Expiration Dates

Starred review from January 8, 2024
Serle (One Italian Summer) complicates a woman’s lifelong search for love with a hint of the supernatural in this stirring romance. Daphne Bell receives a mysterious note every time she meets a new potential love interest. Each missive has only two things written on it: the name of the person and the exact date their relationship will end. It took her a while to work out the pattern, but now she knows the notes are never wrong. Take Hugo, who lasted three months exactly, just as the note said. Now Hugo is Daphne’s best friend and her only past partner who’s ever known about the notes—but the two have been torn apart by another life-changing secret that Daphne feels she must keep from her paramours. Soon after she enters a relationship with widower Jake, she receives a note with only his name and no date. She hopes this means she’s found “the one”—unless her secret gets in the way again. Serle uses this unique conceit to explore heartbreak, grief, self-love, and the importance of living in the now. Daphne’s sometimes heart-wrenching, often heartwarming search for meaningful relationships, both romantic and platonic, is sure to inspire. Agent: Erin Malone, WME.