"A Forty Year Kiss" is a beautifully nostalgic and deeply emotional story about lost and found love. Following the lives of two people who were once married, then divorced, and then reunited 40 years later, this novel explores the complexities of second chances and the enduring power of love.

The story evokes strong The Notebook vibes, with its poignant themes of rekindling a past relationship and rediscovering the deep connection that never truly faded. The characters are wonderfully developed, their chemistry palpable as they navigate the emotional terrain of rediscovery, forgiveness, and new beginnings. The passage of time adds a layer of richness to their reunion, making every moment of their second chance together feel all the more precious.

What makes this novel so compelling is the way it captures both the heartache and the joy of love—how it can slip away, only to return when least expected, yet with a deeper understanding of what really matters. It’s a beautiful exploration of how love changes and evolves over time, and how sometimes, we need to go through life’s ups and downs before we can fully appreciate what we had all along.

If you enjoy stories of enduring love, second chances, and emotional depth, A Forty Year Kiss is a must-read. It’s a perfect blend of heartache and hope, with a touching reminder that it’s never too late to rediscover love.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sourcebooks, and Nicholas Butler for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was an emotional read as we navigate the lives of Charlie and Vivian, the decisions that shaped their lives and the reasons behind them. It made me pause and think of my own life from time to time, as I am sure many readers will. Loved the book from cover to cover and highly recommend.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Landmark/Source Books for providing an ARC of *A Forty-Year Kiss*, set to be released in time for Valentines day February 2025, in exchange for an honest review.

This story features a right person, wrong time romance—a kiss forty years in the making. It tells a sweet love story between Vivian and Charlie, who married young. They faced struggles due to being at different life stages, and ultimately, the universe had other plans for them. Both married again but eventually found each other after 40 years. In that time, they had grown, matured, and changed.

Vivian harbors a significant secret from her past that impacts Charlie as well. While the book delves into her background, I felt that Charlie's story, including his work in the railroad
And past relationships could have been developed further.

As others have mentioned, the lack of quotation marks in the book made it confusing at times, requiring me to go back to fully understand what was going on.

I also felt that the middle of the book was a slow burn. It started out intriguing, introducing the concept of reuniting after forty years and their first date. I wanted to keep reading to find out what ultimately happened to Vivian and Charlie.

4/5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I really wanted to love this one but there just wasn’t “much going on” for most of the time. We follow the two main characters after they are reunited after being apart for 40 years.

Charlie has retired from the railroad at 64. His life is quite empty and he has had no one special in his life - he was always comparing women to his first love - Vivian. He is on a mission now to win her back.

Vivian lives in the small town of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (shout out to my home state). She is a widow who is constantly busy as she takes care of her two young granddaughters while her daughter works. She loves her family but hasn’t had an easy life and is always worrying about the future.

I won’t go into the plot as the blurb does a a good job of that!

PROS:
I really liked the premise - love lost and love found!

Having actually been to Chippewa Falls I felt that it was very well described, small town, beautiful area, great people

Absolutely loved the trip to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs - that was probably my favorite part of the book!

CONS:
I didn’t enjoy the author’s writing style. As others have mentioned, the lack of quotation marks is just an annoyance while reading

I kept waiting for something “really exciting, emotional and wonderful” to happen, but it didn’t, at least in my reading experience.

I thought I knew Vivian and her family better than Charlie. We know that he worked for the railroad but that part of his life isn’t really well described.

The ending!

This was an entertaining book, especially if you want a bit of a lighter read.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

Charlie and Vivian were passionately in love and married forty years ago. After just four years of marriage they divorced. Their lives took very different paths but they never forgot each other. Through Facebook they begin to reconnect. Charlie has inherited a piece of property, has moved back to Wisconsin and is hoping to rekindle the long lost relationship with Vivian. Will they find love again after all these years or will the mistakes, failures and secrets of the past be too difficult to understand and overcome? This heartwarming story provides a glimpse into growing older and understanding the importance of lessons learned while looking forward to seeing them from a new perspective and a future that will bring happiness and peace to your life no matter your age. This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book I had read from this author and it was a different genre than I usually read. But I must say I am so glad I read this! It was a raw, thought-provoking story of two people who were married and then divorced after only four years. Then, forty years later, Charlie takes the chance that Vivian would possibly be interested in dating/getting back together and searches her out. I found I was holding my breath on more than one occasion about his actions based on his thoughts. This book was one that made you feel privileged to be able to be a part of his inner emotions and feelings that he wouldn't be able to express outwardly.

