Rebecca Serle's 'Expiration Dates' gives romance a quirky twist, exploring love and commitment in a whole new light. Daphne Bell's life revolves around mysterious slips of paper predicting her relationship durations. While it delves into the complexities of love and self-discovery, I missed the deep emotional punch of 'In Five Years.' Still, Serle keeps you hooked with her storytelling, making it a quick and interesting read about love and finding yourself.

Thank you Netgalley for my e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

For Daphne, breakups haven’t been much of a surprise. This is due to the simple fact that she can always count on a note being delivered with the person’s name and a length of time. For example: Josh, six months. Stuart, one night. For a long time, she’s tried to look at this as a positive rather than a negative - for the most part, she can prepare herself ahead of the end of a relationship and try to protect her heart. But when her friend Kendra sets her up with Jake, the note Daphne receives shows only his name - no time period. No expiration date for the relationship. Could this be the relationship she’s waited so long for?

Rebecca Serle has done it again - this was an easy 5 star rating for me. We travel back and forth between Daphne’s prior relationships and her current one with Jake, and it’s a wild ride. I told the friends in my buddy read group that reading this story felt like watching old episodes of Sex and the City to me - and I mean that in the best way possible. With her friend Kendra and boss Irina, bestie/ex-boyfriend Hugo, and new beau Jake, it felt like I could match each of them to a SATC character and I would love to watch this novel be adapted for TV. This book has Serle’s signature dose of magical realism, so you definitely need to be in the headspace to totally give into that to enjoy this, in my opinion. I loved this one from start to finish - the chapters were short, the timeline went back and forth and it kept me reading. I am so thankful to Netgalley, Atria Books and the author for my complimentary ARC, and thankful to the group I buddy read it with - we definitely didn’t all have the same opinions on this one, and I enjoyed hearing their points of view. This book will be published 3/19/2024 - I hope you grab a copy!

4.5 stars
I love this authors writing! How she adds the perfect amount of romance with magical realism is just a *chefs kiss!
This story is great-such an interesting concept to think about…how you’d react to knowing exactly how long your relationship would last.
The health issue came out of no where.
A sad read but also so tender. Loved the scene with the father daughter.

Always love a good Rebecca Serle book and this was no different. This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Daphne lives in a world where she knows exactly how long her relationships will last. How? She receives mysterious slips of paper with a man’s name and the amount of time they will date. 1 night, 3 days, sometimes months or years.
We meet Daphne as she’s living in LA, besties with an ex, and receives a slip with a name but no time allotment. This must be the one. Enter, Jake. The story flip flops between Daphnes current romantic relationship with Jake, her current platonic relationship with her ex Hugo, and seemingly random past fling flashbacks.
I wanted to love this book, I really did! I loved One Italian Summer by this author and the premise of this seemed so cute. I learned a few things… first is that LA setting books just aren’t for me. I like to get lost in a world outside of Hollywood city life. The setting just wasn’t doing it for me that way! I also found the characters bland, and Daphne lacked a lot of maturity and compassion for others. Not to mention… where were these notes coming from?! We get a short glimpse into ONE of the notes but I kept waiting for answers that didn’t come! This was a quick and fun read, and will be great for spring but left me just wanting a wee bit more.
Thank you Atria Books for an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Daphne believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she starts a new relationship she receives a note with the name and length of the relationship until one night a note shows up with just a name. The letters have always been accurate but this time it doesn’t seem right. Daphne is keeping secrets that could just end her relationship but if the note is to be believed they are suppose to be together forever.

This book was absolutely amazing and I think will be a huge hit once it comes out. I am so happy that I got an ARC of this book because I can see it becoming such a success. I loved this book and the characters within. I wish I got notes with my relationship lengths I could have saved myself a divorce 🤣🤣. The plot in this book was so amazing and I loved the flash backs of her previous relationships. This is definitely a book I wish I could read again for the first time.

This was my favourite yet from this author. I found the main character difficult to connect with at first- it was frustrating how she avoided managing her own life, and also hard to watch her hide a chronic illness from her partner with a history of dealing with illness. but the last 1/3 of the book picked up after she revealed her illness. i liked her dynamic with Hugo!

Short Synopsis:
Would you want to know how long each relationship lasted before starting the relationship? That Daphne’s life. Every time she meets someone new, she gets an envelope with the name and how long each relationship lasts. And then one day she gets an envelope with just a name. And no end date.

My Thoughts:
Rebecca Serle has some of the most creative ideas for books. The premise of this was so interesting. I loved how one of her past 3-month-relationship turned into her best friend. And I loved the concept of how you approach different relationships knowing the outcome. I find the book to be painfully obvious though. And I think I struggle connecting with Serle’s writing and lack of character development.

Read if You Like:
✉️ In Five Years
✉️ Magical Realism
✉️ Love stories
✉️ Fate
✉️ Doc Martins

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy of Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle. Rebecca Serle is one of my go to authors for humor, heart, and romance and this book is no exception. This book is sweet and happy and hopeful. Read this book if you’re looking for an uplifting read.

Expiration Dates is my favorite book (so far) of Rebecca Serle’s! What started off as what seemed like a cute romance of how Daphne and Jake meet and begin their relationship turned into so much more and I loved the journey readers get to go on with Daphne.

There were a few twists along the way which made the book for me impossible to put down because I was curious how it would make things play out. I liked the flashback chapters that explained Daphne’s past relationships and how they helped shape her into who she was.

The Jewish representation in this book was amazing! This book truly felt the most personal out of all of Serle’s books and the representation definitely played a part in making it feel like that,

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy to read and review.

There’s just something about this book that pulled me in from the start. It was like a comforting, well-loved blanket that I could just cozy up in. I think it’s the author’s best yet.

With just a tiny hint a magical realism, nothing too bonkers…some romance, some drama and a passage that produced a few tears, culminated in a beautiful read.

As a fan of Rebecca Serle’s books, I was super excited to be approved of her new book. In my opinion this is her best yet! The characters were relatable and lovable it made me not want this story to end. Rebecca is such an amazing storyteller as she pulls at the heartstrings and had me through a couple of loops I didn’t see coming. I found this refreshing and unique and I flew through this book. Thank you netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this ARC, I enjoyed every minute of reading this!

Thank you Atria Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own!

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Especially where I am at personally I felt connected with the main characters search for love. I thought that the author did an amazing job showing the growth of the main characters. I also did not see any of the twists coming. The twists were also very well written in that I thought they were completely realistic and not so far fetched. I could not stop reading this one! It is not a long book, however a great read!

Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan for her life. Each time she begins a relationship she receives a piece of paper with the length of each relationship will be. Each suitor has an expiration date. However, when one day Jake doesn't come with an expiration date. Daphne has to believe that Jake could possibly be the one for her. However, as Daphne and Jake's relationship progresses she begins wondering if the paper is so true. Also Daphne knows certain things that if Jake knew them he would be so broken up about them. This story is told with such heartfelt passion.

Content: swearing, spicy scenes

Read if you enjoy:
Romance
Character Development
Twists
Heartfelt reads

This is not my favourite Rebecca Serle book. While the premise is interesting, the execution fell a little flat. A twist is revealed mid-way through the book and then the rest of the story just limps along.

That being said, In Five Years is one of my favourite books, and everyone is allowed to be off once in awhile. I just don't understand why an editor didn't bring up some plot point issues.

As a fan, I won't let one miss prevent me from reading the next release.

This book was a super fast read and it was wonderful. I loved the characters, down to the dog. Even the supporting characters were lovely. The overall plot was extremely unique. There were just enough moments of mystery but felt like a warm hug. Serle’s stories always have a little bit of magic in them and this did not disappoint. Don’t overthink this book. Just read it, and enjoy the journey.

Daphne was a wonderful main character. I loved her friendship with Hugo. I could tell early on that he was going to be the one for her, or at least I had hoped. Jake was wonderful, but sometimes I felt he was too good. Always compromising himself for the sake of everyone else. He totally still loved his past wife, but that’s okay. He was trying to move on. Daphne’s parents were a dream and I loved Irene and Kendra. Her dog was the show stopper.

Obsessed from start to finish. Kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the page. I was fully immersed with the story.

Dating is hard enough. Can you even imagine what it would be like to know when a relationship ends, the expiration date?
I personally couldn't handle it.
How could someone put their time and emotions into something knowing it won't last?
Somehow our heroine Daphne Bell has adjusted to this crazy phenomenon where a slip of paper gives her a name and how long her relationship with that person will last.

The book is told in two parts:
1) Flashbacks to old relationships, how they started and ended.
Hugo, 3 months.
Noah, 5 weeks.
Tao, 2 years and 2 months.
Etc.
2) The relationship with Jake, which had no end date on the paper.
Is he THE ONE? That's what Daphne and we are meant to believe. But honestly, I wasn't buying it. Why? Because Hugo is still in the picture and I saw much more of a connection between them than anything with Jake.

Since Hugo is the only one that knows about these slips of paper, it takes time for Daphne to be called out for her behavior regarding these prophecies, of sorts. Why does she have to accept what a piece of paper says? If it feels right with someone, maybe the paper is wrong. And it is like someone unplugged Daphne and plugged her back in. *recompute* Then she wakes up and the story has the expected conclusion.

The storyline is obviously pure fiction but overall was a creative approach to the dating scene and finding one's forever someone.

Rebecca Serle knows how to tell a great story that catches your attention from word one and Expiration Dates is no exception. The plot is well developed and the characters are easy to like- all in all very enjoyable.

I was happily surprised at how much I loved this story! There is a magical realism element in the story where Daphne receives pieces of paper with names of people she'll date and how long the relationship will last. She goes into each one knowing there's an expiration date and anticipating the end before it arrives. It's relatable because whether we know the ending ahead of time or not, all relationships (romantic or platonic) have an expiration date. The one relationship we experience without this is the relationship we have with ourselves. How much will we open ourselves up to the possibility of love and hurt knowing that eventually (maybe tomorrow or maybe in 50 years) it will end. She finally receives a paper with a name and no amount of time listed - will she go into this relationship being open to more or has the paper already decided for her?

Such an engaging story and beautifully written with a number of plot twists along the way that genuinely caught me off guard.

The plot of this book was SO intriguing, but I think it fell a little flat during execution. It had its redeeming moments sprinkled throughout, but overall I got little personality from our FMC and little to no chemistry between her and the MMCs.

Not Serle's worst, but not my favorite of hers either.