Deeper Tides: A Novel

by Clare Gilmore

In this beachy romance from USA Today bestselling author Clare Gilmore, one woman returns to her hometown and grapples with the past she’s fought to escape while discovering a love that might give her a reason to stay.

Rowan Olsen never planned on returning to Twin Fates Island, North Carolina. That was before she lost her job. She’s finally managed to find work at Salt Air Resorts, but it comes with a sticky condition: spend her first six weeks in Twin Fates helping the CEO decide which half of the island is better suited for his next hotel.

The problem – aside from lying to her mother about where she’s going and dodging her ex-boyfriend and estranged father once she arrives – is that Rowan is competing against Connor Nichols, another resort manager who grew up on the island’s north side. And though she’d never admit it, Connor has the clear advantage when it comes to winning over their boss. North Fate is idyllic and luxurious. South Fate is crowded and … kitschy.

But this is a matter of hometown pride, and Rowan intends to prove the beach town she still loves has just as much charm as Connor’s. She could plan the perfect itinerary if only Connor would stop distracting her, but he’s hard to avoid (since he rented the townhouse next door). Harder still when he shows up on her scouting missions offering to call a truce.

Spending time with him is such a bad idea, but there are lots of things Rowan can’t help when it comes to Connor. Like how fun he is to spar with. Or how bad of an enemy he makes. Or how easy it is to forget in his presence that even though she’s falling for him, Rowan swore to leave the island. And once the competition is over, this time it’ll be for good.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance

320 pages, Paperback

Expected publication April 27, 2027

Reviews

[Jessica Joyce]

As tender and lovely as any book out there. Clare Gilmore’s stories always feel like the softest landing, and this one comes with an ocean view. Also Rowan and Connor are very hot!!! They’re like the fictional human embodiment of vacation s*x and I just want to thank Clare for that specifically.

[joni ౨ৎ]

the cover is sososoos beautiful and i cannot wait until this book is in my hands.

omg just got this arc from read now eeeeeh!!! so excited to be back in clare's world

thank you st martin's press for the eARC

[S {Semi-Hiatus}]

*Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!*

I've been officially Clare Gilmore fan ever since I read 'The Perfect Fit'. Can't wait to pick this one up soon!

[Madison (madinotmaddiereads)]

a masterpiece of tenderness and so full of heart that i thought my own would burst from the joy of feeling safe and so seen in this beautiful story.

rowan is me, i am rowan, i love her so incredibly much. her passion, determination, hurts, wants and dreams mirror so many of my own and i am so honored to have gotten to meet her in deeper tides.

clare does such a phenomenal job of crafting a heroine that is so entirely capable of being their own hero but intentionally surrounds them with the most perfectly placed supporting cast to uplift and propel their trajectory along the way. it’s one of my favorite parts of the journey of any clare gilmore book and my chest feels warm having gotten to experience the community found in this book.

connor, my pathetically down bad, SWOONY sweet talking connor…every word out of his mouth was like indulging in the most decadent dessert with assurance of consistency in each bite (i do use that word intentionally 😩☝🏻). a standard?! set?! yeah!

*adds to soul book shelf

thank you to st martin’s press and to edelweiss for the opportunity to review an early bookseller copy 💌

[mackenzie]

i need this book more than i need oxygen

[Kristina Nichole]

met Clare at Tarah DeWitt's signing. When I saw this READ NOW on NetGalley, you best believe I texted all my book girlies and we are going to buddy read

[Caitlyn Davis]

Every time I read a Clare Gilmore book, I can't help but think to myself, "why isn't she 1000 times bigger?" Her writing is insanely good and I need every romance reader to pick up her books. Every Clare Gilmore book is swoony, tender, and perfect. And all of her men are down BAD, which I am a huge fan of!

In Deeper Tides, we meet Rowan and Connor, two hotel managers who're from neighboring beach towns in North Carolina. After their initial meeting, where they have instant banter-y chemistry, they learn that they'll be tasked with convincing the resort mogul and their boss, Jack Salt, to pick either North or South Fate (their hometowns) as his next resort endeavor. Connor is eager to go home to be closer to his family, but Rowan is apprehensive to return. Her dad still lives there, and he blew up her parent's marriage, and her ex, who believes she'll never come home.

Rowan's relationship with her dad and her mom reminded me a lot of January's in Beach Read, which I really loved. Its complexity emotionally felt so human and I appreciated how Gilmore navigated it and made it a key part of Rowan's storyline that we see change and morph as her story progresses. I felt like I really knew her family, and Connor's for that matter. Gilmore does a great job extending her characters beyond their pages and making us feel like they lived and breathed before page 1.

I also loved how Gilmore weaved in a friendship development for Rowan with Neha. It felt like an important step for Rowan in moving into the next phase of her life, and it really captured the beauty of female friendships where each person just really appreciates and respects the other. I loved Neha a lot, I wish she'd have her own book because she really popped off the page for me!

Rowan and Connor end up renting neighboring beach houses and keep running into one another as they prep to show off their hometowns to Jack Salt. As they grow from reluctant allies to friends and eventually more, we (the reader) get the pleasure of seeing Rowan and Connor learn each other and grow to really appreciate each other for who they are. I loved how Rowan kept figuring out ways to learn Connor and connect with him, and in return. he did the same with her. Their interactions built up so naturally until eventually their chemistry really boils over in a satisfying way. I kept thinking, these are two people who are meant to be with each other. It's a privilege to find that kind of connection.

Deeper Tides is honestly my perfect romance. I would highly recommend pre-ordering this one and piking it up when it comes out. It lived up to all of my expectations (which were high after reading the masterpiece that is her last novel, Never Over). If you like romances that feature beautiful coastal settings, complex familial relationships, and banter-filled chemistry between characters who are so meant for each other. Beach Read fans, this one's for you!

[Nicole]

Clare Gilmore is magical. I’m almost positive I’ve already said it in at least one of my previous reviews of her work, but she was made to tell stories.

Let me start by saying—and this is maybe a little spoiler-y but I’ll try to be vague enough to not be—as someone whose family experienced something eerily similar to Rowan’s (for me it was a grandparent instead of my parent), it was healing to see someone get the kind of moments I myself (and more especially, my mom) never got from the man in question. The entire storyline felt all too real and if anyone wants to come for Rowan, her emotions, her reactions, or her choices, I will be ready to have her back in the fiercest way.

Onto the romance. Rowan and Connor. The quick and witty back-and-forth between the two of them was everything. They matched each other’s energy in the best way and I was immediately invested in their competition-turned-partnership. Connor was impossibly charming and so endearing. He wanted everything Rowan was ready to throw at him, wanted her exactly as she was, and wasn’t afraid to let her know he could be patient and would never not show up for her. He never asked her to perform for or appease him or his plans. The relationship development between Rowan and Connor was so tender and soft and also hot with the undeniable chemistry and tension.

The small town dynamic and the way the characters that made up the community for both Rowan and Connor individually provided a fantastic setting and such a depth to the story and definition of who these two were based on where they came from and what they experienced there. It informed so much of their characters in a way that made it essential.

This book was absolutely beautiful and we’re all lucky to get to read the stories Clare shares with the world. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Lex fullybookedbabe]

A perfect romance. A masterclass in yearning.

Clare is an auto buy author for me. A “drop everything and read this immediately” author. Her books are full of emotion and vulnerability.

I absolutely adored the “nice to everyone but each other” trope. Their roasting of each other is my particular brand of love language. Tie that in with the heavier themes of divorce and trauma and simply perfection in book form.

[Joanne Lui]

I don’t think there’s any contemporary romance author out there today whom I admire as much as Clare Gilmore when it comes to the ability to consistently craft a beautiful phrase and a compelling narrative. Her writing is the kind that burrows into your soul and stays there.

As always, Clare takes tropes like workplace rivals and enemies to lovers and infuses them with such depth. I’m not always a fan of fall-in-love-quick summer romances, but Clare Gilmore can make a week seem like a slow burn because she doesn’t just skim the surface of her characters or the world they are inhabiting on the page. She earned my buy-in immediately, and then I was on the edge of my seat watching Connor and Rowan’s feelings deepen and grow over the course of their seven weeks in the Fates, a place so beautifully described that I wish so much it were real.

