Review: The Things You Kiss Goodbye

I received this book for free from FTC: Exchange for honest opinion, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Bettina Vasilis can hardly believe it when basketball star Brady Cullen asks her out, and she just about faints when her strict father actually approves of him.

But when school starts up again, Brady changes. What happened to the sweet boy she fell in love with? Then she meets a smoldering guy in his twenties, and this “cowboy” is everything Brady is not—gentle, caring, and interested in getting to know the real Bettina.

Bettina knows that breaking up with Brady would mean giving up her freedom—and that it would be inappropriate for anything to happen between her and Cowboy. Still, she can’t help that she longs for the scent of his auto shop whenever she’s anywhere else.

When tragedy strikes, Bettina must tell her family the truth—and kiss goodbye the things she thought she knew about herself and the men in her life.

Leslie Connor has written a lyrical, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about family, romance, and the immense power of love.

I have to admit that after starting this book and getting a good feel for it in the first few chapters, I was stunned. I didn’t want to read this because I wasn’t ready for this kind of story. Nevertheless, its a very good story. It had me caught from the first chapter. The lessons of life and love are both tragic and enduring.

Plot: This is about a girl who comes upon a relationship that takes her up and down.  Each part of her relationship is nicely detailed so that the reader can understand each part without it being rushed. As the story continues to unfold, Bettina comes upon another relationship that is much more consuming than the first. Out of all the stories I read this year, I really like this relationship. It not only felt realistic but it was overwhelming. It was one of those relationships that catches the reader from the start and you can’t look away.

Friendships/Love: After reading the story, I thought about Bettina for days. She stayed in my mind because I wondered what I would have done in her shoes. Her life is chaotic yet she experienced something wonderful in such a short period of time. I wanted more for her. I think she deserved more. Like life, its short and something she nor I will ever forget. Despite the bad things that Bettina battled, I think it changed her.

Ending: Because I was so caught up with Bettina’s ongoing relationship I did not foresee the ending. It was one of those endings that completely took me by surprise and left me in shock. I thought about this part for days. It sucks. Life sucks. And boy do I wish there was a different ending. I get the title now. At first I thought it was just some regular teen romance but no, this is more. So much more. Its real life in a compact, well written, beautiful story that once you start there is no turning back.

The Things You Kiss Goodbye is a fabulous book that is both grounded yet breathtaking. The calibration of drama with sentiments of life, makes it a satisfying story that you should read.

I give it 5 BITES!

Happy Reading!