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People in Love
Countless readers fell in love with Talking at Night. Now, pre-order People in Love: a love triangle that you will never forget.
A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING MOST ANTICIPATED NOVEL OF 2026
One bright blue day, on a bench by the river, Nora’s partner Robin proposes.
It is unexpected; they’d always agreed that they didn’t need a wedding. But after a decade of in-jokes, dancing in the low-lit kitchen and sharing morning toast in bed, Nora says yes. Why wouldn’t she?
The answer lands on the night of their engagement party, when Bren turns up on her doorstep.
Growing up, Bren and Nora were the sort of best friends who everyone swore would end up together. But when a sudden heartbreak turned their lives upside down, Bren left, Nora stayed, and the silent longing between them remained unspoken.
Now, he’s back, and their tentative yet undeniable spark reignites, forcing Nora to ask
How can you know your heart, if it feels like it’s split in two?
Tender and compelling, People in Love is a story about what-ifs and maybes, and the moments of misunderstanding that can shape our lives. It’s a book about living one life while musing on another, exploring how our choices shape our relationships and inform our regrets, and revealing, in the end, that the real love story is not always the one you'd expect.
A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING MOST ANTICIPATED NOVEL OF 2026
One bright blue day, on a bench by the river, Nora’s partner Robin proposes.
It is unexpected; they’d always agreed that they didn’t need a wedding. But after a decade of in-jokes, dancing in the low-lit kitchen and sharing morning toast in bed, Nora says yes. Why wouldn’t she?
The answer lands on the night of their engagement party, when Bren turns up on her doorstep.
Growing up, Bren and Nora were the sort of best friends who everyone swore would end up together. But when a sudden heartbreak turned their lives upside down, Bren left, Nora stayed, and the silent longing between them remained unspoken.
Now, he’s back, and their tentative yet undeniable spark reignites, forcing Nora to ask
How can you know your heart, if it feels like it’s split in two?
Tender and compelling, People in Love is a story about what-ifs and maybes, and the moments of misunderstanding that can shape our lives. It’s a book about living one life while musing on another, exploring how our choices shape our relationships and inform our regrets, and revealing, in the end, that the real love story is not always the one you'd expect.
366 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2026
About the author
Claire Daverley
3 books1,014 followersAfter graduating with a degree in Fine Art from the University of Oxford, Claire Daverley began a career in publishing, writing about books by day but penning her own by night (or rather, very early in the morning). She currently lives in Scotland with her husband and spaniel. Talking at Night is her debut novel, and has been sold in twenty-four territories to date.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 331 reviews
June 6, 2026
this nothingburger of a book
May 11, 2026
claire daverley is going on my very small list of auto buy authors!!!!!!!!
June 9, 2026
First of all I hate this new writing technique authors now do where they don’t use “ punctuation marks for dialogue?????? Immediately one star down. Story was alright; I hated Bren and my motivation for finishing the book was to make sure she didn’t end up with him cause that would have kept me up at night.
Overall I wasn’t moved by the whole ‘what if’ mainly cause the characters were just too young when they split and they were never really in an actual romantic relationship before. More should have been done to flesh out their past cause I had ZERO emotional connection and could not for the life of me understand why the FMC was even pining for this guy.
Overall I wasn’t moved by the whole ‘what if’ mainly cause the characters were just too young when they split and they were never really in an actual romantic relationship before. More should have been done to flesh out their past cause I had ZERO emotional connection and could not for the life of me understand why the FMC was even pining for this guy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2026
omg omg omg 😭❤️🩹
Das war so unfassbar gut. Ich muss das erstmal verarbeiten?? Sally Rooney Ultras : this is for you.
Alle Lesen!!!! Hab mir gerade die Augen ausgeheult. Und wie kann man so wunderschön schreiben??? Und so prägnant alltägliches, zwischenmenschliches einfangen?
Das war so unfassbar gut. Ich muss das erstmal verarbeiten?? Sally Rooney Ultras : this is for you.
