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Slow Dance

A Novel

by Rainbow Rowell

Narrator Rebecca Lowman

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Length 11 hours 30 minutes

Language English

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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

“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

“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

“This is a sweet second chance romance about two people who had no clue they had even had a first chance. It is a delightful story!”
— Natalie • Katy Budget 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

Bookseller recommendation

“Absolutely love this sweet, real and touching book. LOVE.”
— Julie • Gather Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“Slow Dance is nostalgic and sweet but also refreshingly realistic! It's a breath of fresh air. ”
— Aly Leibow • Beach Books

Summary
About the author

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Rainbow Rowell comes Slow Dance – her smartest, funniest, most romantic novel yet.

“If you, like me, think thirty-somethings methodically working through their issues is very hot, Slow Dance is the book for you. The people in it feel like people you know or maybe even people you’ve been. Slow Dance is 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

Back in high school, everybody thought Shiloh and Cary would end up together . . . everybody but Shiloh and Cary.

They were just friends. Best friends. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh’s porch steps, dreaming about the future. They promised each other that, no matter what, 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.

Fiction Romance

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.