Home › Family Life › Ordinary Love

Ordinary Love

by Marie Rutkoski

A first love revisited amid adult responsibilities

Regular price $18.13 USD
Regular price $30.22 USD Sale price $18.13 USD
Save 40%

Paperback New

Delivery to your door
In stock·Dispatches in 1–2 business days
Standard shipping* from $4.35
Standard shipping transit* 5–8 business days after dispatch

Faster options are available.

Rates and delivery estimates depend on your destination and item quantity. Estimates are informational only; the final shipping method and rate are selected at checkout.

Secure checkout
American Express Apple Pay DiscoverGoogle Pay Mastercard PayPalVisa
30-day eligible returns Returns & refunds policy

AlbakiReads Editorial

A first love revisited amid adult responsibilities

Emily’s reunion with Gen brings an old heartbreak into a present already shaped by marital strain, parenting, and difficult family ties. Their shared history now intersects with sharply changed circumstances: Emily has a settled family life in Manhattan, while Gen is a celebrated Olympic athlete. The novel frames their renewed attraction through questions of trust, forgiveness, bisexuality, ambition, and the risks of reshaping a life built around other commitments. Its central tension is not simply whether the former girlfriends still love one another, but whether that bond can be reconciled with the lives they have made since they first parted.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in queer romance centered on a former couple reconnecting
  • Readers drawn to fiction about marriage, parenting, and family relationships
  • Readers seeking stories that explore ambition and the complexities of second chances

Themes

First love and reunionBisexuality and queer relationshipsMarriage and family lifeTrust and forgivenessAmbition and personal risk

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

A page-turning, irresistible novel of class, ambition, and bisexuality, this is the breathtaking story of a woman risking everything for a second chance at her first love.

"A brilliant examination of queerness, friendship, motherhood, longing and ambition. It's funny and moving and sexy. . . . A stunning love story."
--J. Courtney Sullivan, bestselling author of The Cliffs


Emily has, by all appearances, a perfect life: a townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side, two healthy children, and a husband who showers her with attention. But the truth is more complicated: Emily's marriage is in trouble, her relationship with her parents is fraught, and she is still nursing a heartbreak from long ago. When Emily runs into her high school girlfriend at a cocktail party, that heartbreak comes roaring back. But Gen Hall is no longer the lanky, hungry kid with holes in her shoes who Emily loved in her youth. Instead, Gen is now a famous Olympic athlete with sponsorship deals and a string of high-profile ex-girlfriends.

Emily and Gen circle one another cautiously, drawn together by a magnetic attraction and scarred by their shared history. Once upon a time, Gen knew everything about Emily. And yet, she still abandoned her. Can Emily trust Gen again? Can they forgive each other for the mistakes they made in their past? Should Emily risk her children, her privacy, and the fragile peace she has found to be with a woman she loved long ago?

A sweeping queer romance, Ordinary Love is the beautiful, wrenching, completely seductive story of two people trying to forge a path toward hope, bound by a love they discovered when they were too young to understand its power.
Shipping & returnsShipping options, delivery timing, and our return policy.

In-stock items normally dispatch within 1–2 business days. The ZIP-code estimator on this page is informational only; the final shipping method, price, and availability are confirmed at checkout for your full order.

For the initial delivery estimate we use these transit windows after dispatch: Standard 5–8 business days, Expedited 2–4 business days, and Priority 1–2 business days. Holiday delays are not included.

Eligible items can be returned within 30 days in accordance with our return policy.

Customer reviews

M
AlbakiReads
Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

T
AlbakiReads
Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

O
AlbakiReads
Olivia

Smooth.