars for me was the ending. It felt a bit rushed. I was really impressed with this new release!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for my digital ARC of this story which published 3/19.

4.5⭐️
I really enjoyed this one—much more than the author’s last, One Italian Summer. This one was sweet and sentimental and made me feel all the things. The premise that Daphne always knows how long a relationship will last at the very beginning makes for an interesting dating life. I loved the exploration of expectation vs reality and how love can take many forms. There was a twist or two and I loved the ending.