This is a classic will they/won't they storyline, from high school through to the current day. I liked the fact that both characters had a lot going on. There is divorce, kids, dealing with aging parents...it was refreshing to have the real life complexity in a story like this.

I did enjoy it, I just didn't warm to the male lead the whole way through so I wasn't as invested in their outcome as I hoped to be, hence the 3 stars.

Released August 1st 2024. Thank you to @netgalley and @michaeljbooks for the opportunity to review.

I think Rainbow has done a brilliant job of showing how messy life and love can be. Both the MC and FMC were flawed, and I found that really refreshing.

This is a classic will they/ won't they storyline. I usually love slow burn romances, where we get to see and feel the tension build, but this one sadly didn't work for me.
I've mentioned above both characters are flawed, however, I never felt Cary was 100% in. I felt Shiloh had to do alot of running and begging to keep him in her life which was a turn off for me to be honest.

Some may argue that Cary showed he cared in  ways other than words and admittedly, Shiloh was a difficult woman to be around at times, but I just couldn't really connect with him. He was wishy washy and just not the kind of MMC I'd connect with, which in turn made it difficult for me to believe in their love story. He got angry if Shiloh didn't pick up on his actions and it annoyed me.
He did kinda redeem himself towards the end but I was already over him.

So, I enjoyed this, but it wasn't my favourite. Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read an early copy of this book.

Slow dance by Rainbow Rowell took me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I loved it, and I was so invested.

It’s the details and observations that make this book so compelling. You feel like you have a window into the most intimate lives of Shiloh and Carey. The story is so well written and true to the complexities of human nature… a great read.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for an early review copy of this book.
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell. #SlowDance #NetGalley

A very sweet classic Rainbow Rowell book - some on the nose pop culture references & a teenage dream of a romance.

No one writes about love like Rainbow Rowell. I was so excited to read Slow Dance and it didn’t disappoint. I don’t want to spoil the plot as I avoided reading all reviews before I started reading it, but I will say this….

At its heart, the story deals with love in all its forms; friendship, romantic, familial- and does not shy away from the often messy and complex nature of love- real love, with its downsides as well as the joys. Rowell highlights the realities of life experienced by the characters and doesn’t airbrush the challenges they have faced.

Shiloh and Cary grew up together, grew close and then grew apart, both spending years trying to figure out what they meant to each other.
The two characters are flawed, quirky, but the kind of people you’d want to go grab a drink with. Both bruised by their experiences of love (in all its various guises) we see them explore their relationship at this stage of their lives, when the things they thought they wanted didn’t quite go to plan.

A story of second chances and new beginnings, I adored this novel and of course, Shiloh and Cary… ‘Shary’? 😉

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for the proof copy

It’s feels like it’s been so long since there’s been a new rainbow rowell book, the carry on series is one of my all time favourites, so I was very excited to dive into this one and it did not disappoint!

I loved this dual timeline story between 2 best friends as they get their second chance at love. It was a gorgeous slow burn story with the couple navigating through past mistakes, current life situations and ultimately having to decide if they are willing to put their hearts on the line for love.

Shiloh and Cary have been best friends since high school, losing touch over the last few years and about to reunite at a mutual friend's wedding.

I'm a big fan of Rainbow Rowell, some of her earlier works, Fangirl, Attachments and Landline have been highlights from my reading over the last however many years. I did enjoy this one, but not quite as much. It was quite real story of two people, who have always loved each other but who have had difficulties in life, finding their way together as adults. They are both flawed and have both made mistakes, but you do root for them both throughout.

I'm not quite sure why this one didn't quite hit the mark for me, I can't say that there was anything wrong with the book itself and can only think that its a bit of a "its not you, its me" situation. It perhaps wasn't quite what I was looking for at the time.

I'd recommend for Rowell fans and anyone who wants to read a bit of a second chance romance.

Okay I loved this booked and cry and I laughed and I hung on every word. I loved the story and how it was told. I read a lot and sometimes it takes a lot to really impress me, but I was super immersed in this world. I don’t want to ruin this story with any spoilers so please just give it a chance and see where the story will take you.

📚 review 📚
slow dance - rainbow rowell
urgh i don’t know if i can be coherent with this one - this had long lost love,
second chance romance , emo high schoolers… basically everything on the books leah will like bingo card.

rainbow rowell is always a bit hit and miss for me - i maintain that i love eleanor and park despite how problematic it is. the simon snow series will always have my heart and so will slow dance. this book feels grown up, its mature and relatable, shiloh and carey feel real, much more so than most romance characters. the spicier scenes are done with care and sensitivity and the miscommunication, though frustrating at times, felt realistic.
this is my new favourite rainbow rowell novel and i’ll be picking up a copy when it is released in july.
thank you @netgalley for the early copy

I’ve been a reader of Rainbow Rowell for many years and I’ve really enjoyed her writing in the past, so when I saw that she was writing an adult romance I knew that it was going to be good. And I was not disappointed. Slow Dance actually exceeded my expectations, the writing was excellent, emotional and thought provoking. I can’t wait for more to come of this same genre from Rowell.

Rainbow Roswell’s depiction of motherhood and womanhood was realistic and raw, and I really appreciate this because in romance I think there is a tendency for male character to come in and save the day, but Rowell really does not fall into this trap. Our main character is careful, considerate and respectful of her children and puts them first. The male character and love interest is all of these things too.

What I thought was really fantastic was how Rowell lead us through the dynamic shift between the characters; there is a scene where the male acknowledges that he didn’t understand how high the stakes were for her, and how difficult it has been for her to raise her children and how he needed to be able to handle this and not let it injure his ego. She isn’t the high school girl he knew back then. She has changed with time and has this whole other life. She is a mother with responsibilities and commitments.

