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Start giftingSlow Dance
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Learn moreBookseller recommendation
“Absolutely love this sweet, real and touching book. LOVE.”
— Julie • Gather Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“I absolutely loved this book. Shiloh and Cary were inseparable friends as teens and reconnect after over a decade apart to explore the intense connection they both still feel. If you love second chances, right person/wrong time, friends to lovers, or nineties nostalgia, this book is for you. It’s not a conventional romance, but one rooted in real world obstacles that relates the nuances of adult friendships. Rainbow Rowell writes with such emotional acuity, it's impossible not to fall head over heels into this love story.”
— Olivia • Author's Note
Bookseller recommendation
“Rowell's Slow Dance is a SLOW BURN! Told in present day and flashbacks, Rowell infuses Shiloh and Cary with all the leftover angst of never telling the love of your life the truth. As the flashbacks unfolded, I found myself wanting to shake both characters in hopes of saving them from themselves. But in the end, we have to make the mistakes to hopefully find the answer...and perhaps, love.”
— Julie • Roundabout Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Old high school pals Shiloh and Cary’s achingly slow burn and poignantly realistic friends to lovers romance reminds us that some of the best love stories take the scenic route to their HEA and some of the greatest romances are ordinary, come with kids, aren’t the first marriage, take time and talking through, and are transcendent and miraculous, worth fighting for and worth swooning over. Just enjoy every single step of this Slow Dance. ”
— Megan • Underground Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Slow Dance is nostalgic and sweet but also refreshingly realistic! It's a breath of fresh air. ”
— Aly Leibow • Beach Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Shiloh and Cary quickly became two of my favorite characters ever. Rowell uses dual POV and a non-linear timeline to explore a stunning relationship between two utterly flawed, brilliantly eccentric best friends.”
— Ebani Filbert • The Bookworm
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Attachments comes Slow Dance—a novel of true love and friendship.
“A will-they, won't-they second chance romance for the ages, this one is poised to be one of summer's breakout hits.” —PEOPLE
“Sexy, sweet, wise, and nostalgic – Jane Austen’s Persuasion for our times.” — Gabrielle Zevin, New York Times bestselling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
“Deeply human, profoundly romantic. Rowell will break your heart and you’ll thank her for it.” — Leigh Bardugo
“I loved every page of Slow Dance, a book that is romantic to its core, and as funny and smart as its wonderful characters.” — Emma Straub
Back in high school, everybody thought Shiloh and Cary would end up together . . . everybody but Shiloh and Cary.
They were just friends. Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh’s porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha—Shiloh would go to go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change.
Well, Shiloh did go to college, and Cary did join the Navy. And yet, somehow, everything changed.
Now Shiloh’s thirty-three, and it’s been fourteen years since she talked to Cary. She’s been married and divorced. She has two kids. And she’s back living in the same house she grew up in. Her life is nothing like she planned.
When she’s invited to an old friend’s wedding, all Shiloh can think about is whether Cary will be there—and whether she hopes he will be. Would Cary even want to talk to her? After everything?
The answer is yes. And yes. And yes.
Slow Dance is the story of two kids who fell in love before they knew enough about love to recognize it. Two friends who lost everything. Two adults who just feel lost.
It’s the story of Shiloh and Cary, who everyone thought would end up together, trying to find their way back to the start.
Rainbow Rowell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and the Simon Snow Trilogy, as well as several other award-winning novels, short stories, and comics. Rainbow lives in Omaha, Nebraska, just like most of her characters.