A commitment-phobe finds herself stuck spending Hanukkah with her childhood best friend turned nemesis, only for holiday chaos to ensue and complicated feelings to resurface, in this emotionally resonant debut romance.
Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Now That We Don’t Talk by Rachel Pologe, which releases on October 20th 2026.
Norah Gold is a bolter. She avoids emotional situations at all costs, doesn’t do meaningful relationships, and when things get a little too real, she runs. She hasn’t let herself fall in love in nearly a decade, not since her whole world fell apart when her dad suddenly passed away. Desperate to escape a friends-with-benefits situation gone clingy, she returns home to Chicago for the holidays. Her one goal? Avoid Henry Cole, the boy who blew up her life and broke her heart back in high school. Easier said than done when she discovers that their mothers are dating and insist on celebrating the holidays together.
A decade later, Henry Cole is all custom suits and condescension. He is order to her chaos and absolutely insufferable about it. When Norah and Henry get snowed in together and learn just how serious their moms’ relationship is, they call a truce to make it through all eight nights of Hanukkah without setting each other on fire. As they begin to rediscover the foundation that made them so close growing up, Norah is desperate to keep her distance—the last thing she can handle is reopening decade-old emotional wounds. But even though they’ve tried to escape the past, Norah and Henry have unfinished business too pressing to ignore. Can Norah shake off her deep-seated impulse to bolt, or are they destined to flame out just like they did as teenagers?
EXCERPT
I sigh deeply and go back to my string of unanswered texts. I slowly type, I had to extend my trip. Sorry! Going off the grid!!!
Hannah peers over my shoulder and then squeals. “Mom, she’s staying!” my sister exclaims as she runs down the hall.
I follow Hannah back into the kitchen, where Mom is putting on another pot of coffee. “Oh, honey, this is my gift for the first night. You don’t even need to give me anything else.”
I look at Hannah and mouth, Gifts for every night? when Mom turns back to counting out scoops of coffee grounds. “She didn’t even do that when we were kids. What’s going on?” Hannah shrugs.
“I’m over the moon you’ll be here the whole holiday. I have big news, and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to tell you.” Mom barely waits a beat. “Do you remember Ms. Cole? Kristine?”
“Henry’s mom?” I ask.
“Yes, honey, Henry’s mom. Well . . .”
“Mom’s dating Kristine!” Hannah interrupts. “What? You were taking too long to spit it out.”
Mom shoots her a look but clearly can’t stay mad for more than a moment. I don’t know how I didn’t see it last night. My mother is fully swooning.
“She was the girl next door,” Mom says wistfully.
I’m happy for my mom. All my own hangups about Dad aside, I want her to be happy and in love. He would want that too.
“They’re coming over for dinner tonight,” Mom says as she turns the coffeemaker on. “For the first night of Hanukkah. To celebrate.”
“They?” I ask, knowing exactly who they entails.
“Kristine and Henry, of course.”
Of course.
***
“How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me?” I bombard Hannah with questions, flopping dramatically onto her princess bed.
“I figured it out when I came home for Thanksgiving. They’re not subtle. It’d be too much if they weren’t so stinking cute all the time.”
“Thanksgiving?” It’s been a whole month of this ginormous secret.
“You were stuck working,” Hannah reminds me, repeating the excuse I made in November. “They’ve actually been dating for like, a year. Mom swore me to secrecy. She wanted to tell you herself. She thought you’d make a big thing about it.” My sister gives me a very pointed look, warning me to not start.
“I knew she was dating again, but . . .” Mom had always been open with us about her bisexuality, ever since she first gave us talks about our own bodies. She never wanted Hannah or me to think it was something she was hiding, or feel we ever had to do the same with anything of our own.
“But?” Hannah challenges.
“But Kristine? Henry’s mom? Really?”
“Yeah, that’s the part Mom was talking about. I always thought Kristine was really nice. She had the best Halloween candy.”
“Yeah, she’s great. But she’s Henry’s mom. My Henry.” It slips out before I can even realize what I’ve said.
Hannah’s eyes grow wide with amusement. “Oh, he’s your Henry now, is he?”
She knows that’s not what I meant. She knows what went down back then.
She knows he was never mine.
I roll my eyes at her. “Of all the people in the greater Chicagoland area, she has to pick the one who birthed the boy who ruined my life.”
“Love is wild.”
I look at my sister, more serious than I’ve been with her in years. “Hannah Arielle Gold. I am begging you. If you ever loved me, ever had any sisterly goodwill toward me, you will let me borrow something tonight since Henry ruined the one piece of clothing I have left in this time zone that’s not, at minimum, eight years old.”
Hannah leans forward, eyes brimming with pity. “The way you treat your clothes? Not a chance.”