Alle Lesen!!!! Hab mir gerade die Augen ausgeheult. Und wie kann man so wunderschön schreiben??? Und so prägnant alltägliches, zwischenmenschliches einfangen?
January 23, 2026
Don’t mind me whilst I just stare at the wall for the foreseeable…..
She’s done it again folks.
Thanks so much to Michael Joseph for my copy. Review will be coming soon on insta
She’s done it again folks.
Thanks so much to Michael Joseph for my copy. Review will be coming soon on insta
April 23, 2026
Another masterpiece from Claire Daverley. I loved Talking at night SO much that I was almost nervous to read this. But, she’s done it again. What a beautiful book.
June 7, 2026
might have been a 5 if i hadn’t had to physically stop myself from throwing the book across the room 28193475 different times x
June 30, 2026
Enttäuschend, das ist das Erste, was mir hierzu einfällt. Die Inhaltsangabe klang gut, aber was letztendlich geliefert wurde, ließ zu wünschen übrig.
Nora hat sich gerade verlobt, aber dann meldet sich Bren zurück, ihr alter Freund aus der Jugend und sie beginnt, an allem zu zweifeln. Die Gründe dafür waren mir während der ganzen Geschichte unerklärlich, denn Bren konnte mich so gar nicht von sich überzeugen 👀🚩
Auch der Schreibstil war nicht meins, sehr abrupt, aus drei verschiedenen Perspektiven geschrieben (eine davon random aus der Du-Perspektive?!).
Und dann war da natürlich noch Nora. Als Hauptperson konnte ich mit ihr nicht viel anfangen, habe selten von einer so unentschlossenen Person gelesen.
Und wahrscheinlich war das ganze Unterfangen von Anfang an zum Scheitern verurteilt, denn ich bin mit der Erwartung, einen Liebesroman zu lesen, an das Buch rangegangen. Aber es hat sich definitiv mehr wie etwas aus der Kategorie Literary Fiction angefühlt.
Alles in allem fand ich das Buch leider sowohl langwierig als auch langweilig.
Nora hat sich gerade verlobt, aber dann meldet sich Bren zurück, ihr alter Freund aus der Jugend und sie beginnt, an allem zu zweifeln. Die Gründe dafür waren mir während der ganzen Geschichte unerklärlich, denn Bren konnte mich so gar nicht von sich überzeugen 👀🚩
Auch der Schreibstil war nicht meins, sehr abrupt, aus drei verschiedenen Perspektiven geschrieben (eine davon random aus der Du-Perspektive?!).
Und dann war da natürlich noch Nora. Als Hauptperson konnte ich mit ihr nicht viel anfangen, habe selten von einer so unentschlossenen Person gelesen.
Und wahrscheinlich war das ganze Unterfangen von Anfang an zum Scheitern verurteilt, denn ich bin mit der Erwartung, einen Liebesroman zu lesen, an das Buch rangegangen. Aber es hat sich definitiv mehr wie etwas aus der Kategorie Literary Fiction angefühlt.
Alles in allem fand ich das Buch leider sowohl langwierig als auch langweilig.
June 22, 2026
i'm sad that Daverley did not delivery my new hyperfixation this year... it had so much potential.
nora and bran's unestablished relationship was vague right from the start and the slow unravelling of what they were to each other was frustrating. nora and robin's relationship was also not very defined in a sense that we don't really know how nora feels about him, just that he is stable, reliable, and has shared almost a decade of life with her. trying to parse and understand them was a chore as it is with this set up, and made even more difficult because of the prose. the minimalistic and short words per sentence kept the intrigue at first but eventually felt tired. i felt that certain ideas or thoughts could be expanded and explained better with a few more carefully crafted sentences, as the stylistic choice of writing here for me felt forced. i grew exhausted at some point because the words did not flow and felt so abrupt and insufficient to express the characters' feelings or the gravity of the situations. so it was not done as well as it should have been (the problem i think is that it's too self-conscious) and it's why the writing did not work here.
