on sale October 20, 2026
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.
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?
Praise for NOW THAT WE DON’T TALK
“NOW THAT WE DON’T TALK is charming, heartfelt, and hot! The childhood-best-friends to enemies to lovers yearning hits so hard. Rachel Pologe perfectly taps into the unique mixture of comfort and bittersweetness that comes from returning home for the holidays as an adult and realizing exactly how much has changed—and how much hasn’t. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a holiday romance from a fun, fresh voice.” - Rosie Danan, USA Today bestselling author of FAN SERVICE
"Warm, heartfelt, and perfectly steamy, NOW THAT WE DON'T TALK is chock full of childhood friends-to-lovers goodness, with all the tense glances and only-one-bed moments this trope deserves. An effervescent debut about second chances, grief, and the people we'd wait forever for—I can't wait for more from Rachel Pologe!" - Katie Naymon, author of YOU BETWEEN THE LINES
"A childhood friends-to-enemies-to-lovers tale that crackles with chemistry, tenderness and the perfect amount of heartbreaking chaos, NOW THAT WE DON’T TALK is the most delicious, wintery, Hanukkah-themed book to get snowed in with." - Hannah Brohm, author of LOVE AND OTHER BRAIN EXPERIMENTS