Release Date: February 7,2017

Book Blurb from Goodreads.com

When struggling novelist James Hernandez meets poet Louisa “Lou” Bell, he’s sure he’s just found the love of his life. There’s just one problem: she’s engaged to his oldest friend, Rob. So James toasts their union and swallows his desire.

As the years pass, James’s dreams always seem just out of reach—he can’t finish that novel, can’t mend his relationship with his father, can’t fully commit to a romantic relationship. He just can’t move on. But after betrayal fractures Lou’s once-solid marriage, she turns to James for comfort.

When Lou and James act on their long-standing mutual attraction, the consequences are more heartbreaking—and miraculous—than either of them could have ever anticipated. Then life throws James one more curveball, and he, Rob, and Lou are forced to come to terms with the unexpected ways in which love and loss are intertwined.

My Review:

While visiting Rob and and his fiancee Lou in New York City, James is asked to be the best man at their wedding. Rob and James have been best friends since childhood and went to college together in Michigan.  James stayed near home working as a professor when Rob left to develop his career. An attraction is evident between James and Lou but neither pursue anything.

For many years Rob’s and Lou’s relationship flourish as does Rob’s career in finance. Meanwhile, James career path stalls when he isn’t successful at teaching or at finishing his novel.  Any attempt at settling into a serious relationship is weakened by his thoughts of Lou.

I don’t want to spoil this terrific book for future readers so I am limiting the details. It is perfectly narrated in a male voice and I had to remind myself that it is written by a female author. The many different emotions shown by the characters are expressed flawlessly. It is a realistic depiction of friendship and how it changes as we move through time.