I just thought the whole thing was beautiful, and I really liked that the miscommunication trope wasn’t too silly… sometimes it can be in romance, where I want to throttle them and tell them to just TELL THEM THE THING, but Rowell does this in a way where you can see why the characters have seen a scenario in a different light.

If you like Rowell’s previous novels and you appreciate a character study story rather than a plot filled one, I think you would really enjoy this.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read the book early! I pinky promise that my review is my own and that it’s genuinely how I feel. I’d tell you if I thought it wasn’t good.

Slow Dance is a gem of a read. Beautiful and sad, heartbreaking and heart warming. It is the sort of book you can just sink into and enjoy the ride. It jumps around in time, building a picture of the before and the after as we understand what led Shiloh and Cary to where they are now. From kids so close and inseparable everyone assumed they were already together, to college students figuring out who they were and drifting apart, to adults fourteen years later meeting again. Despite all of the switching time period and perspectives, it is perfectly crafted to be easy to follow and immerse yourself.

A story of friendship, love and self. A beautiful, realistic, relatable romance, recommended to contemporary romance fans who want more than just the usual rom-com style tropes.

This was a gorgeous change to my usual reading habits - I loved reading all about these two. It’s called Slow Dance and it is just that. It’s intimate; it totters along nicely; it makes you smile. Just lush.

Be still my beating heart. This is such an intense and thrilling romantic ride. Cary and Shiloh are meant to be, from the moment they meet as teenagers, but they have to spend a generation working that out. Can love be so big and so scary and so right? I think so. Cary has to get out of his own way and Shiloh out 9f hers, before they can allow themselves what they deserve.

A good summer read.
Shiloh and Cary were friends from high school and meet up years later at a friends wedding.
Cary is in the navy and Shiloh is divorced with two children and both have never told each other of their feelings towards each other.
The story goes from present to past throughout the book, it`s a bit of a slow burner but gets there in the end.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review

This book was such a fun journey from start to finish. Being able to see Shiloh and Carey in their younger years and then trying to navigate adult life through the dual pov really helped create a real connection and made me root for them so hard! Shiloh was a great character and i really loved seeing her be a mum, it felt so realistic and relatable. Cary was just a sweetheart and deserved all the happiness in the world. A prominent trope throughout is miscommunication which of course was quite frustrating at times but it made sense for the progression of the story and was good to see from both characters sides. The pacing was good and I was engaged in the story the whole time, I especially loved the ending!

Cary and Shiloh have been best friends since their teens, and along with their friend Mikey made up an inseperable trio. Although everyone but them knew how they felt about each other, somehow they have not got together romantically. After school, Cary joins the Navy and Shiloh heads off to college, but despite them briefly reuniting and sleeping together when Cary gets leave and visits Shiloh, misunderstanding follows and, in what becomes a pattern for them, their lives diverge, and they do not see each other again for many years. When they both attend Mikey’s wedding in their home town, however, they are forced to confront their feelings for each other, but Shiloh is now divorced with two young children and Cary is still away for months on end for his naval duties. Does their relationship stand a chance, or will their timing be wrong again? Rainbow Rowell’s YA romance “Eleanor and Park” is one of my all-time favourite books, and I adored her unconventional, prickly heroine who was not super-slim, wore second-hand clothes and had wild red hair. Rowell also has a gift for giving even her minor characters lots of personality, and that is very much the case also- I loved the couple’s mothers and Shiloh’s children and her co-worker, Tom. Shiloh is as complex and damaged as Eleanor, although at times I found her maddening, especially the way she is always picking and poking at Cary and hitting and biting him. Her rather strange attitude to their lovemaking (finding it almost too overwhelming) struck a slightly odd note, but there are observations abouther in the book which suggest she might be on the autistism spectrum, so perhaps that would explain it. What is really absorbing and joyful about their story is that it is not a bland romance where the pair overcome obstacles to reach a typical happy ending, but a realistic look at how life can get in the way of love and take you in different directions, how relationships involve compromise and how families can be complicated in ways you aren’t always prepared for.

Honestly, say Rainbow Rowell and I am already there! I think i've re-read Fangirl 10 times at least, and Attachments always has a place in my heart. She just has this brilliant knack of writing likeable but flawed characters!

The flashbacks really sell the authenticity of the story - particularly the 00's scenes, which brought back memories! The characters chemistry is great, at times sweet and other times heated - their story felt more adult than her others, littered with the annoyances and happiness of every day life for an adult with responsibilities to others.

Unfortunately the pacing is a little off, certain sections felt needlessly long. The ending then felt a little rushed.

I loved so much about this title and couldn't wait for opportunities to read more- it was one of those where you think 'I'll read for 10 minutes before bed', and before you know it, it’s an hour later and you still don’t want to stop! I like the way the relationship between the two main characters was portrayed. The premise of them both being in the dark about their feelings for each other 16 years ago, contrasted with how they renegotiate things when they finally see one another again is nicely done and I hoovered it up! We hear a bit less from Cary’s perspective and I wondered why the narrative focussed so much more on Shiloh. My niggle with the book – and this might say more about me!- is that things seemed more or less resolved with more than 100 pages to go, so I became convinced that something cataclysmic was about to befall the couple. There also seemed to be a lot of detail gone into over Cary clearing out his mother’s home – again, I kept thinking ‘is there this much detail here because the house is now going to be hit by a meteor or something?’ But no. I’m not too sure about the extensive inclusion of that part. But Shiloh and Cary are definitely characters that I thought about long after I’d finished and had to reluctantly say good bye to them. I straight away bought another title by Rainbow Rowell and got stuck into that.

I'm sad to say that I found Shiloh and Cary irritating. It just wasnt a book that I enjoyed. But thank you for the chance to read it.