Open Minded

Seager (the Emma Nash novels), a literary agent and YA author, makes her adult debut with an effervescent chronicle of two women’s inverse dating lives and their illuminating friendship. Holly, an aspiring fashion designer in London, suspects her boyfriend of nine years, Will, is finally ready to propose. Much to her dismay, he instead suggests they open their relationship. Fliss, a free-spirited translator, has been in a happily open relationship for three years. Then her boyfriend suggests they become exclusive. Holly and Fliss meet in a restaurant bathroom while Holly is on her first date with a carbon copy of Will, and they decide to have dinner together. Holly ditches her date, and Fliss dispenses advice on how to handle seeing new people. Their fledgling friendship is cemented in their subsequent text thread, as Holly dates different types of men and Fliss emotionally cheats on her now-exclusive boyfriend with an ex. Seager creates a natural chemistry between her leads, playing the naive Holly off the wise and witty Fliss (“You don’t have to explain yourself to random women in bathrooms,” Fliss says to Holly twice, as Holly proceeds to unload on her). As the narrative unfolds, both women confront society’s expectations for a “typical” relationship and come to terms with what they need for themselves. Readers will fall in love with this one. Agent: Ginger Clark, Ginger Clark Literary. (Nov.)