Book Overview: Missed Connections
Content Warnings: family criticism and conflict, grief and loss, career instability and financial stress, themes of regret and existential questioning.
Summary: Sabrina Sorensen is 37, single, and recently finished her tenure as the general manager of a posh Parisian restaurant. When her younger sister gets engaged at Christmas, it’s an open door for her mother and siblings to prod Sabrina for her itinerate lifestyle and her inability to commit to any of her previous relationships. What they don’t know is that Sabrina, after fifteen long years, has attained her goal of becoming a MICHELIN Guide Inspector. And due to the anonymity required to preserve the integrity of the ratings, they never will. After her mother’s final clumsy attempt to fix her up with the charming “boy next door,” Sabrina is more than ready to return to DC, where she will begin her dream job.
She arrives at the airport, resolved to put the family conflict behind her and focus on her work, but now her mother’s critical voice fills her with doubts. Sure, she attained the job she’s always wanted, but at what cost? She’s neglected not only romantic relationships but meaningful friendships as well. Once in her concourse, Sabrina’s airline is hosting a “Spin the Wheel” game. Sabrina plays along, hoping for perhaps a free drink ticket or a bit of extra legroom. She lands on “Time Travel for NYE”: the chance to fly to Tokyo, then back to Hawaii to experience the turning of the new year twice.
Once in the airport’s lounge, the ticket agent offers her something far more unique: the opportunity to revisit each of her past relationships to answer the burning question: had any of these relationships been worth salvaging, or was she, as her mother accuses, too quick to cast these men aside? Spanning fifteen years and thousands of miles, Sabrina will have the rare opportunity to know for certain if all her choices have led her down the right path.
What if you could go back? Not in a vague, wistful, staring-out-a-rainy-window way, but actually go back and pick the other door? That’s the itch Aimie K. Runyan goes after in Missed Connections, and honestly, it’s the kind of premise that hooks you before you’ve even cracked the spine.
We went in expecting a cozy little second-chances story. What we got was something a bit thornier, a bit more grown-up, and a lot more interested in the messy tug-of-war between chasing your dreams and chasing the people you love. It’s not a flawless book. But it sticks with you, and we’ve got thoughts!
Meet Sabrina, Patron Saint Of “I Swear I Have A Plan”
Our girl Sabrina Sorensen is thirty-seven, freshly unemployed after losing a glittering job managing a posh Parisian restaurant, and heading home to California for her younger sister’s engagement party. If you’ve ever walked into a family gathering knowing you’re about to get gently roasted about your life choices, you already feel this in your bones.
Here’s the thing that makes Sabrina so easy to root for: she actually has a plan. A big one. For fifteen years, she’s been quietly working toward becoming a Michelin Guide inspector, a goal so secret she can’t even tell the people chiding her for being “directionless.” So she takes the criticism on the chin while sitting on this enormous, glittering ambition nobody knows about. That gap between how her family sees her and who she really is? That’s the emotional engine of the whole book, and it’s a good one.
The Premise Is The Star (And It Knows It)
When Sabrina retreats to Burbank Airport, questioning whether fifteen years of sacrifice were worth it, a mysterious ticket inspector hands her something far more interesting than a boarding pass: the chance to revisit her life’s pivotal crossroads. The failed relationships. The jobs she didn’t take. The ladders she never climbed.
Yes, if your brain immediately went to a certain very famous library-set bestseller, you’re not alone. Runyan is working in a similar sandbox, the whole “what would my life look like if I’d chosen differently” thing. But she gives it her own flavor, and that flavor is delicious in the most literal sense. The culinary world here is rich and tactile, from Michelin-starred kitchens to perfectly plated desserts you can practically taste off the page. If you’re the type who gets hungry reading, consider this your warning!
Ambition Versus Love, And The Cost Of Picking One
This is where the book really got us thinking. Missed Connections isn’t really about magic or time travel, not deep down. It’s about that brutal question so many people in their late twenties and thirties are quietly wrestling with: can you actually have the career AND the connection, or does the pursuit of one always come at the expense of the other?
Sabrina built a meticulous professional life. She also let some relationships slip through her fingers to do it. And the book refuses to give her (or us) an easy out. Every door she reopens comes with a trade. Want the love story? Maybe you lose the dream job. Want the corner office? Maybe you lose the person. There’s no version where she gets to keep everything, and watching her sit in that discomfort feels honest in a way these stories don’t always bother to be.
We loved that Runyan trusts her reader to handle the ambiguity. Success, the book gently argues, isn’t a fixed finish line someone else drew for you. Sometimes the way forward is looking back, taking stock, and deciding what you actually want now versus what you wanted at twenty-two.
Okay, So Where Does It Stumble?
We said it wasn’t flawless, and we meant it. The pacing wobbles in the middle stretch, where a few of the “revisited” moments start to feel like they’re hitting similar emotional beats. There’s a rhythm to these branching-path stories, and once or twice it tips into predictable territory, where you can see the lesson coming before Sabrina does.
A couple of the secondary characters could’ve used more room to breathe, too. They sometimes function more as signposts on Sabrina’s journey than as full people with their own stuff going on. It’s not a dealbreaker, but a richer supporting cast would’ve given some of those big emotional moments even more punch. Still, these are the kind of flaws you forgive in a book that’s clearly more interested in feeling true than in being tidy.
Who Should Pick This One Up?
If you’re a fan of magical realism with real emotional weight, if you’ve ever stress-spiraled about whether you’re “on track,” or if you just want a story that makes you crave a craft cocktail and a one-way ticket to Europe, Missed Connections is calling your name. BookTok’s second-chances and “what if” girlies are going to have a field day with this one! Sabrina’s journey doesn’t hand you neat answers, and we mean that as a compliment.
Missed Connections is whimsical without being weightless, refusing easy answers in favor of something that feels honest, and it lingers long after the last page.
Missed Connections by Aimie K. Runyan is out now in the US and UK, published by Harper Muse. You can grab a copy here. What’s the one life choice you’d revisit if a mysterious airport stranger gave you the chance? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments below or over on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook!
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