Expiration Dates follows a woman who knows exactly how long a relationship will last before it starts. The story delves into the psychological impact this foreknowledge has as she manages her first relationship without an expiration date. I guarantee a few twists and some water-eyes with this one!

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Every time Daphne meets a new love interest, she receives a note that tells her the exact amount of time she will spend with them. Then one day, the note only has a name, no end date. But as this new relationship unfolds, Daphne begins to doubt the universe’s plan for her.

This was such an interesting and unique concept. Rebecca Serle always delivers cool stories, and I love her writing style.

I really enjoyed Expiration dates and thought it was a cute, short little read. My only complaint is that I wish it would have been just a little longer to give us more insight into her relationship with Hugo.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

Rebecca Serle never disappoints. While the premise was slightly more interesting to me than the execution, I was interested in the story and characters throughout and really enjoyed reading this one.

I’ll begin to say that romance novels are not my favourite genre (they used to be at one point in time) I enjoyed the pacing of this, it held my attention and I read it quickly within a day. Although, I am conflicted about the length of the book, it is on the shorter side. Conflicted because I love a quick short book, and dislike when romance novels are a trillion pages long with minimal plot. But on the other hand, it was so quick it almost felt unfinished? We didn’t get a lot of details, very surface level events and minimal character development.

The concept of this is cute and this would make a great rom com movie.

A quick read on love heartbreak, and discovering yourself! Love the magical realism element and how the story came together in the end.

I enjoyed this book and will recommend to others as a great beach read and one to load onto the kindle. The love stories with quirky fantasy type situations always throw me a bit, but I enjoyed the story and the different romances. The story shifts a bit halfway through to reveal the biggest plot point. I think the conversations between characters were great and I was rooting for Daphne the entire time. My biggest distraction was the CONSTANT description of what everyone was wearing. Serle writes fiction well and is able to paint a picture in the story, but I am thrown every time the color of shorts and tees are mentioned. It happened so much that it needs to be mentioned. Overall a fun read with depth and plot.

ARC review

A compelling story that will tug at your heart strings. It did take a little while for the story to pick up and pull me in, but Rebecca Serle did a good job weaving the story with past and present. Unfortunately, the end was slightly disappointing :(

Fantastic. I have loved all of Serle’s books and this is no exception. She brings in a little magic as usual, which I always enjoy. The first part of the book was fun and light, but mid-book gets even better. I thought I knew where this was going…but I was wrong. I actually woke up early before work to finish— I had to know what happened! 5/5.

i really liked this. written similar to all her others with some magical realism! overall, loved the premise & thought it was well executed! i liked the flashbacks to all of daphne’s prior relationships & i especially enjoyed her friendships. i thought her character growth was good. i can’t help but laugh though because every single chapter started with daphne at some restaurant or some cafe describing her entire order. 4/5 ⭐️

Interesting concept, but one I struggled a bit with. It became predictable half way through. Overall I found this to be a nice light-hearted read and enjoyed the characters..

Okayyy I am obsessed??! I love Rebecca Serle’s novels so much I am not shocked that I love this book. This is easily 5 stars for me. For a single 29 year old, this book came at the perfect time. That is that Rebecca magic for you. This book had so many amazing quotes I cannot wait to share on pub date. This book hit close to home, and I am so happy I was able to read this novel early.

9/10. I love love love this book. It’s unique, thoughtful, inspiring, sad, and hopeful all at once.

The premise is such: Whenever protagonist Daphne meets a man she also receives a piece of paper with their name and a time frame of how long they will date/be together. Sometimes she's disappointed by the outcome, sometimes it makes it easier to end things. But one day she receives a piece of paper with just a name, no date. And so she continues her relationship with Jake thinking that he is "the one." However, there's something missing and she doesn't know what to do or how to handle it.

It's a great look into the debate of destiny vs choice, and how we handle such situations.

Honestly, it made me question my own relation with my best male friend. I'm constantly asked why he and I aren't together, and I have no solid answer for them. I don't think there's anything there, nor would there ever be, but the fact people always question our relationship makes me question if there should be.

Thanks to publisher Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

Rebecca Serle is one of my favorite authors and always leaves me thinking about the stories and characters long after I’ve finished reading. Expiration Dates is no exception. The characters are both relatable and likable

Daphne Bell is on a journey to find love and she receives mysterious cards that correspond to her current dates, until one day she doesn’t receive a timeline. Does this mean she’ll stay with her current date, Jake? There’s something she knows and is holding back that might change everything.

