First, thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

After reading the author’s notes, I actually think I understand and like the book better. However, I kept wondering why I was reading it. It was a nice love story. It was an interesting concept. I just felt a little bit unsatisfied (and that may be a “me” thing as I tend to read a different style of books). I do feel like the ending came on very abruptly and I wanted more from it. It’s a nice story, just didn’t settle in for me personally.

Deeply emotional, personal, and raw - this was a superb book making it a 5 star read for me!

Charlie and Vivian were very young when they got married and subsequently divorced four years later.

While Vivian went on to have a daughter (whom she lives with along with her two young granddaughters) Charlie had two more wives but no children.

When Charlie returns to the place they lived when they were married, forty years has passed. Determined to be better, Charlie reaches out to Vivian with hopes of treating her the way he should have all those years ago.

Does time heal all wounds? Or should the past remain in the past?

At times, this was an emotional and personally tough read as Charlie acknowledged, faced, and recognized the consequences his alcoholism had on those around him. Forgiveness is possible for some and his journey, as well as Vivian’s, was very relatable for me having once been married to an alcoholic. I felt his disease and struggles were accurately portrayed.

Thank you NetGalley, Nickolas Butler, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Charlie and Vivian married young, parted ways after only four years of marriage, and have not crossed paths since. Forty years later, Charlie returns to Wisconsin and seeks out Vivian to make amends. A lot of time has passed and many major life changes have occurred for each of them since they last saw each other. Will they be able to pick up the pieces of their broken past and reconnect? I really loved this book! It is not often to read of a rekindled romance between two characters when so much time has passed and I greatly appreciated that it was two older characters, working on themselves and talking through their differences in an effort to find love with each other again. Their rekindling initially seems too good to be true, and as secrets each of them holds continue to be revealed, it shows that it takes a lot of effort to make a relationship work no matter what age you are. It did drag a tiny bit in the first half, but it definitely picked up after that with many more twists and revelations than I was expecting! Charlie and Vivian are each imperfect, flawed humans and you watch them recognize their weaknesses and grow as individuals throughout the book. I grew to love each of them and was rooting for them to make it work so they could be happy together. I also liked the family dynamics and financial dynamics that came into play as they attempted to reconnect. These felt like very realistic problems you might find in a relationship like this. Overall, I enjoyed this second chance romance and would recommend it to others! Thank you to NetGalley, Nickolas Butler, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the gifted ARC in an exchange for an honest review.

This a beautiful novel about true love. I loved the Wisconsin setting. Gorgeously written. Highly recommend!

3.5🌟 A sweet, tender and mature second chance love story set in Wisconsin by a Wisconsin author. 📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an advanced e-copy of A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler.

This second chance love story follows the lives of Charlie and Vivian who divorced just over forty ago after just four years of marriage. At the time, their young love could not overcome Vivian’s expectations and Charlie’s struggles with immaturity and alcohol. When Charlie returns to Wisconsin forty years later, he can no longer deny that his love for Vivian never died and he reaches out to her in hopes of rekindling their past romance with promises of a very different future. Can these two star-crossed souls find their way back to one another after a span of other heartbreaks, unfulfilled promises, secrets, and mistakes? Is there a time limit on first love?

This is a sweet love story that tackles hard issues of alcoholism, poverty, and unwanted pregnancy. I related to Charles and Vivian because I am not far from their ages and have lived a full life just like them. I felt their struggles are realistically portrayed by Butler, but he also leaves the reader with a sense of hope never being lost. Read this if you believe in second chances and the wonder of true love. despite the odds.

This book was a a sometimes sad and sometimes joyous life reflection. Two people, Vivian and Charlie were once married, briefly, in their younger years. They are now both in their sixth decade of life. Both are lonely and wondering if their is another chance to have a future together now that they are mature and life experiences has changed them both. So much has happened in forty years.
I could totally relate to Charlie and Vivian. They had much to work out before committing to a new relationship but at the same time there is that realization that the clock is ticking and a chance at true love again should not be delayed. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I liked how the author explored each person’s perspective as the story unfolded.

I won't be posting a review for this book elsewhere as I didn't exactly enjoy it. The writing is beautiful and has a wonderful flow to it! I just could not connect to the characters or the story itself. It felt dry for me but that could partially be due to me being a Fantasy reader primarily. I enjoy other genres here and there and this premise sounded really interesting, but I think it was a case of right book, wrong time for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler. It’s out now, so you can - and should! - get a copy.

This beautifully written and nuanced novel centers around Vivian and Charlie, two sixty-somethings who reconnect after divorcing 40 years earlier. Charlie is remorseful and Vivian is wary, but the spark might still be there. As the old Good Housekeeping column used to ask, “can this marriage be saved?” Or more accurately, start over?

The character development is absolutely top notch and the writing and sense of setting are gorgeous. I’ll be thinking about Vivian and Charlie for a long time. . Five stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler!

