This was the 3rd book I had read by Rebecca Serle and I love how she throws a little speculative in with her stories. I’m not usually a romance reader, but having that in there captures my interest every time. I couldn’t put this one down and finished it within 24 hours.

I started out completely hooked by this book. The premise was so fresh and interesting and I wanted to keep reading. In fact, I devoured this book in one day. With that being said...the last 50 pages were rough for me. I did not enjoy the "reveal" and felt like it cheapened the story to an extent. I also wish we had received a more proper explanation of the expiration dates. I just feel like this book needed a tiny bit more development. Which makes sense considering the length. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Every time Daphne meets a new man, she mysteriously gets a piece of paper telling her how long the relationship will last. It might be a weekend, or years, but she knows there’s an end date. Until one day she gets a name, and no date.

The premise behind this idea was really unique. There was no questioning it, or where and how this was happening, but it just was. Told in alternating timelines, we get some of Daphne’s dating history mixed in with her current timeline, so there’s a lot of comparison between relationships. Sometimes she wished there was more, and sometimes they reached a natural end.

Although there was some sadness and reflection to it similar to Serle’s other books, it wasn’t a tearjerker the same way some of her others have been. I really enjoyed it overall!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this book.

The newest Serle book releases on March 19th. While it was a slow start, once I hit about 40% in, I didn't want to put it down.

Since Daphne was a teenager she has received notes with a name and a time frame. The name is the guy she will start dating and the time frame is how long the relationship will last. The book goes back and forth from past memories to the present where she has just started a relationship with Jake. His was the first piece of paper that only had a name, no date.

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle offers a unique premise exploring love, loss, and fate. While the concept is intriguing, the execution occasionally feels predictable, lacking the depth needed to fully captivate readers. Despite this, Serle's writing style is engaging, making it a decent choice for those seeking a light read with a touch of romance and existential contemplation.

What if you knew the length of a relationship? Would you invest in it or keep yourself at a distance? At the beginning of each new relationship, Daphne Bell receives a message (on a slip of paper, a postcard, a napkin, etc) with a measurement in time: one night, three months, a week. The message is a pronouncement of how long her relationship will last.

Rebecca Serle's books are always a yes for me: slight magical realism and strong female main characters. However, this one fell a little flat. There was a twist in the middle of the book that felt forced and though I loved the ending, I needed more time to process it. Also, the multiple timelines (every other chapter described a past relationship) took me out of the narrative, so it was hard to gain momentum with the main plot.

Ultimately, although this was not my favorite, I will still read all Rebecca Serle's books. Also, #teamhugoforever.

Thank you to Netgalley and Artia books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Atria for the e-arc!

I absolutely loved this Expiration Dates. Dare I say, my favorite of Rebecca Serle’s books so far?

As always with Serle’s books, it is full of magical realism that sweeps you away. Her language is impeccable: the descriptions of the food, the characters, the general atmosphere is just lovely. I could perfectly envision each of the characters and the world that they inhabit. I think this is part of the reason I read this whole book in two sittings. It was difficult to put down! Plus the shorter chapters had me begging to know what would happen next.

I loved the exploration through Daphne’s whole dating history, and I loved Serle’s positive spin on it. Not all dates and failed relationships are complete disasters, and I would like to think everyone comes into our lives at specific moments for specific purposes. Maybe they aren’t our forever person, but they can greatly impact us, even just for a night. We see that with Daphne and the men of her past. Every single one of them left a mark, every single one is remembered. Mostly all were positive. Daphne has the rare ability to know exactly how much time she’d be spending in each relationship, and I think that worked slightly to her advantage. She was able to live in the moment and wasn’t concerned about it being more or less than it was. I envy her for that. But we also see towards the end of her story how this worked against her at the same time. I won’t go too much into that for fear of spoiling, but I loved to see the journey Daphne went on and all of the self discovery she experienced.

The twists GOT ME. I always know Serle has more up her sleeve than she lets on from her previous books but man was my breath taken away. Not once, but TWICE. Just so smart and so beautifully done. Again, no spoilers, but these really made the book for me.

This was the most “romantic” of Serle’s books in my opinion, though it still isn’t just about the romance. It was more about Daphne and her discovery, her growth, her heartaches, her joy, her everything. The romance parts were gorgeous and the perfect amount of heart-fluttery, kicking my feet, sighing, loveliness.

