A new book from Rainbow Rowell is such a treat-it should be savored, but instead I devoured it! This romance story is ALL about patience and if you loved One Day (Netflix version) you will fall hard for this one! What if you found your soulmate in high school but you had separate paths to follow? If life brought you back in each other's orbit, could you reconnect as adults, even with your messy adult lives and your adult emotional baggage? Shiloh and Cary were as close as two people can be in high school, but Cary left for the Navy and Shiloh left for college and neither trusted that this connection could last. Fast forward twenty years to a wedding, and the sparks fly between them, but now Shiloh is divorced with two kids and lives with her mom and Cary lives on a ship and has to manage his mother's life. Can romance still blossom when you have to pay bills and deal with exes and the house is a mess? Can two people who haven't ever really been in LOVE with anyone else actually say the words and make the leap to committment? Or are their paths going to cross again with no resolution? You will want to move to Omaha and hang out with Shiloh, Cary (and Mikey) and eat hummingbird cake because it all feels so incredibly real and relatable. Neurotic and chaotic and sentimental as all get out.

This book started off strong but quickly lost momentum for me. I found the alternative timelines a bit jarring and eventually started skipping the "before" passages because they seemed superfluous to the story. It just didn't hold my attention.

As always Rainbow Rowell’s adult titles have me unwilling to put it down. This book
Are my heart ache as I waited for the characters to find their way back to each other.

Rainbow Rowell may be most known for her Young Adult books (at least in my community) but damn, her adults books always blow me away. Slow Dance tells the story of two friends who drift apart and come back together. I hesitate to use tropes to describe it because there is so much more to this story than that. Friends to lovers does not feel like enough when it comes to Cary and Shiloh's relationship.

The plot isn't too eventful, but the emotions running through the characters kept me on the edge of my seat. With flashbacks to different parts of their lives feels a bit like Landline in the best way. While there's no magical realism, it still gives those vibes.

The characters were (like always) what yanks you into the story. I found Shiloh to be a bit annoying at the beginning but it quickly became obvious that it was because I saw a bit of myself in her anxiety and fear. Rainbow writes such unique characters in what seem to be 'boring' experiences. She makes what could be boring moments meaningful and impactful instead.
The side characters were pretty limited but in a good way. It was nice to get to know their families in a way that informed you about the main characters. They were all realistic and relatable.

I planned on savoring this book but I devoured it in one day. I reread Landline every couple years and I can definitely see myself doing that with Slow Dance for the same reason. It was so intimate, heartbreaking, and tender. Do yourself a favor and preorder it now!

Thank you for the ARC Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I've been looking forward to reading a new title from Rainbow Rowell, and this one definitely does not disappoint. The characters are very relatable, and the romance is so bittersweet it aches your heart.

Rainbow Rowell has an amazing talent for writing a slow-burn, heartfelt, achingly beautiful love story. Even better, her zillions of original young fans of her young adult novels, Eleanor & Park, and Fangirl, are all grown up now, and what great timing for them to come to this book as adults. I truly look forward to recommending this title.

I've read Rainbow Rowell's previous adult fiction books some 10 years ago & I do remember liking them, "Landline" and "Eleanor & Park in particular, so I was excited that she's finally released a new adult romance title - "Slow Dance". I did enjoy this story about two Nebraska teens, Shiloh & Cary, BFF's who go their separate ways after high school and then meet up again 15 years later at a wedding. I found both MC's very likable & relatable & I enjoyed how this novel is focused on their character growth and less on passion - it totally worked for me :). My sincere thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the complimentary DRC, my pleasure to review it.

Shiloh and Cary are best friends from high school, but Cary knows there is something more in their friendship. Told in both the past and present, it is impossible not to fall in love with these characters. Rainbow Rowell did such an amazing job of setting up the first part of the book, I didn’t want to leave the first 10 chapters. Instead, like the title, I wanted to slow dance through Shiloh and Cary’s meet up years after their high school friendship, and revel in their feelings for each other. The later chapters didn’t disappoint- Rowell does an amazing job of letting us experience the connection that happens with a first love, and the tension trying to reconcile what is with what could have been.

I enjoyed Landline by Rainbow Rowell but I think I am just too old for this story. There is too much detail also for my liking. I am sure it will appeal to younger readers. I will not rate this on Goodreads since I didn’t finish the book. 40%.