ARC BOOK REIVEW

A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler
4 STARS

Thank you, Sourcebooks Landmark, for the #free eARC of this book!

SYNOPSIS: “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.

A brave and triumphant exploration of redemption and sunset triumph, A Forty Year Kiss is a once-in-a-lifetime love story, written with dazzling lyricism and remarkable clarity of spirit, from a celebrated author at the top of his game. It's a literary valentine that promises to be a love story for the ages.”

REVIEW: This is the first novel I’ve read by Butler, and it will not be the last! It is a story of love, hope, stubbornness, and optimism. I love a second chance love story!

At its heart, this book is a sweet and engaging love story, and I found myself rooting for both Charlie and Vivian. I enjoyed seeing them come back together and grow both apart and together throughout the story.
Though the story has a happy ending, it lacks some of the drama I anticipated. It touches on the challenges older couples face when rekindling past relationships but resolves too easily. Still, Butler’s storytelling is strong, and the book is an enjoyable read.

Publisher: Sourcebooks
Pub date: OUT NOW!

Really love Nikolas Butler in general! This was a slow (in a good way) and gentle novel about second chances. It's lovely and heartfelt.

A Forty Year Kiss is a senior romance, I guess you could say. The concept is interesting. At the beginning of the story Charlie is reconnecting with Vivian, who was his wife some forty years ago. They were both kids when they married and it didn't last long, mostly because of his actions, he will admit. But Charlie has been thinking about Vivian, and wants to reach out, see how she is.

For her part, Vivian's life hasn't been easy. There was another long-term marriage after Charlie, but not one that could be termed successful, or even happy. The one good result to come from the marriage was her daughter Melissa and her two granddaughters.

This was a well written book but moved very slowly, just like real life, I guess. I read it during a time of (for me) depressing headlines in the news every day, so the real-life predictability was kind of a balm for all the over-the-top news I was reading. I can't say this was an exciting story, but it was a sweet story about average every-day people, their struggles and their small triumphs. It was nice to read about someone who learns from past mistakes and changes for the better. This was a 3.5 star read for me. Rounding up.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Nickolas Butler for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Nickolas Butler’s books and this newest one is a positive, layered, perfectly slow burn love story. Charlie and Vivian were married 40 years ago, but divorced. When their lives come back together, they are wiser, more beaten up, more grateful, and more prepared for the ups and downs of love and life.

Butler writes the big things into the small things in such an organic way, like you could feel yourself in a particular moment. I love how strongly Butler connects the characters to their geographical place and to the natural world. Loved the ending too.

“Sometimes, she realized, it is too late to properly acknowledge the good fortune of generosity and kindness, but it is never too late to try to duplicate such acts, to multiply them, like a family growing larger, like a grand old tree branching out to embrace the sun’s good light.”

Thank you to @netgalley and @bookmarked for the advance copy of this book!

**** SPOILER WARNING****




I received this book from NetGalley (thank you, NetGalley!) Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to write my review before publication, so I'm leaving it now.

This book had a great deal of potential, but it lacked depth and clarity. I found it incredibly hard to believe that the main characters could instantly fall in love again, so easily & with no hesitation, 40 years after a relatively abrupt split, caused by financial issues and toxic behaviour like alcohol abuse. Humans are complicated with messy emotions, and the most we got was Vivian (the FMC) being upset that Charlie (MMC) had no memories of their marriage or her, in his home. Also, there is an error in the plot. At the start of the book, it says that she left him, but towards the end, we're told that he left her. I have no idea which it is because the author doesn't delve into what happened at the time of the split. Not the feelings at the time, not how it all happened, not what they did or where they went. Nothing.

After reading through about 80% of the book, when they are 6+ months into their relationship, she reveals to him that her daughter, whom he met, is not her only child. They also had a daughter together & after such a revelation? He accepts it. He wasn't upset that she didn't tell him sooner, he didn't resent her at all, just nothing. He cried because he couldn't be there for them and because he was happy. She had more of a reaction over the photos than he had to finding out he had a 40-year-old daughter. The one thing I enjoyed was how Charlie nurtured and grew the relationships with both daughters and granddaughters. But for two characters who were the love of each other's lives, everything was incredibly surface-level. I kept waiting for something to happen, and it never did. Overall, I was left feeling underwhelmed and unfortunately wouldn't recommend this book.

“At least a person could be proud of their scar. At least the scar was a story that might be shared. Some of the worst scars we inflict upon one another, he realized were the invisible ones.”

Being a Wisconsin girl, I had to pick up this one set in the northwestern part of my state by a WI author. It’s a second chance love story set forty years after their first try, and, as you know, second chance love is my favorite trope.