This book had me in all my feels, absolutely loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

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. The papers told her she’d spend three days with Martin in Paris; five weeks with Noah in San Francisco; and three months with Hugo, her ex-boyfriend turned best friend. Daphne has been receiving the numbered papers for over twenty years, always wondering when there might be one without an expiration. Finally, the night of a blind date at her favorite Los Angeles restaurant, there’s only a Jake.

But as Jake and Daphne’s story unfolds, Daphne finds herself doubting the paper’s prediction, and wrestling with what it means to be both committed and truthful. Because Daphne knows things Jake doesn’t, information that—if he found out—would break his heart.

This is my 3rd book by Serle and I keep coming back because I keep hoping she will nail it. Cute romance novels seem to have many extraneous details that have little to do with the character themselves. There is this deep subject and then there's these sentences describing lipstick colors, sweater choices or body shape. Ire ally wanted to root for something but I was just not invested and disappointed at the end. I don't want to provide spoilers so I'll just say that.

Thank you NetGalley and Rebecca Serle for the ARC.
Expected Publication March 5, 2024
2.5 stars

This review contains spoilers!

I when I began Expiration Dates, I had high hopes for the book. Reading the provided synopsis I was certain I would love it. And I did, until I was about 60% of the way through.

We follow Daphne Bell, a young woman living and working in California. All her life she has been receiving small notes with only a name and length of time. The name is the name of someone she will meet and date for the specified period of time. I was instantly intrigued because how on earth does this happen? And who has been dictating her love life?

The book is full of plot twists, which normally I find to be a good thing, except the plot twist in this book hit a little too close to home and its inaccuracies enrage me.

At 21 years old, Daphne suffers a widow-maker or sudden cardiac arrest. She learns that she has a congenital heart defect (also referred to congenital heart disease, but I prefer defect in place of disease). All CHDs occur in utero before birth**. They are among one in thousands of types of birth defects.

In Daphne's case this defect went undetected until she was 21 when she had a severe heart attack. This is not common, but it isn't uncommon either.

I give you this background to provide the back drop for the inaccuracies - The author indicates the defect is genetic and unexplainable. This isn't completely correct; not all heart defects are genetic but they are usually unexplainable.
The author explains that Daphne is in stage 2 heart failure which will only get worse over time. NOT TRUE! Some CHD adults do recover and come out of heart failure with lifestyle changes and the right medications.

The placement of her scars from surgeries are circumspect. The author tells us Daphne hasn't had open heart surgery yet there is a scar on her sternum; that is generally associated with open heart surgery. One of her scars is under her left breast. In fact, the author tells us her scars are hidden by her breasts/have faded considerably.
The fading I believe. However, your breasts don't usually hide scars associated with an ICD placement as those are generally placed in the upper left side of the chest, below the clavicle but above the heart. This means her breasts wouldn't be able to hide said scar. Devices generally only last 7-10 years (at the most!) so the likelihood of Daphne having at least one device change between her diagnosis and the present is about 75-80% possible, which means her scar would be relatively fresh.

Once the author made that jump in the plot, I lost quite a bit of interest in the book. It was easy to see she was trying to make the correlation between the heart defect and the slips of paper of would-be boyfriends. But it was a very thin comparison.

To firm up that comparison the author began flashbacks of other boyfriends and their expiration dates.

Linking the heart defect to the boyfriend papers was a poor attempt at drawing inferences and similarities between the two. In my opinion, the reasons for the papers was never really explained or solved adequately.

I could however, understand why she didn't want to tell each boyfriend about the heart defect. The fear of rejection is strong when you have a birth defect that can easily define your life but that's where I draw the line on plausibility.

Again, I really wanted to like this book and I had high hopes for it UNTIL the heard defect plot twist. Once that happened, all credibility in the story was lost.

** I provided all the information on congenital heart defects because I have one. I have a pacemaker as a result of my congenital heart defect and have had one since I was four months old. I'm also in heart failure.

Thank you to Atria books/Simon & Shuster as well as Netgalley for providing me with a digital Arc of this book.

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.