Reading this also made me think about what I would do in the same situation, both from Charlie's perspective and also Vivian's. Would the same problems that caused them to divorce still be hindering them from moving forward this time?

I did find at times that the book seemed a bit slow so I chose to rate it with four stars. However, I do highly recommend this book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for a chance to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks | Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read an ARC of A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler, in exchange for my honest review.

3 1/2 stars

You're never too old, and it's never too late for a second chance.

I enjoyed this story; it's a heartwarming, realistic portrayal of love, growth, and forgiveness, no matter your age.

The lower star rating is due to the dialogue being "told" rather than "spoken". It felt somewhat stilted to me.

What a lovely, lovely novel. It truly read like a dream. Charlie and Vivian, our main characters divorced forty years ago as young immature newlyweds who did not understand what they had. They both went on to live slightly disappointing and lonely lives but never forgot each other. After much deliberation and self doubt Charlie decides to make contact with Vivian again after forty years. It goes well but there is still much hurt and and back history between them that they must work through if they want to be together, and Charlie REALLY wants to make it work. He is a changed man from his youth. Vivian has also changed and is hesitant to let Charlie back in to her life, as well as her daughters and grandchildren. This is a wonderful story of love, forgiveness, aging and personal growth. I loved how the characters personally progressed throughout the story. I highly recommend The Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler. 5 solid stars.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Sourcebooks | Sourcebooks Landmark for a chance to read an ARC version of this delightful book. All opinions are my own.

A most heartwarming story! I really enjoyed "A Forty Year Kiss" by Nickolas Butler. A relationship reunion decades post-divorce. Loved the growth in these characters, the efforts and their journey, and most of all their tender love. literally warmed my heart! Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a slow burn, second chance romance, with older characters and not a lot of drama. That being said, this is both good and bad. Sometimes we get sick of all the insta-love (and insta-spice), dramatic romances; BUT it left the book kind of bleh.

The characters were cute and I enjoyed them, but I needed something bigger to happen.

Also, a book without quotation marks immediately loses a star for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebooks for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Charlie and Vivian parted ways after just four years of marriage. Too many problems, too many struggles, even though the love didn't quite die. When Charlie returns to Wisconsin forty years later, he's not sure what he'll find. He is sure of one thing — he must try to reconnect with Vivian to pick up the broken pieces of their past. But forty years is a long time. It's forty years of other relationships, forty years of building new lives, and forty years of long-held regrets, mistakes, and painful secrets.

This was a gentle story of a couple who are older than our normal romance protagonists who attempt a second chance at love. I liked them being older and not having a lot of the silly drama that sometimes comes with young love. They dealt with some heavier topics such as alcoholism and learning to heal wounds from the past.

One thing I do not enjoy, is no quotation marks. I'm not sure why authors are making this choice, but it makes the reading process more difficult in my opinion.

3.75 stars rounded up. This was a great story about second chance romance for a couple in their 60s. I loved the characters but it did drag on a bit for me at about mid-point. I also struggled a bit with the lack of quotation marks. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

This book was a wonderful love story about two older people. One of the reasons that this book spoke to me is because I am 66 years old and have been a widow for the last 2 1/2 years, I'm also from the midwest and about 6 months before my husband passed away I spent 3 days in Chippewa Falls. I do not often see my age group represented in fiction and especially not as main characters. Why is this? Do the publishers and authors think our lives are all ready over? Charlie and Vivian had been apart for forty years. How have they changed in these forty years and how have they stayed the same. How will they address that which drove them apart. Seeing them work through these different issues and reestablish their love for each other while rebuilding their trust was a pleasure to read. Also we witnessed the mistakes they made along the way in this journey. I could also relate to their thoughts on the road not taken, how could I have behaved differently, how could I be better going forward. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

This quiet novel was a joy to read. On the surface, it's about Charlie who moves back near his hometown to find his old love now that he's older. He wants to reconnect and find a way to be with her again even though they got divorced forty years ago.

Even though I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop or something big to happen, this novel stayed quiet the whole time. The characters were real and interesting and they stayed with me after I finished reading. I found I could relate to them.

This is a story about grief and loneliness and poverty and being a single parent and of course above all about regret and second chances.

with gratitude to netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Definitely I enjoyed the book so much and would love it on my shelves at my store.I couldn’t wait to keep reading the book it was that good.

