Sandy M’s review of Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
Contemporary Romance published by Atria Books 19, Mar 24
I’m always thrilled now when I discover Rebecca Serle has a new release on the way. I discovered her a few years ago and have loved every book by her that I’ve read. I really enjoy the little “paranormal” bits she adds to her stories, making them more intriguing as we learn about her characters and how they deal with those other-worldly aspects. So far, for me, she’s been very successful in that respect. So I was really looking forward to this book to see what she’s come up with now.
And while the main part of this story is exactly what I imagined, giving me a look at Daphne’s life differently than most because of the “expiration dates” she receives when she’s begun a new romantic relationship, and later when she begins to see life a bit differently when an unforeseen wrench throws her for a loop, everything begins to go in a direction I didn’t anticipate – and really didn’t care for.
There’s two men who have outlasted their expirations, Hugo and Jake. I like both of them a lot, even despite Hugo’s misstep when his end date arrives. But he remains Daphne’s friend during the years following, until she meets Jake, and that’s where the first twist comes into play. Those twists and turns are always unexpected and change the trajectories of each story Ms. Serle gives us.
This time, however, as we near the end of the book, the turn we should have gotten never comes. At least not for me. So much page space is spent on each of Daphne’s dates that the ending is a bit lackluster, not really fleshing out the life Daphne has ultimately deciced on. I felt so much for Jake, whom we never hear from again after Daphne makes some long-time-coming decisions. We definitely feel for Daphne once we realize why she keeps others at bay, below her emotional radar, so to speak. I waited for more at this point, but I was to be disappointed – for the first time ever when reading Ms. Serle.
It pains me to give this book just an average grade, but there’s just something missing when all is said and done, despite how much I like the characters and unusual premise of the story itself.
Grade: C
Summary:
Being single is like playing the lottery. There’s always the chance that with one piece of paper you could win it all.
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 name: 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.
Told with her signature warmth and insight into matters of the heart, Rebecca Serle has finally set her sights on romantic love. The result is a gripping, emotional, passionate, and (yes) heartbreaking novel about what it means to be single, what it means to find love, and ultimately how we define each of them for ourselves. Expiration Dates is the one fans have been waiting for.
No excerpt available.
