Author: Colleen Oakley
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Women's Fiction
Format: Kindle ARC
No. of Pages: 368
Date of Publication: March 11, 2025
My Rating: 4 Stars
Jane and Dan have been married for nineteen years, but Jane isn’t sure they’re going to make it to twenty. The mother of two feels unneeded by her teenagers, and her writing career has screeched to an unsuccessful halt. Her one published novel sold under five hundred copies. Worse? She’s pretty sure Dan is cheating on her. When the couple goes to the renowned upscale restaurant La Fin du Monde to celebrate their anniversary, Jane thinks it’s as good a place as any to tell Dan she wants a divorce.
But before they even get to the second course, an underground climate activist group bursts into the dining room. Jane is shocked—and not just because she’s in a hostage situation the likes of which she’s only seen in the movies. Nearly everything the disorganized and bumbling activists say and do is right out of the pages of her failed book. Even Dan (who Jane wasn’t sure even read her book) admits it’s eerily familiar.
Which means Dan and Jane are the only ones who know what’s going to happen next. And they’re the only ones who can stop it. This wasn’t what Jane was thinking of when she said “’til death do us part” all those years ago, but if they can survive this, maybe they can survive anything—even marriage.
MY THOUGHTS:
A date night that was supposed to be romantic turned into a disaster. Jane, married to her husband Dan for nineteen years, had something crucial to tell her him. While they were dining at a ridiculously expensive restaurant, things were about to take a turn for the worse. When a group of activists rush into the restaurant, Jane and Dan, as well as everyone else in the restaurant, become hostages in a situation that quickly goes from bad to worse. The group have what seems like an unclear purpose in mind, but violence erupts.
Showing fear at the assault, Jane’s mind wanders to other thoughts. She’s lived a life that feels fulfilled, but now, as the mother of two teenagers, she feels her identity has been erased. Not only that, she’s concerned that Dan might be having an affair.
Jane is confused. The group’s actions mimic, nearly page by page, the plot of her failed novel—her only attempt at publication. This brings a lot of fear to Jane, because her book certainly didn’t have a happy ending. Is the world as she knows it about to be over, and does she have any role in the disaster that’s in the making because of her book? But that is not the only thing that terrifies Jane. Another fact soon becomes known, a critical factor that leaves Jane with the decision to rely on Dan to get everyone out of danger.
What a fun book! In many ways, it was comedic, especially as we witness Jane and Dan’s actions regarding their marriage, which had truly begun to fail. But could this shocking series of events just bring them back together? Will they survive, not just their marriage, but literally, or will their world end? Reading this story will definitely keep you entertained.
Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
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