Charlie, in his sixties and divorced, seeks to reconnect with Vivian, his first wife. While their marriage only lasted
four years, Charlie wants to correct what went wrong and see if they have a future together. Vivian has been
married and widowed since they parted. She also has problems of her own, regarding her children and a secret.
Charlie will need to prove he is willing to make the changes needed for the reunion to be successful.
Lovely second chance story.
#AFortyYearKiss #Sourcebooks #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley for an opportunity to read the ARC of Nikolas Butler’s upcoming release.

I have enjoyed all of Butler’s books and this was no exception. I took a few days to think before writing about it. I spent time on leave covered trails contemplating the story, I felt very connected to the book, whether it is my age of my own losses, I found myself immersed. This is a story of rekindling.

Charlie and Viv were married briefly more than 30 years before, it was tumultuous, and ended painfully. They both went on to experience their lives and various trials.

Charlie purposefully seeks Viv out and invites her for a drink. They’ve lived entire lives and are now in their 60’s. Charlie is lonely and regretful, while Viv is deeply loved by her family but companionless. Charlie was very selfish in their marriage. He deeply regretful but he is old enough now to see who he was, and while still not perfect in real time (I mean, who is?), he wants to do better. Much better. But we all know things take time and sometimes many tries to get it right. Viv was hurt, we see how deeply her pain goes as the book develops, and while she is gun shy she also has a forgiving heart and wants to believe in change. She considers the possibilities but is not a kid anymore, there will be expectations, she has learned to love and respect herself. Can Charlie be who she needs him to be?

The story unfolds as the two rediscover one another. Some of what they find is downright ugly and painful, the depth of the story is refreshing. This is not a rom-com, this is very real and raw. It is a story to savor a bit as love, life, can be hard but worth the effort.

In my 50’s now and seeing my own dad alone after losing my mom, the absolute love of his life, I am seeing Charlie and Viv through a lens of hope - regardless of missteps and imperfection, as it is relatable and human. We, as a society, are in a time of great loneliness, this book really allows me to believe there is still time to carve out a new path after losses of all kinds. And I’m smarter now, we can figure so much out with time if we continue to have curiosity. I’m lucky to have an almost 40 year partner by my side, but it wasn’t always easy. Some days still aren’t easy. The second chances Butler writes about so earnestly allowed for me to reflect and have gratitude for my own life’s blessings.

A Forty Year Kiss is a sojourn into the lives of two people in their 60s, who for 4 years, 40 years ago, were married and are now reconnecting as near strangers.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I didn't quite love it.

📖 I thought the plot was great. I really enjoyed reading about older adults. It's an interesting view into that age group. I can't think of any other romance books that have MCs in their 60s, so I appreciate the author going in that direction.

The math wasn't matching for me, and that sort of stuff bothers me. Also some of the railroad stuff didn't quite align, as someone who's been married to a 20+ year railroader for longer than he's been a railroader.

✍️🏼 I thought the writing was quite good. It reads smoothly and easily (aside from the issue below).

I'm not sure if it's because it's a eARC, or if it was a choice, but the dialogue not being in quotes really bothered me. I found it confusing at times and it broke immersion. To help with this, I used the "read aloud" option in the netgalley app. It definitely helped, even with the AI voices.

The dialogue sounded natural when AI read it.

⏳️ It's a bit slower moving than I prefer, but still solid.

👥 The characters are well developed and nuanced. They felt like real people, with nuance and personality. I appreciate that we get some character rep for people with Down Syndrome.

💞 I thoroughly enjoyed the romance. It seemed realistic and kept me interested and rooting for them.

Thank you to @wiscobutler @netgalley for the opportunity to read this eARC. Opinions expressed are my own.

This is an easy read. Over the course of this book, not a whole lot happens. I think that it is more of an introspective story, one that tries to get you to reflect on your own feelings and emotions without invoking those feelings or emotions itself.

The story itself is quite beautiful if you look at it through the lens that something big doesn’t have to happen. It’s a story of regret, forgiveness and growth. I particularly loved that the characters were more mature. I’m to the point where I find them relatable as well. It didn’t sugar coat that second chances are not easy at all. I enjoyed the story immensely. I admired the characters and what they were doing. How much a person can change over forty years but still have some similarity to the person they were.

The writing was so well done, and I stay engaged throughout the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

It was an okay read for me. Not a must, must read, but nevertheless worth the read.

Can safely recommend.