i expected a lot from Daverley because i loved her previous work, so i was unfortunately really let down here. it did not pierce my heart as i had expected, nor did it make my heart ache as the author intended. they went around in circles and the writing made it all so frustrating. the plot reminded me of Celine Song's Past Lives and even the way it unfolded felt close to the film. i think the story would translate better on screen because then it would feel less frustrating and more yearnful, which is what the writer intended. i thought the cooking food as love language was good, if anything, and i wish it were maintained and highlighted throughout the novel. but it was kind of discontinued or forgotten around halfway through in favor of moving the plot, which i'm upset about, because this little detail could have improved everything. also, i found the characters a bit dull to be honest; nora and robin were alright but bran was infuriating. i think this would have done better had it cut down on descriptions of bran's travels and described more of the characters' relationships and histories with each other. robin's pov did not do anything and the choice to make it second person is lost on me, as i think it wouldn't have made a difference if his few chapters were in third person too or just totally scrapped. i think my issue here is that the characters, writing style, plot did not feel very cohesive. i have a feeling that the author had a good idea for this book but was nudged the wrong way throughout the process, and it's why it feels forced and disjointed. those last few chapters were cruel btw and that little imaginary scene at the end cheapened the novel for me. i get that the author wanted to shock a reaction from the readers, or maybe it was really so that bran understood what he meant to nora, but i thought it was tacky (and quite offensive to readers actually) to pull that move.
well, i'm just really so disappointed. i can see the bones of it, but it's all so bland and i just wish this were better executed. it did not hit as hard as i had expected it would, especially with such a set up like this. idea was wasted on such a substandard execution.
nora and bran's unestablished relationship was vague right from the start and the slow unravelling of what they were to each other was frustrating. nora and robin's relationship was also not very defined in a sense that we don't really know how nora feels about him, just that he is stable, reliable, and has shared almost a decade of life with her. trying to parse and understand them was a chore as it is with this set up, and made even more difficult because of the prose. the minimalistic and short words per sentence kept the intrigue at first but eventually felt tired. i felt that certain ideas or thoughts could be expanded and explained better with a few more carefully crafted sentences, as the stylistic choice of writing here for me felt forced. i grew exhausted at some point because the words did not flow and felt so abrupt and insufficient to express the characters' feelings or the gravity of the situations. so it was not done as well as it should have been (the problem i think is that it's too self-conscious) and it's why the writing did not work here.
i expected a lot from Daverley because i loved her previous work, so i was unfortunately really let down here. it did not pierce my heart as i had expected, nor did it make my heart ache as the author intended. they went around in circles and the writing made it all so frustrating. the plot reminded me of Celine Song's Past Lives and even the way it unfolded felt close to the film. i think the story would translate better on screen because then it would feel less frustrating and more yearnful, which is what the writer intended. i thought the cooking food as love language was good, if anything, and i wish it were maintained and highlighted throughout the novel. but it was kind of discontinued or forgotten around halfway through in favor of moving the plot, which i'm upset about, because this little detail could have improved everything. also, i found the characters a bit dull to be honest; nora and robin were alright but bran was infuriating. i think this would have done better had it cut down on descriptions of bran's travels and described more of the characters' relationships and histories with each other. robin's pov did not do anything and the choice to make it second person is lost on me, as i think it wouldn't have made a difference if his few chapters were in third person too or just totally scrapped. i think my issue here is that the characters, writing style, plot did not feel very cohesive. i have a feeling that the author had a good idea for this book but was nudged the wrong way throughout the process, and it's why it feels forced and disjointed. those last few chapters were cruel btw and that little imaginary scene at the end cheapened the novel for me. i get that the author wanted to shock a reaction from the readers, or maybe it was really so that bran understood what he meant to nora, but i thought it was tacky (and quite offensive to readers actually) to pull that move.
well, i'm just really so disappointed. i can see the bones of it, but it's all so bland and i just wish this were better executed. it did not hit as hard as i had expected it would, especially with such a set up like this. idea was wasted on such a substandard execution.