An absolute 5/5 for me, no question about it! A quick, captivating read that I will be recommending like crazy.

This book was fun! I loved the fantasy premise to it but I struggled to really get into the story. The idea that we already know from the beginning the premise was a bit off putting and hard for me to get into it. Im not sure what it is really about this book but I found it hard to connect to the FMC and the characters all around. I would still try another book by this author! I do think she has a great writing style and I would still love to read her other books..

I found the beginning of this book to be a little slow. I struggled with it a bit, but at about the halfway mark, my interest really increased. There's a little fantasy(?) in the story in that the main character, Daphne, always finds a piece of paper with the name of man she has just met accompanied with the length of time that they will be together. Can you imagine? Would you view this as a blessing or a curse?

If you have read this author's work before, you will know that there is usually a "wow!" revelation at some point. Expiration Dates is no exception, and I was left in awe by her storytelling once more.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the copy. All thoughts are my own.

Expiration Dates was such a unique story. We have Daphne who is single and open to love and who receives expiration dates for all her relationships with men, until one day there’s no date for her next date.
Daphne then meets Jake and everything is going well, but there are things she should have said before. Are they really meant to be together?
Expiration Dates was a gripping story, a page-turner that had me wanting to know what was happening next. I really liked Daphne and I felt connected to her for several reasons. I also really liked Jake.
I deeply enjoyed reading the book and it was a fast read too. It was a bit predictable for me in some ways and even though I liked the ending my heart hoped it would be different. Overall, I liked the story very much and once again I’m captivated by Rebecca Serle’s writing style.

Expiration Dates has a really interesting premise: each time the female protagonist meets a new man she receives a slip of paper telling her how long she's going to date him. I'm a big fan of magic realism and Rebecca Serle always comes up with the most heartfelt ways to write a love story and a characters emotional journey towards healing and acceptance.

The second part of the story served a twist that I didn't see coming and took me out of the novel momentarily, I won't spoil it here but I would have personally liked to see a trigger warning at the start of the book.

Once I was able to adapt to the new route the story was taking me I was OK.

Overall, I enjoyed this book more than her last one and I am excited to see what she writes next.

I also had an opportunity to listen to an ALC narrated by Julia Whelan and her narration is spot on as always.

While the concept of knowing the timeline of Daphne's relationship's worked for me to read, I would literally hate everything about that for my own life. I'd always be preparing for doomsday. But, that's the beauty of reading and the magical genre. It was just far-fetched enough to work. I enjoyed it.

I predicted the ending very early on - I even messaged a friend exactly what was going to happen and I was 100% correct. It was charming and made us focus on the real theme of the story which was to trust your heart and not let the rest of the world tell you who you should or shouldn't love.

I'm a fan of Rebecca Serle and can't wait to see what she writes next!

I have mixed thoughts about this book. I really enjoyed the premise, and I was engaged from the first page. I loved Daphne and this little quirk she has. The thought of receiving a note with a person's name and time frame is intriguing. But when she receives her last note with the name Jake and no time frame, she isn't sure what to think. As this relationship grows, she shares her health history and learns that Jake's first wife died. Meant to be, right? Until she learns her friend, Hugo is still in love with her after their break-up 5 years prior. Realizing that she is constantly limiting herself because of her heart condition and not enjoying the present, she takes into account all the experiences she has had and doesn't want to limit herself any longer and live her life no matter how long she has.

As much as I loved the story, it fell flat for me with a few clichés. And I didn't really care for Hugo and his personality.

This is the second book I have read by Rebecca, and having enjoyed the other book I read by her, I couldn’t wait to dive into this one. My thanks to Atria for providing me with an ARC.

I made a point not to read any previews or summaries of this book beforehand because Rebecca's stories always contain surprising elements with a touch of magic.

Daphne works as an assistant to Irina in LA. Although her job is demanding, she loves it. Hugo, one of her best friends, whom she briefly dated for three months before they decided to remain friends, often joins her for Sunday morning outings to the Farmer’s Market. Her friend Kendra wants to set her up with Josh on a blind date, and Daphne agrees to meet him.

As the story unfolds, we learn about Daphne’s past relationships and how, each time she begins dating someone, she discovers a piece of paper predicting the duration of the relationship. These mysterious notes appear randomly, foretelling the fate of her romantic endeavors.

