Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell

 genre: contemporary fiction

Shiloh and Cary were BEST friends in high school.  But when Cary went off and joined the Navy, Shiloh just kept...living.  And that living led to a marriage and two kids and a divorce and now she's finally in a goodish place.  At their mutual friend's wedding, though, Shiloh and Cary see each other again and their friendship is still THERE.  Is what they had before enough to help something new grow?

While this is definitely a second-chance romance-type novel, it is also a lot more than that. It's been ages since I didn't want to stop listening to a book, but I finished this 12 hour novel in a weekend because I was so engaged with these characters and the pieces they were trying to put together.  Both of their lives are challenging in ways that really resonated as real and seeing them try to overcome some significant issues really kept me rooting for them.  Shiloh is a tricky person - so talented and capable and yet so complicated.  I liked going back and forth between points of view so I could see Shiloh the way that Cary sees (and saw) her.  The back and forth in time didn't even feel like a detour, it helped me make sense of why these two really did belong together, even after everything.  It sounds like a lot of back-and-forth but it worked for me.

Strong writing, interesting characters and a realistic look at how complex relationships can be.  I really enjoyed it.

CW: there are a few explicit scenes, maybe some language?  I can't remember, ha ha