June 7, 2026
I think I felt the entire spectrum of human emotions while reading this. Incredible.
June 15, 2026
claire daverley you bloody brilliant bEAUTIFUL B*TCH!!!! how dare you rip my heart in two only to put it back together again!!! this is the best book of the year and i’ll be accepting no criticism at this time!!!!! kthxbye!!!!
June 16, 2026
3.5 ⭐️ this was fine? Totally readable and had some beautiful parts but it wasn’t a patch on Talking at Night, which is quite disappointing because I was looking forward to this so much that I pushed past my Hardback Hatred to buy this. I wasn’t really that motivated by the whole sliding doors/what if element - they were so young and never in a relationship with too little between those 12 years that it just didn’t ring true and felt too tenuous. Also the twist near the end just felt like a trope that the editor forced in to add a bit of “pizzazz.” Overall, I think it’s worth a read but by no means something to write home about
Read
May 1, 2026rtc !!!
July 3, 2026
Non quello che un lettore si aspetta, ma quello che succede davvero nella vita.
Ho apprezzato profondamente il fatto che le scelte, come appunto non succede nei romanzi, venissero fatte con la testa e non col cuore. Perché il cuore sperava fortemente in altro.
Tutti abbiamo il nostro Bren, ma penso che saper scegliere sapientemente sia più importante. Questa è la storia di due persone che nel loro passato si sono amate follemente e che non sapevano come gestire la cosa. Non sapevano come aiutarsi nelle difficoltà, come starsi affianco, perché troppo giovani e inesperti nei confronti dei sentimenti e delle relazioni. Ed è bello vedere come, dopo 12 anni, si rincontrino e riescano a parlarne, a mettere tutto sul tavolo, cuore compreso, perché non è sempre corretto usarlo. Riescono a capire come vanno e come sono andate le loro vite, e a prendere delle decisioni basandosi sulle persone che sono nel presente, anche se il passato resterà sempre parte preponderante di ciò che sono diventati.
Un romanzo alla Rooney, estremamente reale, che lascia il dolceamaro in bocca. Non prevedibile come ci si aspetterebbe, e intriso di vita. Un dolore talmente tenero da essere quasi confortante.
Ho apprezzato profondamente il fatto che le scelte, come appunto non succede nei romanzi, venissero fatte con la testa e non col cuore. Perché il cuore sperava fortemente in altro.
Tutti abbiamo il nostro Bren, ma penso che saper scegliere sapientemente sia più importante. Questa è la storia di due persone che nel loro passato si sono amate follemente e che non sapevano come gestire la cosa. Non sapevano come aiutarsi nelle difficoltà, come starsi affianco, perché troppo giovani e inesperti nei confronti dei sentimenti e delle relazioni. Ed è bello vedere come, dopo 12 anni, si rincontrino e riescano a parlarne, a mettere tutto sul tavolo, cuore compreso, perché non è sempre corretto usarlo. Riescono a capire come vanno e come sono andate le loro vite, e a prendere delle decisioni basandosi sulle persone che sono nel presente, anche se il passato resterà sempre parte preponderante di ciò che sono diventati.
Un romanzo alla Rooney, estremamente reale, che lascia il dolceamaro in bocca. Non prevedibile come ci si aspetterebbe, e intriso di vita. Un dolore talmente tenero da essere quasi confortante.
