The Five-Year Hitch

by Melissa de la Cruz, Rachel Boston (Narrator), Daniel di Tomasso (Narrator)

The story of two friends who have known each other all their lives — falling in and out of love. Sam & Miles belong together, except every five years, there’s a hitch and they don’t end up together. Now, as they tell their story to a reporter at a momentous occasion, will they finally break the five-year curse? Can these two friends and lovers find their happily ever after?

Genres: Audiobook, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Short Stories, Friends To Lovers, Novella

2 pages, Audible Audio

First published January 7, 2021

About the author

Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.

Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).

She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.

Reviews

[Tamar...playing hooky for a few hours today · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Five-Year Hitch was the second Audible+ winner that I listened to this weekend. I've already retracted my snarky remark, of last week, about Audible+ lemons, remembering that alongside the landmines, there were/are also many safe green pastures.

This production is meant to sound like a podcast/true story or radio show...but it is not! The two characters cleverly tell "the audience" their love story spanning 35 years - from age five, growing up in Hollywood and later migrating to the east coast, separately. They never get it exactly right. When they were young, he was a slider in high school, not into studies and into booze – and maybe the most popular boy in schools (he attended a few); she was not into drinking and was extremely focused on getting accepted to Harvard.

Every five years the two meet up and remember they are in love, or fall in love, and/or become best friends. They have lived together and apart. Each has been married once, but not to each other, until now, at the age of 40, when they are telling us their story.

If you read the Irish title, Normal People, this might sound familiar, but Normal People is dark, very dark, while this story is very upbeat, despite the bittersweet ending.

The Five-Year Hitch tells a different story of normal people, the kind who don't carry around heavy baggage. It made for a refreshing change. The couple tell their story as if in front of an audience, and even refer to the Audible personal stories genre twice – but this is pure fiction, a really great story with a surprising ending.

I loved it.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story told in an interview format was quite good. It spans 35 years, starting when Sam and Miles meet at the age of five. It tells their story through love and friendship with something always keeping them from being together every five years. The narrators were brilliant and made this feel like I was listening to an actual interview. 5 stars for narration, 4 stars overall.

[Shreya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this story. I wasn’t expecting much, just the banal boy-meets-girl, boy-and-girl-don’t-realize-they-love-each-other, yay-they-finally-end-up-together and other such tropes, which, don’t get me wrong, were very much present. But Melissa de la Cruz does an amazing job with the innovative way in which the story unfolds. And even though the audiobook is just an hour long, the characters are fully fleshed out. I fell in love with them, their story, and was even rooting for them. The narrators did an excellent job bringing the characters to life too. Overall, a beautiful listen.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I loved the fact that this was told as an interview. That style alone makes me tempted to round this up to a 4-star. This was short and sweet. The miscommunication in this would normally annoy me, but I was able to look past it because it was so short. I have never been a fan of short stories or novellas, but this might have just changed my mind.

[Wil Loves Books! · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a super quick listen. This is an audible original and was free with my subscription. The narration was incredible, Rachel Boston and Daniel di Tomasso were both amazing and did a fantastic job, especially narrating duet style. The story was interestingly told like an interview/podcast, which was cool. However, it was so short that there was very little character development, it was hard to get on board with the protagonists’ love story and that twist in the end was hella anticlimactic!

[Ana Lelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely book. I loved the dual perspective, the two characters aren't only telling the story, but they are doing it at the same time. It felt like they were talking to me and I was listening to their story in real-time. It was fun and cute. I loved it. I'm looking forward to reading more books from her.

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been much better than it was. I really wanted to stop listening, but it was a short one so I stuck with it. I heard “I just assumed...” & “but we were just friends...” too many times to count in the course of 70 minutes.

[Quinn's Quippy Quotes · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I LOVED this idea... it kind of made me think of when Harry Met Sally and the couples being interviewed about how they fell in love. But...this just didn't hit that same feel. This would actually be a genius idea for an actual Podcast forum. Real couples telling their awesome stories about what they overcame to make it in the end... Someone make that and let me know the Podcast name.

