I loved the story's premise: reconnecting with someone after forty years. However, I felt that it missed the mark.

I was excited to read a romance about someone older than 24. Charlie and Vivian are in their 60s. They reconnected and rebuilt their relationship. Throughout the story, you learn about the MC’s past and how that affects them currently. I kept expecting something “big” to happen, but it never did or at least that’s how it was presented in the story. Every event that took place was more of a “setback” in their relationship. There were secrets they quickly moved past it. Which made the story less relatable. Overall, I enjoyed the story. The characters were likable, but I felt that pacing was a little off, at times.

I absolutely enjoyed this tragically sweet second chance romance. The characters have grown so much between the years they spend apart as well as during their rekindling and Charlie and Vivian will keep you rethinking your past mistakes and ability to grow within yourself before you waste more precious time. Overall, very poetic and great pacing, I didn’t want to put it down even though the lack of quotation marks threw me off. Once I started envisioning them thinking as a stream of consciousness, I could get through what was action lines and what was dialogue.

I found this book a little difficult to read and get thru, but I did enjoy the story about finding love again when you are older. The dialogue of the characters wasn't easy to follow since quotation marks weren't used to make it stand out and made it more difficult to follow. The story as a whole was interesting as Charlie has tried to change his life around and wants to meet up with his first ex-wife that he found on Facebook. The book follows their relationship and the struggles that any relationship has with 40 years between the last time they were together.

This book starts out as a dark horse for me. I was not sure what to expect. The title sounds very romance-y……not my favourite genre. But, the blurb draws me in. It's about the rekindling of a marriage that ended forty years prior.

I think many people think about “the one that got away”, whether it was a relationship or a marriage. The one special person where it didn't work out, for one reason or another. Charlie and Viv were married quite young and the marriage did not last because of alcohol.

While there is an instant (but cautious) attraction, the journey is not without its stumbles. And, so it should be. People change a lot in 40 years. It is interesting to follow as they learn about each other. The characters seem very real. Flawed, not perfect. There are secrets. There is a bit of drama.

This is definitely a character-driven story. There's not a lot of action. It sort of ambles along. A cozy, comfortable story. I felt very engaged with the characters. I especially enjoyed the last chapter. I could feel the excitement and emotions.

I do have two little things to complain about. Firstly: there are no quotation marks used throughout the whole book. At first, it confused me but the author wrote in such a way that I soon fell into the rhythm and knew who was speaking.
Secondly: now that I have finished the book, the title makes sense. But, to some readers, it might be off-putting. Like a cheesy romance. It definitely isn't, but the title does not reflect that. These two things have not affected my rating.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

Charlie and Vivian married quite young. 4 years later, they divorced, in large part due to Charlie's drinking. The story picks up with Charlie's return to Wisconsin after inheriting a farm. He is determined to rekindle their relationship. But both Charlie and Vivian have forty years of trials and tribulations. For Vivian, she lives with her daughter and her two granddaughters. But there are secrets she is hiding as well.

I enjoyed this "later life" romance/family drama. It was a bit slow to begin but I just had to find out the rest of the story. Charlie and Vivian were once married but Charlie's alcoholism tore that marriage apart. He is now trying to make up for the hard times his actions caused. Vivian is wary, because she doesn't have a level of trust with him. This is a good boo.

The whole time I was reading A Forty Year Kiss, I kept wanting to describe it as a "quiet" book- there's no big drama, and the major events that do happen happen quickly. It's a book about feelings and reflections- looking forward and backward in the same lives. Charlie and Vivian were married for four years forty years ago, and we meet them when they reunite. They're both flawed but trying hard to still live good, kind lives, and I enjoyed the story of them reconnecting. In no way is this quiet book boring- it just made me feel comfortable picking up the book (often) to spend more time with them. I'd highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley & Nickolas Butler for this advance copy.

Charlie and Vivian haven’t seen one another for more than 40 years, but they have a history: They were once married. Now in his 60s, Charlie has been thinking about Vivian for a long time, and he wants nothing more than to rekindle their relationship.

A FORTY YEAR KISS is a romance about two mature people who find that they’re still compatible. The difficulties they faced as younger people are not insurmountable after the many lessons they’ve learned over the course of their lifetimes.

This is a sweet love story, but there wasn’t enough conflict for me to really get into it. I did enjoy the idea of two people reuniting and rekindling their relationship, but it just didn’t have enough angst to keep my attention. The lack of quotation marks doesn’t bother me and it’s written beautifully. A FORTY YEAR KISS just didn’t compel me to devour it, the way I like my romance books to do.

I received an early digital copy of A FORTY YEAR KISS from Netgalley and publisher Sourcebooks Landmark in exchange for my honest feedback.

There are too many great books out there to waste time on books that the reader doesn't enjoy.

The author's choice to not use quotation marks was a complete annoyance and frustration. It made reading the story for clunky and challenging.

I had high hopes for Forty Year Kiss, but unfortunately, it fell short of expectations. The premise of revisiting a long-lost love after decades apart sounded intriguing, yet the execution lacked depth and emotional resonance.

This was a DNF for me. I know others have loved it but I was not going to continue to torture myself with this style of writing.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is my first Nickolas Butler novel, and I found it interesting. Charlie and Viv were married very shortly when they were very young. They divorced after 4 years of marriage. It is now forty years later, and Charlie has lived with the regrets of his actions that led to their divorce. He has also realized that Viv is the love of his life. Meanwhile, Viv has raised a daughter and is helping her (Melissa) raise her two small girls. They struggle to make ends meet. When Charlie reaches out to Viv, she is curious and admits to herself that she has missed him. However, can they reconcile and ove4rcome the issues that happened in the past to have a HEA?

