This is the 3rd book that I have read by Rebecca Serle! She is probably one of my favorite writers of modern times. This book was so emotional and it drew me right in. I feel that it would make a very good movie, so I hope someone options it! I will also be listening to the audiobook read by Julia Whelan (one of my favorite narrators!) when it is released in March! I can't wait for Rebecca's next book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing access to this book in exchange for my honest review!

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Publication Date: March 19th 2024
Review Date January 30, 2024

I want to start by stating that I loved Rebecca Serle “One Italian Summer” so when I got approved to read her newest book I was very excited. The premise sounded very intriguing – a woman receives a note with a relationship “expiration date” every time she starts dating a man. Cute and interesting idea but just not executed to its full potential. I did enjoy reading about Daphne’s previous relationships but I wanted more, each flashback felt very rushed. I liked Jake who was her current boyfriend and I was really rooting for them. Hugo was great as a best friend, but nothing more.
This is a quick, cute magical romance that will keep you occupied on a long flight or by the pool. However, if you enjoyed Rebecca’s previous books you may be just slightly disappointed. 3 solid starts from me.

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I just love Rebecca Serle. I’m not much for romance but I love how her stories always have something kind of whimsical about them.
Expiration Dates is such a cool and interesting idea for a love story. Daphne is a young woman who has the blessing and curse of knowing the length of her relationship as it begins. The book takes us through how she navigates this strange gift, and the adventures in life and love it takes her on.
I honestly was captivated from the get go. Serle is extremely gifted in character development, and creating people you care about and root for as the reader.
This book was great! Love her so much!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Can a book leave you both happy and sad?? Expiration Dates certainly did for me. I liked how Rebecca Serle tells the story in different time lines, going back and forth with Daphne’s love interests and life experience. Whimsical and romantic is how I’d describe this fateful tale. Thanks to Atria and Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I have enjoyed every book by Rebecca Serle thus far. I find that they all, including this one, feel light and easy to read while still having depth and great storylines and writing. While this is pitched as her first romance, to me, the real story was about Daphne's development as a person and finding what she truly cared about and wanted for her life.

I really enjoy magical realism, so I’m disappointed I didn’t like this book more. I’d compare EXPIRATION DATES to Nikki Erlick’s The Measure in that there’s this inexplicable “thing” happening, and there’s no real explanation for it. The Measure, however, worked for me (it gave me all the feels) while this one simply didn’t.

I appreciate the premise of EXPIRATION DATES: for every relationship Daphne enters, she receives a note that tells her exactly how long it will last. After years of this, the notes have never been wrong. At the beginning of this book, Daphne is readying herself for a date with a man who is destined, according to this inexplicable ritual, to be her soulmate, since there is no date on the card, just his name: Jake.

Sounds good, but I found the story to be dry. It bounces back and forth in time between Daphne’s blossoming relationship with Jake and a series of her past relationships, which are all doomed to fail, anyway.

In addition, there’s this curveball in the middle of this story that I didn’t care for, and I couldn’t connect with the characters. For this reason, I had a hard time wanting to pick this one up and finish it. I didn’t like Jake OR Hugo and the romances here didn’t give me a single moment of heart fluttering happiness. There were a lot of quirky things happening here (the thing with the Doc Martens?) and I usually love that, but it didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced digital copy of EXPIRATION DATES in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy of this book. I loved following along Daphne’s story, more than a love story, it’s truly about self acceptance. It’s a tear jerker, but one where you do find closure. If you have enjoyed her other books and her spin of magical realism, you’ll want to check this one out!

This book is very thought provoking. I can't even imagine the power and pain that would come with Daphne's "gift" (for lack of a better word). To know the length but not necessarily the how and why of it all.

Her heart condition is an added element that only ramps up all those feelings. Of not knowing.

I really liked this book and the premise was unique. Does knowing the outcome change everything that comes before the end?? You'd think yes but what if it's no?

Hugo is a great friend to Daphne, for so many reasons over so many years. I hope they find love together with no expiration date!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📝 If you could learn how long a relationship would last before you even go on your first date, would you want to know? Daphne has been receiving notes with names and expiration dates for all her relationships for as long as she can remember. She knows exactly when they will break up and there’s no surprises. That is until she gets a note with just a name and no date. Is this her soulmate? What does it mean? She’s left going into the relationship blindly for the first time in her life.