[Natalie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

November 2023
Audiobook edition
54m 11s (1.3x speed)

One more from the Tram ride list, Audible plus under an hour gacha picks. No blurbs were read before starting.

The beginning startled me the way it was an interview with the couple talking normally. It was sweet, a little annoying with the running theme of miscommunication and cheating. The ending was bittersweet and I guess I should've expected it given the title. A romance story where a boy and a girl crush young and never get together, whether from their own misunderstandings or outside interference. The most mind boggling was Sam going through with the wedding after cheating and then running off with Miles anyway. Bittersweet but cheating.

[Klara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story about two people who are the right ones at the wrong time, right up until the end. Their love story is cute, fun, and spans a long time. The fact that something significant happens for them every five years is striking, especially since it’s both good and bad. Sam and Miles are interesting characters who show their good and bad sides while staying true to themselves. Their journey is not easy, but as a listener, it’s lovable and heartwarming. I'm happy they finally ended up together for good, even though the ending is a little sad. But in my mind, they get their happily ever after.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The voice actors were very good! Sadly, the story just kinda never went anywhere.

[Keren · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little short story.

[Jennifer Foor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cute love story. I enjoyed reading something sweet for a change.

[Bree Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

♡ Great audiobook narration
♡ Super short (under 2 hrs)
♡ Unique
♡ Available on Audible+

Someone reached out to me on Instagram and recommended this book - we have very similar taste in books and they said they thought I'd really like it. Since I was in a bit of a reading slump at the time, I figured since it was on A+ and it was short, I'd give it a shot.

This wasn't what I was expecting, but not at all in a bad way. It's not narrated like a typical audiobook. It was more a conversation between this couple as they talk about how they ended up together and how, every five years of their relationship - no matter what stage it was in - there seemed to be a "hitch."

This was the perfect book for a reading slump - a palette cleanser if you will and I definitely recommend it if you are an A+ subscriber.

Triggers: cheating, serious illness

[Rodica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick, quite cute, interview-style audiobook, where a couple narrates their long and convoluted love story. The narrators were awesome, they made this whole thing work by having really good chemistry.

[kyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

couldn't have asked for a better format that this - the dual pov report style narration was spot on <3

in behalf of the main characters, i'll be praying life stays calm in the next 5 years (and every other 5 years after that)

[Maida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aww! Sweet and touching. Wonderful performance by the voice actors. Engaging storytelling. An enjoyable one-and-a-half-hour listen.

[Dominique · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cute, quick listen.

[Ashley Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am doing an audible plus membership.

I did not expect this to be so short. Like 45 minutes of listening.

I liked the story telling but it just seemed like a glorified podcast episode.

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars

[layla · Rating 5 out of 5]

VAI SE FUDER COMO UM AUDIOBOOK DE 1 HORA PODE NE DESTRUIR TANTO ASSIM PUTA QUE PARIU

[Nea Britto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I went into this one completely blind and I was pleasantly surprised to find the same narrator narrating this one as The Wedding Proposal, which I happened to love.

The format was interesting but I think interview style doesn’t work for me as well as a normal story format does. Which is why I couldn’t connect to the entire story. But I did love the narration and the ending had me in tears. I really lovely audiobook to listen to if you’re into romance.

[C.L. Cannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute little When Harry Met Sally-esque short. The characters are quirky and the story is fun, but not something I think I'd read again.

[Antonella · Rating 4 out of 5]

for such a short book, it packs a punch
wasn't expecting it

[Nada Alaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Really enjoyed it!! Wish it was a full length novel!!

[Renée · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow, I didn’t expect to be crying by the end of this.
Such a great short story with so much emotion.

[Bash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving 🥲

[Aggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of MDLC’s best. Highly recommend!

[Alisha Brook · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Meg GlitteryOtters · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars