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Thirtysomething: A Love Story
Not yet published
Expected 27 Jul 27From the bestselling author of Tropesick, this intimate, grounded love story follows a washed-up party girl and a newly divorced neurosurgeon who return to their hometown for the summer and agree to recreate a coming-of-age movie, a game that surfaces their deepest shames and their impossible, rapidly growing attachment to one another.
When former it-girl Greta Greene returns home to suburban Miami after losing her job in New York’s nightclub scene, her glamorous life soon devolves into little more than getting high in her backyard under the watch of her overly judgmental mother. But then, Greta bumps into Nate Golden, her childhood neighbor turned Ohio-based neurosurgeon, and suddenly, summer just got a whole lot more interesting.
While Greta feels like the same person she was when she fled her hometown at 22, something seems to have shifted in the once-timid and famously overachieving Nate. He’s a little darker, a little more undone. And when Greta learns that he’s recently divorced and on leave from work due to a mysteriously injured hand, it becomes clear that Nate, too, has returned to the house he grew up in to pick up the pieces of his shattered life.
As the two reconnect, Greta decides that what Nate really needs is to finally experience the reckless summer he never had—specifically, the kind you’d see in a coming-of-age movie. Together, they set out to recreate one, joking that by the list’s end, Nate will be healed and ready to return to his children and his regular, shiny life six states away.
But the game they’re playing works a little too well, and within days, every scene Nate and Greta replicate brings to light their very adult regrets. As the two grow closer, their rapidly blooming attachment to each other starts looking less like a casual fling, and more like a heartbreak waiting to happen. After all, the summer has to end eventually.
A tender romance set against the backdrop of sun-drenched Miami, featuring Okie's signature sharp banter, complex characters, and fresh perspective on the tropes we love, including:
“just for the summer”
starting over in your thirties
hurt/comfort
hot doctor
When former it-girl Greta Greene returns home to suburban Miami after losing her job in New York’s nightclub scene, her glamorous life soon devolves into little more than getting high in her backyard under the watch of her overly judgmental mother. But then, Greta bumps into Nate Golden, her childhood neighbor turned Ohio-based neurosurgeon, and suddenly, summer just got a whole lot more interesting.
While Greta feels like the same person she was when she fled her hometown at 22, something seems to have shifted in the once-timid and famously overachieving Nate. He’s a little darker, a little more undone. And when Greta learns that he’s recently divorced and on leave from work due to a mysteriously injured hand, it becomes clear that Nate, too, has returned to the house he grew up in to pick up the pieces of his shattered life.
As the two reconnect, Greta decides that what Nate really needs is to finally experience the reckless summer he never had—specifically, the kind you’d see in a coming-of-age movie. Together, they set out to recreate one, joking that by the list’s end, Nate will be healed and ready to return to his children and his regular, shiny life six states away.
But the game they’re playing works a little too well, and within days, every scene Nate and Greta replicate brings to light their very adult regrets. As the two grow closer, their rapidly blooming attachment to each other starts looking less like a casual fling, and more like a heartbreak waiting to happen. After all, the summer has to end eventually.
A tender romance set against the backdrop of sun-drenched Miami, featuring Okie's signature sharp banter, complex characters, and fresh perspective on the tropes we love, including:
“just for the summer”
starting over in your thirties
hurt/comfort
hot doctor
416 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication July 27, 2027
About the author
Lauren Okie
8 books802 followersHi, I’m Lauren Okie, and I write messy, hard-fought love stories. My books, THE BEST WORST THING and TROPESICK, are out now. Follow me on IG (@laurenokieauthor) to keep up with my nonsense.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
Another stunning edition to Lauren Okie's own genre: rule-bending, unexpected, lush literary romance. This time, the story isn't magical or speculative - but even in a pure contemporary romance, Lauren's writing is so fresh, dynamic, and playful. This is her funniest book yet - I was literally GUFFAWING out loud every other page, it was relentless. Nate is ridiculously hot - the awkward, brilliant, complicated neurosurgeon of my dreams - and Greta is the complex heroine I will always, always root for. The story is tight and insular, taking place over a short timeline, but somehow Lauren manages to make it feel deeply significant and almost epic in its intensity. As usual, the prose is cinematic - riveting and poignant, but also understated and well-controlled - if the word is there, it needs to be.
While this is undoubtedly a romance, it's also very much about a second coming-of-age, a very grown-up bildungsroman, about parents and the routes to adulthood they set for us, and what happens when you break that route.
I'd say that if THE BEST WORST THING was Okie's "Speak Now" and TROPESICK was her "1989," then THIRTYSOMETHING is her "folklore" - deeply intimate, grounded, and filled with that sweeping "lore" feeling. You'll get it when you read :)
While this is undoubtedly a romance, it's also very much about a second coming-of-age, a very grown-up bildungsroman, about parents and the routes to adulthood they set for us, and what happens when you break that route.
I'd say that if THE BEST WORST THING was Okie's "Speak Now" and TROPESICK was her "1989," then THIRTYSOMETHING is her "folklore" - deeply intimate, grounded, and filled with that sweeping "lore" feeling. You'll get it when you read :)
November 8, 2026
rtc, i sadly did not like this one and am still debating whether this is 1.5 or 2 😅
Want to Read
September 18, 2026If Lauren Okie writes it, I will read it...
Want to Read
September 30, 2026𐙚⋆°｡⋆♡ ── pre-release
saw the event exclusive arcs GOSH i can't wait for this cover
saw the event exclusive arcs GOSH i can't wait for this cover
September 23, 2026
Stunning. Beautiful. Amazing. These characters are MESSY but it makes them so incredibly human.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Thanks to Lauren Okie for sharing this book with me.
I'm obsessed with this book. Love everything about it: the characters, the storyline, the heart that beats through every single line on every single page.
YES it's absolutely got some of the best spice you'll ever read, but it's also got some of the most broken characters you'll have the honor of watching pick the pieces of their hearts up and try (and sometimes fail) to put them back together. Greta and Nate are complicated, messy, horny, and have enthralled me completely.
Lauren manages to weave together trauma and humor in a way that makes you laugh out loud while also breaking your heart. A true feat! Pre-order, put it on your tbr, pick it up, I promise you will not be disappointed.
I'm obsessed with this book. Love everything about it: the characters, the storyline, the heart that beats through every single line on every single page.
YES it's absolutely got some of the best spice you'll ever read, but it's also got some of the most broken characters you'll have the honor of watching pick the pieces of their hearts up and try (and sometimes fail) to put them back together. Greta and Nate are complicated, messy, horny, and have enthralled me completely.
Lauren manages to weave together trauma and humor in a way that makes you laugh out loud while also breaking your heart. A true feat! Pre-order, put it on your tbr, pick it up, I promise you will not be disappointed.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Got this as an arc during NYCC at the Harper Collins booth. Very cute book. Sometimes the back and forth was a bit cheesy between the FMC and MMC but it was still a very cute and easy read. Love the end and last 50 pages that had me locked in till the very end.
2027-releases
October 7, 2026no comment
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews