Ordinary Love

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What to expect

'An immersive, glamorous, sexy and gripping modern love story to gulp down hungrily and quickly' SUNDAY TIMES

'This sexy, summer romance slips down as easily as oysters and champagne' DAILY MAIL

'An exquisitely tender portrayal of enduring love' OBSERVER

'This book will break you then put you back together again' STYLIST, Book of the Month
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There's no such thing as an ordinary love story


When Emily catches sight of Gennifer Hall at a party, she is transported back to the moment they fell in love as teenagers. Their connection was electric, and they thought it was forever.

Twenty years later, Gen is an Olympic runner, the career she strived for, while Emily is living a picture-perfect life: Manhattan townhouse, two young children and a wealthy husband, Jack. But Jack's controlling behaviour is spiralling, and Emily has lost sight of who she once was.

Now, despite Emily's fracturing marriage and the pressures of Gen's career, they are drawn back together by a magnetic attraction. After years of heartbreak, missed chances and misunderstandings, will they finally get a second chance at first love?

A sweeping love story about desire, friendship, mistakes and the possibility of second chances, for fans of The Paper Palace and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
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'A sweeping, decades-spanning tale of queer desire' MARIE CLAIRE

'A page-turning romance' GUARDIAN

'Profoundly moving' EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL, bestselling author of STATION ELEVEN

'Almost unbearably beautiful' EMILIA HART, bestselling author of WEYWARD and SIRENS

'Had me hooked from the first page' JENNIE GODFREY, bestselling author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS

'I'm obsessed with this novel. It demands obsession' HOLLY BRICKLEY, author of DEEP CUTS

'Funny and moving and sexy' J. COURTNEY SULLIVAN, bestselling author of THE CLIFFS

'A gorgeously written love story' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

'I loved this moving, tender story about lost love and second chances' RED

'Immersive and insightful' LISA OWENS, author of NOT WORKING

'[A] raw, gorgeous debut' THE i PAPER

'A tender romance' WOMAN & HOME

'Shining with rare clarity' SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE

READERS ARE RAVING:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'So raw and so real . . . If there's one book you read this year, it should be this one'

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I absolutely devoured this . . . Clear your afternoon to read this one straight through'

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'The characters were so real that I miss them now the book's over. This novel is one for the ages'

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Boy did this pack a punch, have a box of tissues by your side - you will need these'

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Sexy and sensual . . . I found myself not wanting to stop reading'

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'So emotionally wrecked by this book [that I'm] still thinking about it obsessively months later'

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I fell in love with this story and these characters right from the beginning'

Critics Review

Once in a while one of those truly brilliant books comes along that takes over your life - and, for 2025, Ordinary Love is the book hitting the spot
Stylist
This summer's smart beach read, with shades of Pineapple Street and The Paper Palace
Grazia
An immersive, glamorous, sexy and gripping modern love story to gulp down hungrily and quickly
Sunday Times
This sexy, summer romance slips down as easily as oysters and champagne
Daily Mail
An exquisitely tender and beautifully written portrayal of enduring love
Observer
A gorgeous queer literary romance
ELLE, The Best Books of the Summer 2025
A page-turning romance
Guardian
Vivid . . . A sweeping, decades-spanning tale of queer desire and thwarted ambition . . . Beautifully rendered and touchingly told, this is one for romance fans everywhere
Marie Claire
I stayed up way too late to finish this beautifully written novel, which had me hooked from the first page. A truthful, hopeful look at navigating family, life and love.
Jennie Godfrey, bestselling author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS
This is an almost unbearably beautiful love story. Emily and Gen feel completely real: on the rare occasion I managed to put this book down, I thought about them constantly. It broke my heart to let them go when I turned the final page. Ordinary Love is extraordinary.
Emilia Hart, bestselling author of WEYWARD
I'm obsessed with this novel. It demands obsession because it is so rich with feeling and nuance; you fall into a vat of emotion as you read, the way its heroine falls into her desire. A must for lovers of Sally Rooney, extremely sexy love stories, and characters who feel so real you see them in your dreams. A must for lovers, full stop
Holly Brickley, author of DEEP CUTS
This novel is remarkable and profoundly moving. A beautifully written, intelligent, quietly hopeful story about being lost and found.
Emily St. John Mandel, bestselling author of THE SEA OF TRANSQUILITY
A brilliant examination of queerness, friendship, motherhood, longing and ambition. It's funny and moving and sexy. Above all, it's a stunning love story
J. Courtney Sullivan, bestselling author of THE CLIFFS
A sweeping tale. Tender, truthful and gorgeously written, I devoured it in a few days.
Samuel Burr, bestselling author of THE FELLOWSHIP OF PUZZLEMAKERS
Ordinary Love sparkles with the excitement, danger and wonder of love in all its forms
Sophie Ward, Booker Prize longlisted author of THE SCHOOLHOUSE
Evocative and emotional, surprising and propulsive, the whole of it brimming with tenderness. Rutkowski's prose is poetic and sharp, writing to be savored. Perhaps most unforgettable is the chemistry between Emily and Gen, which crackles and explodes on the page
Carola Lovering, bestselling author of TELL ME LIES AND BYE, BABY
Shining with rare clarity
Sainsbury's Magazine
[A] raw, gorgeous debut
The i Paper
This book will break you then put you back together again
Stylist, Book of the Month
A tender romance that explores heartbreak, integrity and second chances
Woman & Home
An immersive, glamorous, sexy and gripping modern love story to gulp down hungrily and quickly. It would make an ideally intense holiday read
Sunday Times
A page-turning romance...some of the best sex scenes I've read this year
Guardian
Beautifully written, this book will break you then put you back together again. Happy ugly crying
Stylist, BOOK OF THE MONTH

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