For years, I've been diving into Rainbow Rowell's young adult romance novels, even though I'm not exactly in the targeted audience range. However, her queer Simon Snow series stands out as a favorite of mine. So, when I heard she had written an adult romance, I couldn't contain my excitement. This heartwarming and realistic new adult fiction resonated with me more than I had expected. Interestingly, my recent binge-watch of the adaptation of "One Day" on Netflix only intensified the emotional impact of this book. The themes of long friendship, unrequited feelings, flawed and realistic characterization, second chance love, and found family are strikingly similar in both concepts.

Shiloh and Cary are both likable characters, despite occasionally frustrating the reader with the choices they make and the patterns of their thoughts that lead them down the wrong paths. Their imperfections make them unique, lovable, and real.

Shiloh, raised in the troubled side of Omaha, first crosses paths with Cary at the age of sixteen. Cary, the boy who can make her laugh and tolerate her eccentric antics, dreams of joining the army. They become good friends throughout high school, secretly harboring crushes, but both have other life choices mapped out and deal with their own insecurities that prevent them from taking a step into vulnerability that could lead to more than friendship.

Fast forward fourteen years, and we find both of them unhappy with the hands life has dealt them—or perhaps, the hands they have chosen. Shiloh, now thirty-three, is a single, divorced mother of two, working at the Children's Theater. She realizes she has become the very mother she once criticized, a less entertaining version of herself without the flirting and enjoyment of life.

A wedding ceremony for a common high school friend brings Cary and Shiloh together again. Cary takes a leave from the army to address his family issues, and he also has complex feelings about seeing Shiloh, who is barely containing her excitement, wearing a new dress and a silk flower over her heart, showing effort after years to be seen by the boy who got away. The same boy she never realized how much she cared for until he was gone.

I would give five stars to the storyline and the perfectly developed characterization of this book. The dialogues, banter, level of sauciness, and sassiness blended in humorous and sentimental moments make you smile and also bring tears to your eyes. The numerous flashbacks take us on a journey through the 90s and 2000s, which didn't irritate me; in fact, it provided a much more realistic picture of the characters' life stories, struggles, fears, potentials, and dreams. The only thing that bugged me about this book was the pacing, which led me to deduct one star from my rating. Some parts of the book felt a little rushed, and the last third was a bit repetitive and dragged for my taste, making me wish the story would cut to the chase and give us a happily ever after.

Despite the slightly unusual pacing, the genuineness, honesty, and poignancy of this book warmed my heart. I truly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to contemporary and second chance romance lovers, as well as Rainbow Rowell's devoted fans.

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for sharing this wonderful book's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Another slam-dunk from one of my favorite authors. Very nostalgic, lots of fun, glad to have another book from her!

God, I loved this book. I loved this book so much. I have been a fan of Rainbow Rowell for nearly a decade and this felt like a homecoming.

3.5 stars, rounded up

I enjoyed the first half of Slow Dance, but by the second half, the ultra-slow pacing started to drag for me. I found myself getting a bit annoyed with the characters, and I felt like I lost some of the connection that I had been building with them.

I really liked a bunch of things about this book—the emotions felt authentic and deep, Mikey's third-wheel character was fun and well-developed, and the throwback to past decades was a nice nostalgic touch. But halfway through, things started to feel repetitive, and we continued to go over the same old stuff and cover the same ground again and again. Unfortunately, this made me less invested in whether Shiloh and Cary's relationship would survive and progress to the next level. When we got to the final resolution, things suddenly picked up speed quite quickly, making the conclusion feel a little rushed in comparison to the rest of the story.

I mostly enjoyed this book, but I think it would have hit the mark better for me if it was a bit shorter, maybe two-thirds of its current length.

Rainbow Rowell’s new novel Slow Dance is about reconnecting with that one that got away … but in the case of Carey and Shiloh, is it possible to lose someone that you never really had?

The emotionally aching Slow Dance is told through a series of flashback moments and present day snippets. Going back in time to the early 90s and the start of main characters and love interests Carey and Shiloh’s nascent friendship turned not-quite-relationship, the story continues to further explore Carey and Shiloh’s feelings for each other over time up until a much-anticipation reconciliation at their shared best friend’s wedding in 2006.

Carey and Shiloh’s not-quite-relationship is complicated, having never officially been a couple, but the two have been harboring secret, bubbling feelings for each other since forever. When Carey, on leave from the Navy, is forced to spend some time in their hometown due to his mom’s failing health, he and Shiloh find themselves exploring and sharing everything they have kept from each other over the years.

This is a love story unlike any I have actually read, but I like that it rings true to so many people that I know in real life. It is common in relationship fiction for the two main characters to basically be perfect and to fall perfectly in love with each other. Carey and Shiloh are not those people, and theirs’ is not that love story. I appreciated that they are incredibly flawed and that their relationship has been built on shaky ground. Furthermore, I like that they move forward with their feelings for each other against better judgment. I find that it is far more common in the real world for people to make the WRONG choices in love and relationships, yet in fiction, love is often displayed without grave consequence. Everything always works out just right in the end, but I do not feel that this will be the case for Carey and Shiloh. And I like it because it is real. Kudos to Rainbow Rowell for daring to write a romance that just may not have a happily ever after.

This book is magic—the second chance romance of my dreams. It’s one of those books that makes me wonder why I’ve ever given anything else five stars. It’s one of those stories that speaks so directly to my soul it makes me wish I had written it. Something about the way Rainbow Rowell writes just completely pulls me in, and I feel like I am experiencing every emotion along with her characters — almost like I am the characters themselves — and this adult novel was no different. I loved everything about this story, especially the non-linear timeline that slowly revealed new facets of Shiloh and Cary’s history. Each character was authentically and realistically flawed but it had me rooting for them even more. I’ll be immediately preordering this one and adding it in a prominent spot on my shelf.

I'll buy this one, because I know it will be in demand; however, I found the main character, Shiloh, to be annoying and frustrating. I did not love the writing style, either.

I’m no stranger to Rainbow Rowell’s books, Slow Dance was another winner from Rowell. She hasn’t written an adult fiction book in a while, so I was very excited to read this eARC.

This book is set in ‘90s and ‘00s, so much of it is pure nostalgia. Shiloh and Cary are childhood best friend—and they don’t realize they are in love with each other until it’s possibly too late.

I loved reading a romance with characters in their early 30s, and I also appreciated the messiness of the characters. Both of Shiloh and Cary have some baggage and personal challenges, but that’s what makes them relatable.

Read if you like:
🩵 Childhood friends to lovers
🩵 Found family
🩵 Nostalgia

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. Don’t miss Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell when it’s released this summer!

HOLY SHIT! I am so glad that Rainbow Rowell decided to write another adult Romance cause it's her best contemporary book by a landslide. Cary and Shiloh's story made my heart ache, my pulse race and my cheeks hurt from smiling. I am so freaking PROUD of these two. Rainbow has always been exceptional at writing relatable characters and these two were so damn realistic and flawed it was a joy getting to see them grow and change (and not change sometimes). Rowell did an amazing job at taking romance tropes that are king (friends to lovers, second chance, single parent) and making them her own by grounding them in reality. I felt like I was reading about real people going through real shit who had an undying real love. I am obsessed with the same Rainbow Rowell describes love and intimacy and how there was so much space here for each character to be honest about what they wanted from another. God I can't stop thinking about how Cary was obsessed with Shiloh's messed-up bottom row of teeth and how Shiloh loves his cracked under-moisturized elbows. SIMPLICITY!!!

My favorite part outside of the romance and friendship aspects of the book was the portrayal of Cary's time in the military. I loved that we got Shiloh's distaste surrounding the entire thing and the nuance of why Cary joined the military and what he did. So often in military romances or in fictionalized military media period the main character will be some tortured war vet who almost died on top top-secret mission. So it was nice to have a hero that wasn't that. It reminded me a lot of my parents' military service and how they needed a way to stay afloat and provide for their loved ones.

Overall this book was a knockout for me and I hope Rainbow continues to write more in the adult space.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. Shiloh, Cary and Mickey were all old friends in high school. Years later they are all reunited at Mikey's wedding. Cary and Shiloh are drawn together even after all the years. However, they take a slow path to get there.

Huge thanks to William Morrow for this ARC!!

Oh god oh god oh god I have so many feelings and words how do I write them all down.
As someone who adores Rainbow Rowell, I knew I was going to love this book, I just didn't know how much. Something about her writing makes you feel every single word in your bones and even when it hurts, it's so worth the pain.
The relationship between Shiloh and Cary was so mundane, yet completely extraordinary. It was like seeing a rainbow (no pun intended); yeah, they're pretty common, but you'll always rush outside to find it because something about it is just so magical.
I want to read this book over and over again until I have it memorized. I want to be their best friends. I want to shake them both for being so stupid and annoying. I want to send this book to every person I know and tell them they have to read it.
It would be a HUGE disservice to anyone to not read this book.
5 stars through and through.