June 23, 2026
EINDELIJK KLAAR 🙏🙏
oke nee grapje, dit boek was - bijzonder??
het is echt ontzettend mooi geschreven, het verhaal was goed en het einde fenomenaal.
maar: het was ZO langdradig en echt wel heel saai.
dus ik ben een beetje in tweestrijd?! ik snap echt dat dit iemands favoriete boek kan zijn, maar aan de andere kant wilde ik echt dat het 200 pagina’s minder had lmao.
ik denk 3 sterren? ⭐️⭐️⭐️
oke nee grapje, dit boek was - bijzonder??
het is echt ontzettend mooi geschreven, het verhaal was goed en het einde fenomenaal.
maar: het was ZO langdradig en echt wel heel saai.
dus ik ben een beetje in tweestrijd?! ik snap echt dat dit iemands favoriete boek kan zijn, maar aan de andere kant wilde ik echt dat het 200 pagina’s minder had lmao.
ik denk 3 sterren? ⭐️⭐️⭐️
June 30, 2026
In diesem Buch passiert leider quasi nix. Es wird viel geredet, aber nicht richtig miteinander. Ich habe das erste Buch von Daverley geliebt, aber dieses hat mich nicht komplett überzeugt. Ihre Sprache ist und bleibt toll, wunderbar übersetzt von Anja Mehrmann und Anne Thomas. Kann man im Sommer gut drüberlesen, aber bei mir ist es nicht richtig hängengeblieben.
May 25, 2026
i LOVED Talking at Night but this just put me in a 3 week slump…. for the most part very oddly written in a way that felt clunky and disjointed. i didn’t like that robin’s chapter were written in second person? and i also felt like there were so many different characters that it felt confusing especially with referring to both bren and nora’s mothers being referred to by their first names. i began to like it more after the 50% mark but i still couldn’t fully connect :/
June 23, 2026
oh my god i‘m so glad it ended the way it did and not the other way around.
would have been five stars if we‘d use proper punctuation but what do i know
would have been five stars if we‘d use proper punctuation but what do i know
June 25, 2026
So so good !!! Felt so true to life and the characters felt so developed and real and I cried
June 20, 2026
3.5 stars
This one should've been called People Are Confused.
In a world full of tropes, this felt refreshing—but also not romantic?
This one should've been called People Are Confused.
In a world full of tropes, this felt refreshing—but also not romantic?
June 4, 2026
At first I thought I was going to love this book through to the end, but as time went on it felt more disjointed and unclear. I understand that Robin’s chapters felt disjointed due to how he ended up (trying not to give too much away!!) but the rest didn’t need to be so choppy. Had to reread a lot of the sentences from around 2/3 of the way in as some of the side characters were blurring together.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2026
God did I love this book. It really reminded me of Past Lives, which I loved! And also thought the writing was so beautiful. The use of no quotation marks really worked here, I thought it helped with the flow of the tension and chemistry between all the characters and adds to that natural feeling. Definitely a wow book, felt like my heart was ripped out. So many tears! Amazing!!!
Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review :)
Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review :)
June 24, 2026
I waited two and a half years for this book and it was so worth it. 4.5
June 12, 2026
People in Love is an emotionally devastating literary delicacy. After storming the niche literary romance scene in 2023 with the global hit Talking at Night, Claire Daverley proves her staying power, as her second novel more than lives up to expectations.
In People in Love, we meet Nora and Robin, newly engaged and settling into a life that is at once mundane and quietly joyful. Everything appears content, until Nora’s childhood best friend, Bren, arrives unannounced on her doorstep. What follows is a slow unravelling of past feelings, buried tensions and the conversations left unsaid. Daverley draws readers into a love triangle that feels both inevitable and impossible to resolve.
Her ability to render emotional interiority across each character’s perspective is striking. Comparisons to Sally Rooney feel warranted–not just in the close attention to intellectualised feeling, but in the careful tracing of how these characters mature, falter, and misunderstand themselves. Daverley writes with a quiet authority, capturing the sense that she knows these characters more intimately than they know themselves.
The result is a novel marked by precision and restraint. Nora and Bren’s journey towards vulnerability feels earned, their connection shaped by the fragile, often painful act of self-discovery. Meanwhile, Robin is drawn with a compelling clarity. His self-awareness and certainty about what he wants in life sharpens the stakes of Nora’s eventual choice, making that tension quietly electrifying.