I was intrigued immediately from that synopsis and the book did not disappoint. I found Expiration Dates to be a quick, easy read that I did not want to put down. I really enjoyed Daphne's love story - with the men in her life and ultimately with herself. I was pleasantly surprised with the direction the book took and where Daphne ended up. Very enjoyable read. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for this ARC.

"Love is a net." Daphne Bell receives notes from the universe. Each note contains a name and a number. We soon realize these notes correspond to the men she dates and the amount of time she will date them for. (Ex. Josh, three weeks.) In other words, each relationship comes with an 'expiration date.' Is this a gift or a curse? That's for you to decide. When Daphne meets Jake, the note she receives says his name but there isn't a number. Could he be the one? Her forever? As their relationship grows, author Rebecca Serle details Daphne's previous relationships through a series of flashbacks. There is also an unexpected twist I did not see coming - which changes the narrative in a big way.

Serle is a master of blending women's fiction with magical realism. While I was not a big fan of 'In Five Years,' I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I read it in one day! Even if you haven't enjoyed Serle's previous works, give this one a shot. It is so much more than another romance.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own,

emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0

This was such an interesting premise, and I really enjoyed it. Rebecca's prose is so romantic and soothing — it feels like drinking a warm cup of your favorite tea. I loved the slips of paper, the flashbacks to all her previous romances and how her current one unfolded. I know the point of the ending was to be a unfinished, but it did feel slightly too unfinished for me. That said, the twists in this book really surprised me!! I just want to know how the papers work. I also want to know what was on the last slip. And knowing that things could keep going after the paper said things would end?! Wild. Hugo was messy for real. I love him. And he fell SO fucking hard for her. "I wish I knew it was finite for you," or whatever that quote was?? Absolutely wrecked me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my review.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Expiration Dates was one of my most anticipated books of the year (https://www.julesbuono.com/most-anticipated-books/) Rebecca Serle has become known for emotional stories involving magical realism, grief/trauma, and a quick, fast-paced plot. This book has all of those things. But, it's also lacking in many ways and isn't her best work.

The basic premise is that Daphne magically receives notes telling her how long she will be with a man when she meets him, and when she finally gets a piece of paper that says "Jake" with no expiration date, she's thrilled. As the relationship progresses, she also balances her time with her best friend, Hugo, who happens to be one of her "expired" exes. Along the way the the end of the story, there are two big twists.

The Pros:
- I LOVED the Los Angeles setting. It felt so escapist to me here in the Northeast in January.
- I loved the unique premise.
- I loved that it was a quick and breezy read. It was a treat to fly through it with ease.

The Cons:
- Practically zero character development. Jake, in particular, felt almost robotic.
- Zero chemistry between Daphne and Jake. It was like he just really wanted a girlfriend and she just relied on the paper's prediction.
- For a short book, the story should have been super tight, punchy, and impactful. Instead, it felt more like a short story or novella that was fleshed out with fillers, like random descriptions and portraits of Daphne's exes.
- The theme of fate versus free will could have been fleshed out a lot more, and more deeply. It could have been another "The Midnight Library" and really made an impact on how we think about life. But it never went there.
- I didn't totally like Daphne's secret or her decisions to keep it a secret. It felt mean and unfair to Jake, who had already been through a lot. It also felt more like trauma for the sake of trauma than a legitimate plot point.
- Tons of plot holes. I kept wanting gaps to be filled in or things to be answered better.
- Unclear whether this was meant to be a love story or a story of self-love / acceptance / discovery, especially since it ended fairly abruptly.

Overall, I did enjoy it, and if there's a sequel, I will definitely read it. There's still something I really like about Serle's books. But, I just thought this particular one could have used a few more rounds of editing. I'd recommend it as a really quick read if you have a plane ride, etc., but otherwise, I'd recommend her other work above it.

With each man that Daphne dates, a piece of paper shows up with the man’s name and the length of time she will date them. It could be hours, days, months. Each paper is different and kept in a little box under her bed.

One day she received a paper with the name Jake but no length of time. Does this mean he’s the one? Is this forever?

The Dinner List is one of my favorite books, and One Italian Summer was wonderful. This book was ok, but it did fall short. I didn’t connect with the female lead at all. Her best friend Hugo was great, but Daphne didn’t do much for me. I also wish we could have gotten more background on the notes. That really could have developed into something interesting with the “twist” that was also presented.

I did predict what would happen in the end. I’m glad it all worked out how it did, but as I said before, I wasn’t really invested in Daphne too much to care.