Lindsay MacMillan

A Novel

Double-Decker Dreams

Perfect for fans of The Happy Ever After Playlist and The Boyfriend Project, Lindsay Macmillan's debut novel deftly captures the feeling of being adrift in your late twenties. Rae is in a romantic recession. The young investment banker is tired of being single in New York City. Deep into a quarter-life crisis, she's overwhelmed by all the external pressure to rise the corporate and romantic ladders at the same time. Feeling the biological clock ticking, she vows to close the deal on locking in a husband before her 30th birthday. The Manhattan dating scene has as many ups and downs as the stock market and leaves Rae exhausted from late nights formatting spreadsheets at the office followed by even later nights reciting her resume to strangers at over-crowded bars. She considers throwing in the towel, but her friends come to the rescue, continually boosting her up with ice cream and cheap wine that they share in their sixth-floor walk-up. Rae soldiers on until she meets Dustin, a poetic soul trapped in a business suit, just like her. Rae starts to hear the wedding bells but no amount of financial modeling can project what their future will look like. Will Rae learn how to free herself from the idea she had in her head of what thirty was supposed to look like? Can she reject society's narrow definitions of what success means in love and life and know when it's time to walk away? Or is she too conditioned to choose the "right path" to follow her unpaved intuition? Moving, funny, and timely, The Heart of the Deal is the story of one woman's reckoning with life in a city, an industry, and a relationship whose high highs (nearly) make up for the low lows.

The Heart of the Deal

Four friends. One pact. Zero compromises... Until now. When EJ and her three roommates swear off marriage and motherhood with their infamous "Anti-Marriage Pact," they think they've got life figured out. No white dresses, no baby fever, no losing themselves to societal expectations. Just fierce friendship, creative ambitions, and the gritty freedom of Brooklyn. But the bonds that once felt unbreakable start to fray as one friend and then another begins to find love. Meanwhile, Chris walks into EJ's life—a buttoned-up tax accountant who dares to question everything she believes about love, commitment, and what it really means to live on your own terms. Now EJ finds herself caught between loyalty to her sisters-in-arms and the terrifying prospect of opening her heart to something she's spent years rejecting. As her carefully constructed world begins to crack, EJ must confront the possibility that maybe, just maybe, she's been wrong about everything. A wickedly funny and brutally honest exploration of modern feminism, female friendship, and the courage it takes to rewrite the rules of your own life

The Anti-Marriage Pact

Perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jojo Moyes, Lindsay MacMillan’s debut novel deftly captures the feeling of being adrift in your late twenties, with poignant commentary on female friendships, mental health, and what happiness really looks like. Rae is in a romantic recession. The Wall Street banker is single in New York City and overwhelmed by the pressure to scramble up the corporate and romantic ladders. Feeling her biological clock ticking, she analyzes her love life like a business deal and vows to lock in a husband before her 30th birthday. The Manhattan dating app scene has as many ups and downs as the stock market, and outsourcing dates to an algorithm isn’t exactly Rae’s idea of romance. She considers cutting her losses, but her friends help her stay invested, boosting her spirits with ice cream and cheap wine that they share in their sixth-floor walk-up while recapping cringe-worthy dates. And then Rae meets Dustin, a poetic soul trapped in a business suit, just like her. She starts to hear wedding bells, but Dustin’s struggles with depression will test their relationship, and no amount of financial modeling can project what their future will look like. Can Rae free herself from the idea she had of what thirty was supposed to look like and let love breathe on its own timeline? Or is she too conditioned to stay on the “right track” to follow her unpaved intuition? Moving and timely, The Heart of the Deal is the story of one woman’s reckoning with what success really is in a city, an industry, and a relationship whose low lows continually challenge the enchantment of the high highs.

Lindsay MacMillan

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