Oh- so much to unpack.

Characters:
The characters of Charlie, Viv and Melissa were overall developed nicely in a way that you come to know what each character regrets, feels, and dreams for. You also see the internal struggles each goes through, and what they are wrestling with to achieve acceptance, forgiveness and hope. I struggled with the character of Jessie. She is lovely, but I felt the author took the easiest and most misunderstood route in writing about her life as it pertains to her condition. There seemed to be no realistic portrayal of the possibilities and achievements for someone struggling with this genetic DNA. So I felt this story thread was simply put in to use a plot device. I had to take stars off because this element really frustrated me.

Plot:
The story is has a lot of sweet moments- I mean a lot! It does portray what a second chance love story might look like between two 60-ish year old people. Between all the sweetness, it has anxiety and jealousy and a bit of ridiculous moments. I began to get frustrated with Viv. She gets upset about so many things that happened in the past, and won't let go. I am an older, seasoned woman, and with time and life comes a teeny bit of wisdom (hopefully ;/)! I felt that Viv missed out on the wisdom as she held on to things that happened a long time ago (Charlie's marriage to another woman 25 years ago!!!). Charlie still struggles with issues of the past, and has not rectified them. And, Viv has kept a secret from him- so these are the issues driving the story. It is a slow story- but I honestly feel that it is a little more realistic in what might happen in a rekindling of love between elders than the hot-passionate thing.

I liked how Melissa's story developed, and was cheering her on, and happy with her outcome. The ending was sweet, but a bit contrived. And at times there was repetition in hashing out what happened in the past, and overly sweet conversation.

My biggest struggle was no quotation marks! It read to me more like internal thoughts and remembrances of dialogue, instead of "real time" dialogue. It was a bit confusing, and I feel that this slowed the story down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

"The Forty Year Kiss" intrigued me. That's a long time to wait. Indeed the main characters are both mature people with lives and concerns that many readers would share. It was refreshing to read a romance that is not full of the energy and discovery of youth or more reflective angst
middle age. The characters were easy to care about and the setting was brought to life. The plotting was just a bit predictable. This was a very pleasant read - just right for a break from the issues of the day.

This was beautifully written but not really any major plot line. Little conflicts here and there. The lack of quotations took a while for me to get used to reading. I wouldn’t say the small town played a huge role in this story. It was really just a second chance romance with an older couple.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Not my usual choice of genres, but I accepted the challenge and was pleasantly surprised. Well written with believable characters and a good plot developed.

I was drawn to this book because the author also wrote Shotgun Lovesongs. The premise is that a who couple married and divorced when very young, meet again, due to the searching of the husband. He says he has never stopped thinking of her and wants to make amends for his bad behavior as a young man. The question is whether the woman will be willing to give him another chance. Most of the story was good and as a reader, I was interested to see what happened. I thought things became too simple at the end. Would definitely consider other books by this author.

I was drawn in by this emotional look at second chance love late in life. I didn’t agree with many of the life choices of the characters, particularly Melissa, but I did like reading a realistic love story about two people finding their way back to each other. It is a literary tale told mostly through dialogue that doesn’t use quotation marks so it can be difficult to read at times. Recommended for those who like love stories with older protagonists.

I was first drawn in my the beautiful cover but was also excited for the premise - two people who probably got married when they were too young and immature have a second chance at love when they reconnect in their 60's.

The pacing was pretty slow for me and I think I might have preferred to have the story "spoken" instead of a told dialogue

A rare second chance romance with mature characters. I was really excited to read this one of the premise - I’m a sucker for a good second chance romance and after 40 years?! It ended up falling a little flat for me - I didn’t find myself rooting for the characters and the lack of quotation marks for dialogue made it a little more difficult to read. That being said, it’s a cute story and if you’re looking for a romance with older characters, this is it!

Thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Sinopsis en español:

Charlie y Vivian se separaron después de solo cuatro años de matrimonio. Demasiados problemas, demasiadas luchas, a pesar de que el amor no murió del todo. Cuando Charlie regresa a Wisconsin cuarenta años después, no está seguro de lo que encontrará. Está seguro de una cosa: debe tratar de reconectarse con Vivian para recoger los pedazos rotos de su pasado. Pero cuarenta años es mucho tiempo. Son cuarenta años de otras relaciones, cuarenta años de construir nuevas vidas y cuarenta años de arrepentimientos, errores y secretos dolorosos de larga data.

Una exploración valiente y triunfal de la redención y el triunfo del atardecer, A Forty Year Kiss es una historia de amor única en la vida, escrita con un lirismo deslumbrante y notable claridad de espíritu, de un célebre autor en la cima de su juego. Es un San Valentín literario que promete ser una historia de amor para los siglos.




Reseña:


Fue un libro entretenido, no conecte como me hubiera gustado con la historia, pero aún así disfruté de la historia.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book has a really sweet premise - two people who were married for four years in their 20s reunite four decades later - but I found it a bit trite and cheesy. It wasn't that there was no conflict - there certainly was - but it bothered me that the characters seemed to breeze past the conflict much faster and with much less conversation and reconciliation than I would expect. I found both Vivian and Charlie a little flat, and the relationships didn't feel particularly fleshed out. I really wanted to find this book special and endearing, but it was meh to me. It was definitely well-written, but it just wasn't for me.