The narrative alternates between Daphne’s current life and her past relationships. With each new relationship, a postcard or piece of paper magically appears just as she meets someone or just before, revealing the person's name and the length of their relationship.

In a turn of events, Daphne receives a new piece of paper with Josh's name but no specified duration, unlike previous notes which indicated specific times like a week, two years, or three months. It seems Daphne may have finally met her lifelong partner.

The story was sweet and included a couple of unexpected twists. The twist in "In Five Years" took me by surprise, and this book’s twist was equally startling. I breezed through the book, eager to reach the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and am excited to see what Rebecca writes next. I would rate this book 4.75 out of 5 stars; it was emotionally resonant and truly touched me.

Rebecca Serle always mixes a little magical realism/fantasy with real life in her novels, and it’s something that I’ve come to rely on and look forward to. (And it’s just a teeny tiny bit, which is perfect for me as I’m not a big fan of those genres.) In her forthcoming novel, Expiration Dates, Serle uses a unique concept for a romance storyline:

“𝘋𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵—𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

Super intriguing, right? Can you even imagine? I’d absolutely hate that. I’d always be dreading doomsday ahead. I don’t think I could ever fully commit, appreciate, or embrace any relationship. I’ve read all of Serle’s novels, and sadly, this one ended up a little low on the ladder when it comes to rankings. Just for reference, The Dinner List and In Five Years are at the very top. To be honest, this one just felt a little bland to me. The storyline was original and fresh, but it just didn’t pull me in. I didn’t really get into it, or feel for the MC until about the halfway point. There’s a couple of shocking surprises/twists that I did not see coming at all, so that was greatly appreciated. I love when an author can make my jaw drop. Oh, and the audiobook is narrated by the fabulous Julia Whelan, so I highly recommend going the audio route if you’re a fan of hers. It’s a super duper quick and easy read/listen too. I think if you’ve enjoyed Serle’s novels in the past, you’ll dig this one as well. I’m looking forward to what Serle writes next! Expiration Dates is out on March 19th! I give it 3.5/5 stars!

I was so thrilled to recieve an e-arc of this highly anticipated novel from Rebecca Serle. This was a nice change of pace and atmosphere from my usual reading and I really loved it. I think readers, like myself, will really resonate with our MC Daphne. Serle's writing is so authentic and it really goes through all of the stages, I found, of fidnign love to falling in love and even love finding you. I highly recommend this incredible work and I am definetly going to dig into Rebecca Serle's other books!

This kind of feels like watching an influencer name drop every recognizable street name/location/landmark in California because they make living in Cali their whole aesthetic.

I really enjoyed In Five Years by this author, the only other book I’ve read from her, but this didn’t hit me the way that one did. I didn’t enjoy the writing, the past chapters of every guy the mc has dated, or the characters themselves. I couldn’t connect to a single character or relationship because the writing never felt like it went deep enough even though it tries hard to get the reader emotional. I think I just wanted more from the story overall.

I have such mixed feelings about Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle. I love her writing and it was a book I didn’t want to put it down. I was really into the first half of the book, but then it took a few turns. I think these things might work for most readers, but I didn’t love the last half nearly as much as the first.

Daphne knows how long her relationships will last, she always has. I loved this premise. When she gets the name ‘Jake’ and there is nothing following it, she knows this one is for keeps. Her best friend Hugo (previously ‘Hugo- 5 months) is the only one who knows about these notes and encourages her to give things with Jake a real go.

I thought Jake was great. I liked Hugo too. Daphne was fine. There was a twist that happened later in the book and then there was the ending. I’m not sure I loved either. I think I could have loved the ending, had we got more. I also wasn’t a fan of all the chapters of her previous relationships. I’m not sure it added much to the story. Overall, not my favorite from this author but there were things about it I did enjoy. A unique romance.

I loved every single word of this book! I love all her books but this one has not become my all new favorite one! It’s a must read!

At times I wasn’t sure if I would end up liking this story. It seemed like an odd concept, always knowing when your relationships would end. What’s the point? Can you even enjoy them in the moment knowing that it will end? There is a twist, however, that changed my opinion and I found the story to be sweet and emotional. This was a cute, second-chance romance with some quirkiness, strong friendships, and life lessons.