Slow Dance

April 1, 2024
Bestselling YA author Rowell (Eleanor & Park) serves up a powerful and poignant tale of first love for adult romance readers. Growing up in underprivileged north Omaha, Neb., best friends Shiloh, Cary, and Mikey relied on each other—but Shiloh and Cary always had something more than friendship simmering between them. Shiloh asks Cary to be her first sexual experience shortly before he leaves for the Navy. Mike, too, leaves town, heading for New York City, where he becomes a sought-after artist. Only Shiloh is left behind. Fourteen years later, she’s still stuck in town, divorced, with two young children, and living with her mother. After Mikey moves back to Omaha and invites both her and Cary to his wedding, the old friends have a chance to start over—but will they take it? Rowell’s skillful plotting makes the path to the answer deeply affecting, illustrating how regret holds back her imperfect but appealing characters. Though readers may be irked by some of the obstacles Shiloh and Cary toss into their own paths, it’s still easy to root for these two to get a happy ending. Rich, real, and emotionally raw, this satisfying contemporary is sure to impress. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists.

May 1, 2024

Rowell makes a triumphant return to adult fiction with her latest, a sometimes-melancholy but ultimately uplifting women's fiction/contemporary romance crossover. The novel follows Shiloh and Cary, teenage best friends who drifted apart before they slam back into each other's lives at a friend's wedding years later. Shiloh, now divorced and with two small children, is living at home with her mother in a run-down Omaha neighborhood; Cary, now a grown man, is a naval officer. Both Shiloh and Cary are intensely relatable, though portions of the book may bring back uncomfortable memories of awkward teen years, and their courtship is simultaneously romantic and full of the practicalities of two people with established lives trying to become a family. Rowell uses a deft hand while building the story, moving seamlessly between past and present as she excavates those embarrassing high school years and uncovers the adults Shiloh and Cary grew into. Readers who enjoyed Landline and Eleanor & Park will be glad to return to Rowell's unique storytelling style and lyrical prose. VERDICT While this novel doesn't follow all the traditional romance beats, it's guaranteed to make hearts flutter, likely while bringing tears to readers' eyes.--Jenny Kobiela-Mondor

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Starred review from June 1, 2024
True love waits. In high school, Cary, Shiloh, and Mikey were a tightknit trio of quirky kids. Cary and Shiloh loved each other deeply but could never admit it, even to themselves. When they reconnect in their 30s thanks to Mikey, lots of things have changed, and some have not. Cary is still in the Navy--his high school ROTC training and destiny to leave Omaha was something Shiloh hated in high school. He's stationed in California and spends months at sea. Shiloh is still in Omaha. She has two wonderful children and a jerk of an ex-husband and hasn't done anything with her life that she thought she would. Both of them are smart, clever, misanthropic, and stubborn. They are also, along with the omniscient narrative voice and tertiary characters, very funny. Rowell does longing like nobody's business. She pits epic love against relatable, painful foibles. Cary and Shiloh want each other palpably, but they get hung up on little details, feel shame, project, overthink. They struggle mightily to believe they're lovable. And they aren't rolling in privilege, having many practical limitations besides her kids and his career: Shiloh has no family other than her mom and can't afford to travel; Cary has a mother in poor health and a lot of family that can't help. Just as the things that keep Shiloh and Cary apart are rooted in real-life problems, the things that might bring them together are quotidian and harder to accomplish than any grand gesture: Hope. Communication. Grief and trust. Chapters that dip back in time play to Rowell's strength writing the confused passions of teenagers and show just how long these two have been absolutely gone for each other. Readers will be desperate to see them work it out. A treat for fans of Rowell and of realistic romance.

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Starred review from June 1, 2024
Divorced, nearing 40, and living in her childhood home with her mom and two young kids, grammar-school drama teacher Shiloh practically pulls herself together with duct tape when she heads to her high-school friend Mikey's (second) wedding in their North Omaha neighborhood, hoping for the best--the best being that she'll see Cary, her and Mikey's third musketeer (and, okay, more). Shiloh's charming, trifling ex is late to pick up the kids, so she misses the ceremony, and she's thinking Cary probably couldn't get time off from whatever far-flung post he's currently serving in the Navy, when there he is, smiling at her across the crowded reception hall. Cary takes her home, but Shiloh says the wrong thing (per usual); Cary doesn't say quite enough (also per usual); and things are complicated (again--usual). True to her title, Rowell takes her time revealing the couple's origins as high-school besties, the conflicts they helped each other through as teens in working-class families and those they're dealing with now, the long period of silence between them, and the undeniable glimmers of their enduring mutual attraction. Their dance is sweet and sexy, and Rowell draws out the whole, simmering affair as she ping-pongs through her characters' past and present, step, together, step, together.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Superstar Rowell's first adult novel since Landline (2014) is big news, and this romantic one is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

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