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A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2024
Named a Must-Read Book of 2024 by TIME ∙ NPR ∙ ELLE ∙ Parade ∙ Woman’s World and more!
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex . . . right?
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Creators
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
April 23, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593826300
- File size: 327880 KB
- Duration: 11:23:04
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Publisher's Weekly
February 5, 2024
Bestseller Henry (Happy Place) takes on fake-dating in this equally poignant and charming tale of love after loss. When Daphne Vincent’s fiancé, Peter, leaves her for his best friend, Petra, she’s both devastated and unmoored. Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak, seems to be handling the catastrophe better, but when each receives an invitation to Peter and Petra’s wedding, they’re both knocked off kilter. Together they drunkenly RSVP yes, and Daphne impulsively tells Peter that she and Miles are dating. That lie leads to Daphne and Miles building a real friendship (and developing real chemistry), but Daphne is determined to leave their small Michigan town—and its associations with Peter—behind, even if that also means forfeiting what she might have with Miles. Despite the tropey conceit, it’s the believable conflict rooted in the characters’ backgrounds and an alluring small-town setting on the shore of Lake Michigan that will suck readers in. Henry perfectly balances sorrow and discord with love and humor, and romance fans will appreciate watching the growth of the characters’ relationships and of Daphne as a person. This is a heartwarming take on summer love. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary. -
AudioFile Magazine
Julia Whelan tells a funny story, much like a Shakespearean comedy is a funny story, of a woman who falls in love with her ex-fianc's new girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. When Daphne's fianc, Peter, realizes he is in love with his formerly platonic best friend, Petra, just days before their wedding, Daphne recognizes she has built her whole life around Peter. Furthermore, she doesn't have any of her own friends. Soon, she's forced to move in with Petra's ex, Miles. Whelan accentuates Daphne's devastation with believable sobs and sniffles. She especially shines in the second half of the story with well-matched voices to likable secondary characters Julia, Starfire, and Harvey. S.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine -
Library Journal
Starred review from July 1, 2024
Julia Whelan, a frequent narrator of Henry's (Happy Place) novels, returns to narrate her latest, with spectacular results. Opposites attract in this contemporary romance set in small-town Michigan. After Peter decides that he is in love with his best friend, Petra--during his bachelor party as he prepares to marry a different woman--children's librarian Daphne, Peter's now ex-fianc�e, is counting the days until she can leave town and put this all behind her. With Petra replacing her not only in Peter's heart but also in his home, Daphne finds an unconventional place to live: with Petra's now ex-boyfriend, Miles. An alcohol-infused plan to be in a fake relationship to get back at their (now engaged) exes sparks a flame that neither Daphne nor Miles had anticipated. Award-winning Whelan breathes life into Daphne and Miles's story. She skillfully captures secondary characters, adding depth to each; one standout is her portrayal of the deceptively brusque Ashleigh, Daphne's coworker and new friend. Nuances throughout the production, such as the quiet anguish Daphne and Miles feel upon receiving their exes' wedding invitation, further draw listeners into their tale. VERDICT An essential purchase and a must-listen for all contemporary rom-com fans.--Amanda L. S. Murphy
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
subjects
Languages
- English
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