Vivian and Charlie both have a lot of growth to do – together and individually. Charlie has demons that cost him his marriage to Vivian the first time around. Namely his addiction to alcohol. However, Vivian is not innocent in the downfall of their marriage either. She is insecure and often makes comments that are hurtful, annoying and backhanded instead of directly addressing an issue.

I appreciated the character growth throughout the story though I feel like we saw more in Charlie than in Vivian. Unfortunately, she never stopped annoying me. Additionally, I was disappointed how lightly alcoholism was depicted. When Charlie made the decision to stop drinking, it felt too easy and trivialized for me.

Lastly, this one does not have quotation marks! I don’t recall reading a book without them before, but I realized that it is very frustrating for me. It took a lot of focus and energy to determine what was dialog and what was inner monolog.

Overall, while this book was a great look at second chance love, it was a bit underwhelming for me. I kept waiting for something and it never happened.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an advanced copy of A Forty Year Kiss in exchange for an honest review.*

Charlie and Vivian were married too young, divorced by their mid 20s and reuniting forty years later after traveling separate paths. Their slow rekindling is a sweet and honest meditation on second chances, soulmates, addiction, the sacrifices one makes for those they love.

I inhaled this book in an afternoon - sighing and laughing out loud, tearing up at the tenderness and vulnerability that takes Charlie and Vivian so long to trust each other, and themselves, to reveal. What a lovely story.

I enjoyed the story and the growth in the characters. They both dealt with old baggage, but obviously matured a lot in their 40 years apart. The lack of quotation marks damn near drove me crazy and made it more difficult to read. The first chapter almost made me put the book down because it was such an aggressive feeling start to the book, but I'm glad I kept going. The ending felt a bit strange too, but not bad. There was a lot of understanding, love, and acceptance between the characters, and a real rawness to their strengths and flaws. Overall I enjoyed the nuances of each character and the feelings of empathy and understanding I garnered from their experiences.

The award-winning writer Nickolas Butler overheard the characters for his latest novel in a Wisconsin bar. In fact, he called into a Zoom conversation with the Cap Times from that very same bar in Chippewa Falls.

“I didn’t mean to be gimmicky,” he said. “I was just here to talk about a book event with the owner.”

Butler has been writing since he was in middle school. In his early twenties, after his father had a life-threatening aneurysm, he got serious about it. He graduated from the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop with a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction and his debut novel, “Shotgun Lovesongs,” sold to St. Martin’s Press, quickly becoming a national bestseller.

That book, as well as his newest work, “A Forty Year Kiss,” takes place in Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley, which is where Butler grew up and where he now lives.

“A Forty Year Kiss” will be published by Sourcebooks Landmark on Feb. 4. Butler will read from it on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at Madison’s Central Library as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival.

“A Forty Year Kiss” took root when Butler overheard an elderly couple reconnecting for the first time in what seemed to be about 40 years. This was Sept. 22, 2022. Butler was “just sitting at the bar, minding my own business” when he heard the man ask the woman, “I still dream about you. Can I kiss you?”

Butler says a lot of the dialogue in the early chapters was written “somewhat verbatim” from what he heard at the bar that night.

“It was so lovely and unexpected,” he said. “I was sitting there and I thought … the cosmos has delivered this thing to me. They literally set it in my lap.”

Butler has written in a range of genres about friendship, faith, adulthood and, most recently before “A Forty Year Kiss,” a literary thriller called “Godspeed” involving a trio of contractors in Wyoming, racing to complete a house by an impossible deadline. That book involves drug abuse and “the dark side of the American dream.”

“I’ve been really fortunate in my career to not be hemmed in by a certain genre,” he said. “Forty Year Kiss” is his first love story. “Love is prominent in many of my books, but not like this.”

Butler wanted to write about “old love.” The story centers on Charlie and Vivian, married until Charlie’s alcohol abuse drove them apart. Now, 40 years later, he’s a changed man, hoping to win back his long-lost love.

The story is caught between the characters’ memories and their present moment, weaving perspectives and timelines elegantly. Butler mentioned his father’s aneurysm as an inspiration for both the subject matter and the nonlinear narrative.

“That event left me feeling like all this is ephemeral,” he said. “I think about time a lot. I really don't take anything for granted.”

Really loved this! Read the full interview here: https://captimes.com/entertainment/books/strangers-in-a-wisconsin-bar-inspired-nickolas-butler-s-new-novel/article_a3fbfef2-e024-11ef-a0ad-efa194590fbb.html

A slow burn second chance romance set in the Midwest. I just couldn't root for these two to get back together. Charlie and Vivian broke up the first time because of Charlie's drinking problem and anger issues. Over 40 years they have been apart it doesn't seem like he has worked on either, except now he is rich. The speed at which he wants to move the relationship forward and the way he uses his money felt like love-bombing. Everything is told from Charlie's pov, which is interesting in how it shows how an alcoholic thinks it's none of it is really that bad. In the end, Charlie gets everything he wants, and Vivians desires are never explored.