Second chance at love.

Sweet story of a couple starting over after 40 years apart without any contact. Charlie and Vivian divorced after 4 years of marriage, mainly because of his alcoholism, but their love stayed constant leading them to reunite. I was drawn to the idea of everlasting love despite all of life’s problems and later in life romance.

Be advised it contains a lot of language, open door intimacy, abortion, and excessive alcohol use for a couple of the characters. I felt like the author wanted to show that if they didn’t drink their lives would be so much better and free from some major problems. Thanks to Sourcebooks for a digital ARC to use for my review.

This was my first Nickolas Butler novel, and it was just okay for me.
This book invoked a plethora of feelings; it was depressing, hopeful, sad, happy, and some random feelings in between. I didn’t really like any of the characters except for Jessie and Melissa’s daughters. This is a second chance romance novel for Charlie and Vivian, who are both in their 60’s, with a love that works to stand the test of time, life circumstances, and addiction. I felt like this was relatively realistic, without much steam, and the struggles that rekindling a relationship may require when you are in this stage of life. It was not a super face paced novel, and was more of a relaxing read, without much angst or drama.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The synopsis for this book was what drew me in initially, but it ended up falling a little flat for me.

I love a second-chance romance situation, and I did like how it was done here. Having both MCs be older helped give them more perspective, and being able to look back on their life and see how certain decision changed their lives. The dual POV gave a better insight for how each of them perceived their relationship, and having access to the inner thoughts on both sides gave a good balance.

However, there were a couple issues for me. The writing felt stilted in some parts, and it was hard to get into a rhythm while reading, and I found myself having to reread things to get the gist of what was just said. The no quotation marks also made things a little hard, but I got used to it after a while. The other issue I had was how dramatic the MCs got at times. For people who were in their 60s, it sometimes felt like I was reading about people much younger based on how they acted.

I don’t think this book was for me, but I can see others enjoying it.

You know when a book hits you at just the right time, you either love it or you don't. Could read it at another point in your life & it could go in another direction. This book hit me at just the right time.

Not a fast moving story, slow pace & we get to know the characters along the way.

Second chances, secrets, life struggles & growing older. I loved that this was a story of love but not a "romance " novel with younger people. This was relevant to me at my age.

Charlie & Viv- former couple 40 years ago & things don't go well with their marriage- too young, drinking, anger issues- to name a few.
But Charlie has grown & learned things the hard way & now he wants to redeem himself. I actually really liked his character. Viv has had her own life struggles & we find out just how much as the story goes on.

There are hiccups along the way but in all it is a lovely story about 2 people who came together after many years apart.

I don't mind a slow, gentle story & this pulled me right in. I now need to read other books by [author:Nickolas Butler|7095074]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

I read one or two romances a year, so I’m not sure what pulled me in to read The Forty Year Kiss, but I’m glad I did. This was a very charming book that moved me on a surprisingly personal level.

Charlie, a 60s-something man, decides to reach out to his ex-wife, Vivian. The two were married for four years in their early 20s, a marriage which ended disastrously because Charlie couldn’t control his drinking. After meeting up forty years later for drinks, Charlie starts to realize what Vivian has always meant to him and what his future could hold.

This book isn’t plot heavy and is fairly predictable, and yet, I had so much fun reading it. Charlie felt like a real, flawed man, who struggled with his priorities and finding out what really mattered to him. I was pleasantly surprised by the introduction of Jessie, who I had an immediate kinship to due to my own sister. This was just such a sweet story and a nice change of pace from my normal thrillers and horror.

A second-chance love story full of melancholy. More like The Notebook than more contemporary romances, a very sloooooooow burn, Solid, but not for those who like faster paced reads.

Thank you to Netgalley, Nickolas and Sourcebooks for the eARC! I so appreciate you allowing me to be an early reader!

What to expect:
⭐ Second Chance Romance
⭐ 40 year story gap
⭐ Different journeys to come back to each other

My Thoughts:
it has been AWHILE since I haven't loved a book. Let me say this isn't necessarily the content. For me there issn't quotations or a he said, she said, clarity within the pages. I several times was re-reading pages to figure out who was saying what. This may be a personal preference but quotations and clarity on which character says what allows me to really dig in to the story and get to know the characters.

Its a very slow burn second chance romance, filled with a journey of growing individually, and finding their way back to each other when they're older. That said this is a later in life love story. Which I say HOORAY to because there really are not enough of these kinds of stories in the market.

I truly loved the main characters (Charlie + Vivian) their story of first falling in love to their divorce and then back again is really heartbreaking and beautiful. You really begin cheering for them to find their way almost right off the bat!

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.

The Forty-Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler is a beautifully reflective exploration of love, time, and the delicate moments that define a relationship. Following the lives of two people whose bond has spanned decades, Butler captures the complexities of growing older together—how time shapes us, yet some feelings remain unchanging. The writing is tender, the characters deeply human, and the narrative quietly profound. It’s a story about the love that doesn’t always look perfect but endures through the years. A perfect read for anyone who’s ever wondered about the quiet resilience of long-lasting relationships. If you love stories about connection, introspection, and the passage of time, this one’s for you. Highly recommend! ✨

This is my first Nickolas Butler book and it was an absolute delight. A couple that divorced after four years and reconnect forty years later with a second chance at love… everyone deserves love and sometimes it takes giving love a second chance!

Charlie and Vivian were married, and divorced after 4 years. Forty years later, Charlie returns to their small town and attempts to rekindle their relationship.

Charlie acknowledges that his drinking caused a problem before, and agrees that it may still be a problem. Vivian is lonely, but scared - she has a family to look after now, and she's not sure that Charlie has really changed.

