This is a romance novel about two ordinary people in the middle of the United States finding each other again. Shiloh and Cary were best friends in high school, everyone thought they were a couple, but neither was willing to risk their friendship. Both are being raised by single mothers struggling to get by and both are active in the school paper, but mainly they hang out with their other best friend and never imagine that they won't be friends forever. But years later, Shiloh is a single mom herself, working for the Omaha Children's Theatre and has made a life for herself, a very different life than the one she'd planned, which revolved around getting as far from Nebraska as she could. Cary joined the Navy straight out of high school and while he now is an officer in charge of a ship, he's never married. A mutual friend's marriage brings them back together and this time they're going to take the chance.

This is a quiet novel about a relationship building over time between two cautious people and it's a testament to Rowell's writing skills that it works as well as it does. There's a lot of things I usually dislike in novels, from cute kids, to a lack of communication, to a decidedly heart-warming tone. But I loved my time with these two good-hearted people. ( )

Shiloh and Cary were always friends with an undercurrent of attraction or even love. But they went their separate ways after high school. What I loved most about this story was the fact that the characters were real with messy lives and struggles to communicate and yet somehow their love manages to grow and mature until finally they are ready for each other. I loved this book so much! And the title is perfect in so many ways. ( )

Shiloh and Cary were best friends all through high school. Everyone was positive they'd end up together. And then they didn't. But when they both attend their mutual friend's second wedding, they reconnect and find that their friendship has the potential to be just as strong as it ever was. Whether it can withstand them trying to be something more is the question that neither of them are quite sure they want to answer.

I'm a Rainbow Rowell fan and while I enjoyed this novel, it's not going on my list of favourites or joining my personal library. I can totally see why some people would adore it and fall hard for Shiloh and Cary's friendship and romance but it wasn't a complete hit with me. I think partly because both of them find it so hard to articulate their feelings that I was left feeling a little distanced from them and unsure if I actually wanted them to be together. That said, Rowell crafts a novel that is a compelling read every time, so if you've liked her other works, definitely give this one a try. ( )

Slow dance is right! 400 pages of conversation about why a friendship/stunted romance stalled in high school is perhaps a bit much. I did get through the book quickly, which is high praise at the moment, but I didn't really connect with or like the main characters, Cory and Shiloh (and boy howdy, did the author really like that 'quirky' name!)

To be honest, I mentally replaced the boring duo with a similar aborted pairing from one of my favourite films, Grosse Pointe Blank, where John Cusack and Minnie Driver play a couple who rediscover each other as adults at their ten year high school reunion after he stood her up on prom night and disappeared (he joined the army and became a hit man, but they have great chemistry!) Unfortunately, Cory and Shiloh lack the individual personality and irresistible attraction of those two, and also the comfortable friends to lovers vibe of Jane Austen's Emma and Mr Knightley, another obvious comparison. The plot is also very dull with no surprises, more Hallmark than Taylor Jenkins Reid. I was hoping that they might turn out to be brother and sister, so much is made of their respective mystery fathers, but nope, happy ending complete with marriage and kids.

For me, the biggest issue was that the characters, both the main couple and the supporting cast, were filling a quota rather than filled out. Gay best friend? Check. Improbable Jules et Jim friendship at high school? Gotcha. Two 'adorable' kids including precocious daughter and toddler son who is a handful? Of course! (And Shiloh is the type of mother who tells people that having children gave her life meaning.) Cory has a weird family background that goes nowhere and does nothing, except to show how dutiful and caring he is, right alongside Shiloh's nurturing instincts, and Shiloh considers being bisexual for half a second: 'It had probably always been an option. Shiloh knew she wasn’t a lesbian, but she also knew she wasn’t entirely straight. She was as intrigued by k. d. lang as she was by Jake Gyllenhaal.' She's also possibly asexual and definitely neurodivergent, but nothing is going to get in the way of the obvious ending because apparently high school relationships are magical. Cary and Shiloh just work better as frustrated 'platonic' soul mates in high school - even with her incessant touching (personal space, woman!) - than lovers, sorry. Not convinced.

Four stars for allowing me to read rather than write my own fan fiction for Grosse Pointe Blank (although Debi is way cooler than Shiloh) and supplying a swift, fairly painless read during a reading slump, but I would have preferred a less conventional conclusion - even if that was only the two of them going their separate ways, and not a shootout with a high body count! ( )

As teenagers, Shiloh and Cary were such close friends that other people assumed they were a couple. But when they reconnect at a high school friend’s wedding, it has been fourteen years since they had a proper conversation. Shiloh is now a divorced mother with two young kids, living again with her own mother in the not-so-nice neighbour of Omaha that she grew up in. Cary, who has built a successful career in the navy, is trying to support his elderly mother from afar.

Slow Dance alternates between 2006, as Shiloh and Cary work towards rebuilding -- “resuscitating” -- a relationship, and the early 90s, exploring their high school friendship and why it fell apart. I’ve found Rowell’s stories highly re-readable and this one is no exception -- I’ve already reread most of it twice. I enjoy her prose. It’s evocative and allows her to capture her characters as individuals, opinionated and emotional, and clearly shaped by their experiences.

And then seeing these characters build a relationship with someone who they can share all the messy, vulnerable parts of themselves with? That is very appealing.

I bookmarked so many quotes! Here is one of them:

Cary, back in her life again. A place in his life. Shiloh liked being an emergency contact. She just wanted contact. She wanted to pull those old warm feelings through the empty years and into the present. She wanted to repot them here and find them a nice sunny window.
Did Shiloh want to be the person Cary called when he was feeling low? Or even a person he could call?
One hundred percent yes. One thousand percent.
Especially if it meant she could call him, too.

( )