A compelling addition to a niche that continues to expand, People in Love strikes a deft balance between literary fiction and romance. It’s the kind of book that will resonate with readers of both, particularly those looking to stretch the boundaries of what each genre can offer.
In People in Love, we meet Nora and Robin, newly engaged and settling into a life that is at once mundane and quietly joyful. Everything appears content, until Nora’s childhood best friend, Bren, arrives unannounced on her doorstep. What follows is a slow unravelling of past feelings, buried tensions and the conversations left unsaid. Daverley draws readers into a love triangle that feels both inevitable and impossible to resolve.
Her ability to render emotional interiority across each character’s perspective is striking. Comparisons to Sally Rooney feel warranted–not just in the close attention to intellectualised feeling, but in the careful tracing of how these characters mature, falter, and misunderstand themselves. Daverley writes with a quiet authority, capturing the sense that she knows these characters more intimately than they know themselves.
The result is a novel marked by precision and restraint. Nora and Bren’s journey towards vulnerability feels earned, their connection shaped by the fragile, often painful act of self-discovery. Meanwhile, Robin is drawn with a compelling clarity. His self-awareness and certainty about what he wants in life sharpens the stakes of Nora’s eventual choice, making that tension quietly electrifying.
A compelling addition to a niche that continues to expand, People in Love strikes a deft balance between literary fiction and romance. It’s the kind of book that will resonate with readers of both, particularly those looking to stretch the boundaries of what each genre can offer.
June 21, 2026
claire daverley’s writing is just so so beautiful i will never get over it!!!!
her sophomore novel was worth the wait. it was heart wrenching and a punch the gut at times. there’s a grief plot line which always speaks to me and it’s so well done that i had to set the book down so many times
a compelling love triangle and the ache of knowing that people are doing their best with what they have
would rec if you love feeling devastated and conflicted and bruised :)
her sophomore novel was worth the wait. it was heart wrenching and a punch the gut at times. there’s a grief plot line which always speaks to me and it’s so well done that i had to set the book down so many times
a compelling love triangle and the ache of knowing that people are doing their best with what they have
would rec if you love feeling devastated and conflicted and bruised :)
July 4, 2026
4.5/5. Another hit by Claire. Such a great work of art among many different people in love. Reminds me a lot of the film, Past Lives. The last bit kinda threw me off and wondered why Claire added bc I thought it’d be fine without the event but now I kinda get it after sitting with it for a couple of days. I think I liked it better than Talking at Night.
“I chose my boat. But it doesn’t mean I unchose you.”
“I chose my boat. But it doesn’t mean I unchose you.”
July 1, 2026
I will buy and read every book Claire Daverley ever writes. Forever. Her writing feels like poetry…the kind that’s easy to absorb, that feels like clarity, that feels like drinking water after being thirsty.
Unlike Talking At Night, this one won’t go down as a favorite of mine. 4 stars because the story wasn’t my favorite. Might still read again.
Unlike Talking At Night, this one won’t go down as a favorite of mine. 4 stars because the story wasn’t my favorite. Might still read again.
June 14, 2026
My most anticipated read of 2026 ended up being a bit of a let down.. I was expecting a 5 star from this, but it strands at a meager 2,5 – 3 stars. After loving Talking At Night, I was certain I would feel the same about People In Love, but..
It felt disjointed at times. The characters' past was vague for so long, and by the time it was explained, it was too late for me to really connect. I couldn't find myself wanting to pick this up.
It felt disjointed at times. The characters' past was vague for so long, and by the time it was explained, it was too late for me to really connect. I couldn't find myself wanting to pick this up.
July 1, 2026
Almost killed me with that ending! Such a cozy book, was a bit slow at times for me but I love the characters and complex relationships Daverley builds. Ending was very satisfying, how all of the relationship difficulties resolve
Displaying 1 - 30 of 331 reviews