This was a complex love story where we travel through Daphne’s past relationships and notes. I thought it was super unique and really has you think about life and love in a whole new perspective 💌

“What if the papers weren’t just doling my life out in increments of time but also protecting me? From the pain of being blindsided. From never again having to say I didn’t see it coming”

This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Expiration Dates will be published March 19th

The book itself was well written. It had beautiful details and at times I felt like I was on the journey as well. I love that Daphne instantly knew how long relationships would last. I love the storyline. This is a really nice clean romance. I will be purchasing the hardcopy once it comes out . Thank you NetGalley the opportunity.

Read this if you like:
•doc martens
•unique plot
•sad romance
•enjoy Rebecca’s writing
•a quick read

This book started out so strong. You get a piece of paper that will tell you exactly how much time you will spend in a relationship. I didn’t love the twist. I think it’s very Rebecca Serle but just annoyed me

Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A tender romcom with a magical realism twist! Fans of Seven Year Slip will like this. The flashbacks to Daphne’s past dating history and relationships were so fun and relatable and I adored the present relationship between Jake and her deep friendship with Hugo. A quick and heartfelt read!

In Expiration Dates, Daphne has an interesting gift. She gets little slips of paper that tell her the name of the next person she dates and the length of time she will date them. So when she gets her next slip of paper with the name Jake and no timeframe, she thinks he must be the one she will spend the rest of her life with. As Daphne and Jake’s love blossoms, we also get to see how the other relationships she’s had unfold under their time constraints. There are also still things Jake doesn’t know about Daphne which could end up hurting him in the long run.

I love Rebecca Serle’s books because her stories are about normal life with a unique twist. They always feel like they could actually happen to someone. But those twists seem to become such a minuscule part of the actual story. I wish there was more details about the slips of paper and what their significance is. Daphne received the slips and took them as fact. She never contemplated what would have happened had she just not believed what the paper said and charted her own timeline of each relationship. I felt like she did herself a disservice by doing that.

I also feel like there wasn’t much of a storyline when it came to Daphne and Jake’s relationship. I wish the book would have delved a little deeper into their story together.

It was a super quick and easy read and I enjoyed getting to see Daphne’s story unfold!

“But that’s love, isn’t it? The belief in something you cannot see or touch or even explain. Like the heart itself, we just know it’s there.”

Imagine if in your single days, you received a note with the name of each new love interest you had, along with the length of time you would be with that person. For Daphne, this has been happening for over 20 years. When she finally receives a slip of paper with only a name and no expiration date, she questions if this man would truly want to be with her forever if he knew everything about her. I really enjoyed Rebecca Serle diving into romantic love in this novel, and I was not expecting the twist that occurred along the way. I flew through this book!

In Expiration Dates, 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. What a whirlwin of a book! Twists, love, humor...a bit of everything! I really enjoyed this book by Rebecca Serle!

Like all of Rebecca Serle's books, this one had an interesting concept for the storyline. Although, this one is a bit more predictable. So while I enjoyed the book, it also was a little boring for me. I needed a bit more drama or conflict/contention in the story. There was sort of a plot twist towards the end but by that point, I just wasn't in love with the main characters to care that much. So even though this book fell a little flat for me, 4 stars for a unique story.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of Expiration Dates.

I was excited to read my first book of Rebecca Serle since I have several of hers on my tbr. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. I didn’t connect with the female main character during the book. I honestly found her immature and annoying and didn’t find she grew during the story. And while it wasn’t a long book, I was frequently checking my progress to see how far I was. I liked the idea of the story, but then was bored every time we went back to the men she dated. The whole thing was just a bit bland for me. I’ll still try another book of this author before I give up on her, but this one wasn’t for me.

3.5 ⭐️ wow! i can’t believe i devoured this in one sitting. this was my first book by serle i’ve read, but now i want to read her others *immediately*
daphne was so relateable!

read if you like:
- magical realism
- non-linear timeline
- characters that feel “stuck”
- tall & handsome men

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this e-ARC!

WOW! Ok, I wasn't sure what to expect with Serle's take on "sugary romance" but it was everything I hoped and yet, not "sugary" at all. This was a lovely story that kept me guessing. I do wish a few relationship details were expanded on a bit more but I feel like I can't say too much without give away the plot. This story was all at once emotional and comforting. I loved it!

I received an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley..

I liked the premise of this book - the main character receives a paper each time she dates someone that tells her how long they'll be together. This might have been one of the only elements of the book that worked for me, though as we flashed back to her past relationships, I thought the past timelines went on way too long. While the idea was to explain why she has the relationship hang ups that she does, but it made me want to skim through. Another issue that I had with the book is that the resolution was very obvious to me, and I would have liked it if her and Jake had better chemistry. It also seemed like the papers and the other twist in the story were competing for our attention. Also - for a book set in LA, why the weird obsession with New York?