What is it like to fall in love before you even know what love is?
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell is an adult romance novel that follows Shiloh, as she navigates her life after a divorce and the return of her best friend from high school, Cary.
Shiloh and Cary, along with their friend Mikey, were always together during high school. Shiloh would push his buttons and he'd let her, even dropping her off last after a night out to spend more time with her. Everyone thought they were end game, or that they'd been dating the whole time, but they were just friends, allies through a shitty world.
When Cary joins ROTC, with plans of going off to the Navy after graduation, Shiloh is desperate for nothing to change, even as she goes off to Iowa.
They wanted out of north Omaha, and they were going to get it.
Now, Shiloh is thirty-three, divorced with two kids, and she hasn't spoken to Cary in fourteen years. She is now back living in the same house that she was determined to get out of.
When she is invited to her friend Mikey's second wedding, in Omaha this time, it takes all her power to convince herself to go. She isn't sure if Cary will be there, but when she sees him for the first time, she feels like she can't breathe. They dance, falling into their old ways of talking and picking on each other, like nothing has changed. Except it has.
As Cary works on helping his mom transition to assisted living, fighting with his sister, and being in the middle of the ocean during all of this, he is also trying to understand if his feelings for Shiloh are still there. Shiloh knows Cary has always been important to her, but is she ready to move passed friendship when they both have gone through so much already?
Now they make plans to meet up, text, and she sends him care packages while he is away. Both of them determined to find the love they both think they lost all those years ago.
This book had a lot of really powerful moments, with Cary and Shiloh trying to figure out how the people they are now compare to the people they remember. Shiloh is definitely a mess, and occasionally bothered me, but she was trying to figure it out as she went. Her ex is also pretty shitty, but it happens. Cary was quite lovely, he had flaws, everyone does, but he worked hard to make sure he could hit into the life Shiloh has now, with her kids and mom. Even with their ups and downs I finished the book really adoring these two idiots.
There is something about this book that really makes you feel like love can persist through a lot, and I found that pretty inspiring. I've always really liked Rainbow Rowell's writing, and this novel was no different. There is also something really believable about the story that I enjoyed.
This book was a 4/5 star read for me!
This book comes out July 30, 2024.
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