Connor and Rowan are both relatable in so many ways. Both closed off to relationships for different reasons. Watching them process their pasts left behind in their hometown and blossom under each other’s care was a joy. And in between, the characters’ quick wit and banter added levity that balanced out the heaviness and made them even more lovable together.

My heart went out to Rowan especially. That bone deep wish for those we love to recognize the ways they’ve hurt us is something so many of us feel. The story of how she navigated all of her complicated family issues was as important as the romance itself.

I’ve made a tradition of highlighting one phrase in every Clare Gilmore book that is just an absolute standout. This is one I particularly related to: “I wonder if whatever I’ve collated in the shelves of my mind has been slathered in an undeserved rose color.

What more can I say except that Clare Gilmore has done it again. This one doesn’t come out until April of next year, but I suggest you put it on your TBR immediately.

Thank you to St. Martin’s for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

[Katie]

**Review of advanced copy provided by NetGalley**

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.75

The way Clare Gilmore writes romance always has me giggling and kicking my feet, and this novel is no exception.

Rowan and Connor’s backgrounds are so, so easy to relate to on many levels for me. The myriad of feelings a child of divorce goes through, the slow loss of someone you love to dementia, masking true feelings in order to be more palatable to the world, not wanting to ever ask for help… all of this with the familiar backdrop of the Carolinas and two adorable pet companions? This book and I were meant to be.

It was hard to read at points, not for any fault of Gilmore’s, but because of how close to home it hit. However, all the fraught feelings and emotions were perfectly balanced out with humor (seriously, when someone finds the least painful Carolina sports team to support, let me know), playful banter, and delightful side characters. When these two got going with their verbal sparring, it was so easy to lose myself in the pages. I was rooting for them the entire way. The colorful cast around them certainly didn’t hurt, either! Should Gilmore wish to expand on some stories for the side characters, I will be right here waiting.

Oh and the spice? I was blushing! Connor, Connor, Connor…

The inconsistent formatting of text conversations did make for some awkward reading moments where I had to go back and reread quite a bit to see who was saying what (but then it was formatted much better later in the book). Hopefully this is something that gets sorted before the ebook hits shelves in 2027!

[Payton]

The thing about Clare Gilmore is that she started at perfection and somehow only gets better.

Clare’s writing is rich and enthralling and pulls you in so deeply that when you finish you feel like you’ve stepped through a doorway back into real life. I would drink her words if they could be emulsified. I feel like I can sink my teeth into it, can feel it sitting in my chest. I am inside of this book and it’s inside of my bones.

Connor flirts (exclusively with Rowan) like it’s as essential as breathing. How quickly he orbits her, opens up to her, lets himself luxuriate in her presence.

Rowan lets herself be with Connor in a way that she has never truly let herself be with anyone else - and unfurls in the way he delights in it.

This book is delicious. It’s vulnerable and raw and pulls the ground out from under you only to catch you before you finish falling. It’s a riptide of the spectrum of human emotion and the ways we use ours to both protect and free ourselves - and how those choices ripple outward endlessly.

The banter is phenomenal, the yearning is unfathomable, the scenery is so vivid you can taste the salt air and feel the sand scrape underfoot. Every character is multifaceted and real. I can feel myself, as usual, in the stumbling and searching and hopeful core of Clare’s storytelling.

I would read Clare’s budget spreadsheets with joy; but I am so glad that I get to instead read the stories she tells.

[Clare]

I don’t know how she does it, but I am more enamored with Clare Gilmore’s writing with every book she writes. Deeper Tides is her best yet.

I fell deeply in love with our main characters, and by extension, their pets and people. This is a Matilda and Mochi stan account, if you were wondering.

Rowan’s relationships with her parents as an only child, specifically her relationship with her mother, were deeply relatable, as was the devastation of a foundational blow to their family. Gilmore has perfectly captured the loss of what was once a certain future and the simultaneous hope and fear that things will be good again.

I don’t think I had one uncharitable thought about Connor. That’s not to say he’s without flaws, but as a character, he was intrinsically easy to root for. Gilmore has taken all of the best qualities of her MMCs and bestowed them on a shy yet confident hotel manager.

While their rivalry was truly in name only, their chemistry never let up. Their ability to work through conflict was admirable, and the resolutions always felt well-earned.

Clare Gilmore remains an auto-buy author for me, and not just because we share a first name.

Thank you to Clare Gilmore, St. Martins Press, and NetGalley for the arc!

[Pía]

First, thank you, NetGalley and St Martin’s , for letting me get an e-ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

4/5 — stars

This book was great, and I liked it a lot more than I expected. Rowan was the best (BTW, I love the name Rowan). She is such a self-aware female character, and I loved being in her mind. Connor is literally the dream guy, and I was swooning over all of Rowan and Connor’s interactions.

My only thing that I would have liked to change was that I wish it wasn’t insta love and that it had been more of a slow burn. But still, it was such an enjoyable read. If you don’t like insta-love at all, I would definitely keep that in mind.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a swoony book that is the perfect read for a summer vacation by the beach

- One POV
- Force proximity
- Rivals-to-lovers

[Alexa]

***Advance copy***
First off I’d like to say how grateful I am I got to read an advanced copy of this book. This is now the fourth Claire Gilmore book I’ve read and it was delightful per usual. This one felt different from her others as it is set in a beach town and the relationship among the protagonists is refreshingly unproblematic. There’s not any sense of miscommunication or pettiness, rather just an evolving relationship where they’re learning to deal with changes in their family dynamics.

The issues our female protagonist faces with the fallout of her parent’s divorce is emotionally relevant and written from a mature and realistic perspective.

Overall, another great read from Claire and I’ll continue to read anything she publishes. Again- super grateful to have had the chance to read this several months in advance.

[Katie]

One of my favorite romance writers, Jessica Joyce, recommended snagging this on Read Now on NetGalley, and I'm so glad I did! This was my first read from Clare Gilmore, but it won't be my last.

Deeper Tides is tender, romantic, heartbreaking, and hopeful. I loved the way Rowan and Connor communicate and really get to know each other. Connor is one HELL of a book boyfriend, but Rowan is one hell of a book girlfriend, too! The give-and-take between them and how they build the foundation for their relationship while dealing with pretty heavy family issues on both sides is really well done and also enviable. We should all be so lucky.

Thank you to Saint Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

[Sarah]

This reminded me of Emily Henry in the best way. I might have a new favourite romance author as a literary reader!

I love when there is a literary plot behind a romance book and found the self growth / family dynamic worked really well to balance out the romance. The writing was solid as well. I do think they got together pretty quickly but the setting & plot were lovely to read. The workplace enemies to lovers was reminiscent of Great Big Beautiful Life but enjoyed this hotel setting more! Exactly what I needed to break up some heavier reads.

Thank you SMP for an ARC. All opinions are my own. Out in 2027 <3

[Julia Bozza]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc. All opinions are my own.

I loved this way more than I expected to! It was really easy to love Rowan and Connor, and I felt like all the secondary characters really added something to the plot. The story was interesting and kept me invested and I thought it all came together nicely at the end.

There were a couple grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors that kind of pulled me out of the story. Also, there were some storylines that I didn’t love (do NOT get me started on her dad) and some storylines that I felt kind of disappeared and could’ve been explored more. Overall, it was a nice summery read, and I definitely recommend it!

[Krista]

Deeper Tides by Clare Gilmore

I really enjoyed Deeper Tides! The banter was laughable in the best way, and I loved Clare Gilmore’s writing style. Rowan is such an introspective female main character, and I appreciated getting to see her thoughts, growth, and perspective throughout the story.

The storyline kept me invested, and the combination of humor, heart, and emotional depth made this a really enjoyable read. Definitely one I’d recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Holly Schwartz]

In no way am I going to be able to string together words to fully explain how important this book is to me. So for now please know that Rowan and Connor are everything to me. Every single thing about this book is so incredibly thoughtful and so special.

As I do with every Clare Gilmore book ever I’ll be rereading it many times!!

So I’ll be back eventually with more words!!!

Thanks to SMP for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Viviana]

I got a Read Now widget today because Clare let us know!!!