The writing was lovely, and the characters were well drawn. This was a slow and sweet tale, but I kept waiting for something to happen, and it didn't really.

A Forty-Year Kiss is a heartfelt romance about second chances and rediscovering love. Charlie and Vivian married young but went their separate ways after four years together, each moving on to new marriages and lives, with no contact in between. Now, decades later Charlie feels compelled to reconnect with Vivian. Both carry the weight of their own struggles, but they decide to set those aside to explore whether love can bloom again. This isn't a whirlwind romance but a tender, deliberate journey to see if they can build something new from the ashes of their shared past.

This book is like taking a bite of something You're pretty sure you're going to like but, then it turns out you actually love it! Surprisingly delicious, overwhelmingly heartwarming, a beautiful full circle story for Charlie and Vivian, but also in some ways for Vivian's 2nd daughter, Melissa. If you're not a fan of romance, this book could change your mind ☺️

A love story told in narrative form about an alcoholic couple married for four years, divorced for forty who reconnect and.successfully manage to rekindle what each feared was lost committing to a new future as a family. Romantic, hopeful, and forgiving.

☆ALC & ARC REVIEW☆
Publication date: February 4, 2025


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

'A Forty Year Kiss' was such a beautiful, unique story of second chances for love, parenthood, and all life's obstacles.

It dealt with some very real topics such as alcoholism, disabilities (specifically down syndrome), and the complicated dynamics of relationships, parenthood, and life in general.

I thought overall it was really cute, real, and to my surprise had some spice about 25% of the way in.

Thank you, NetGalley, Nickolas Butler, Sourcebooks, for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Charlie and Vivian, whom are the main characters, tell their views of their 4 years of marriage living in the Midwest. Having children then going their separate ways.
Now forty years later Charlie walks back into Vivian's world hoping to rekindle their romance.
Is he too late? Will she open her heart to him again? Has Charlie really changed his ways?
Find out all the answers as you read this heartbreaking book.

I love a good second chance Romance. These two characters take it up a notch, we have Charlie and Viv, they were married 40 years ago, and Charlie has come back to get her back, 40 years later……. This man has a lot of baggage, and he was not the best husband back in those days, but I love the fact that even after all these years he still loves her, he wants to make her happy, and he just wants to be with her. Viv has her own baggage as well and secrets. One of the things that makes it so much more interesting, is the fact that these characters are older, they are in their 60s trying to live life together and to love and enjoy the time that they have left with each other, but I will say this, I cried throughout this whole book, of course they are happy tears.

Charlie and Viv had a disastrous marriage of 4 years. Now forty years later they are reconnecting. This is a story of second chances and finding a family you never thought would be yours.
I really enjoyed this story of love in mid life. I would rate it 4.5 start. It was a heartfelt and moving story. The characters were leery of making the same mistakes they did the first time. What has life taught them that will influence this time around. It is nice to have a story where everyone is not young and real life has given them some knocks.
The only thing that bothered me was the lack of quotation marks. It was sometimes hard to discern if someone was speaking or just thinking. I don't know when this became a thing, but I am not in favor.
Otherwise this is a well done story.
Thank to #NetGalley, #SourcebooksLandmark, and #NicholasButler for a copy of this book.
#AFortyYearKiss

I'm honestly just a little disappointed the story was cute but overall just meh. it didn't really do anything for me. this story has absolutely no quotations so it kept throwing me off and having to go back reminding myself it was a conversation.

Sixty-somethings are not often the main characters in romantic novels, but in A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler coming out February 4, Charlie and Vivian get a second chance for love after 40 years apart.

Charlie left Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, 40 years ago after his four-year marriage to Vivian ended. He knew his drinking had played a big part in the breakup, but he could also admit to being too young and immature for marriage. The one thing that had not changed during their four decades apart was the love he had for Vivian. Might she still have feelings for him? He was about to find out as she agreed to meet him at the Tomahawk Room for a drink.

Vivian hesitated in her car before meeting Charlie in her hometown telling herself that one drink together does not mean anything. After all, he is just a man she once knew a lifetime ago. She recalled how he broke her heart, but she also knew she held a life-changing secret from their marriage that she was not likely to share over a drink.

Turns out, Charlie was moving back to the area from Albuquerque where he had recently retired from the railroad. His uncle had left him a farm about an hour away in Spooner, but mostly he was meeting her because he wanted to find out if it was possible that the love they shared had not perished.

Charlie has taken the first step on a long road to try to win Vivian back into his life. Vivian has lots of reservations including the way Charlie treated her in their marriage and his drinking problem. Vivian’s life has been hard what with a second husband who became an invalid before passing away. She had endured lots of disappointments and hardships, having made mistakes and lived in sadness. Charlie was offering her the world, and she was just too afraid to accept.

Slowly the two become friends, but even in that kind of relationship, they suffered ups and downs. The mistakes of the past haunted them. However, Charlie was financially able to make Vivian’s life—and the lives of her daughter and granddaughters—easier although Vivian was sensitive to money issues. The guy even bought her a horse, a lifelong dream finally realized for Vivian.

The questions remain. Were they truly in love with one another or was their courtship just a stopgap to loneliness? How could Charlie give up alcohol after all these years? What might happen if Vivian reveals the secret she has kept from Charlie for 40 years? What had they done to deserve a second chance at love? What kind of challenges would they face if they restarted their relationship?

Nickolas Butler is the author of four other novels: Shotgun Lovesongs, The Hearts of Men, Little Faith, and Godspeed. Born in Pennsylvania, raised in Wisconsin, Butler lives in rural Wisconsin with his family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting January 22, 2025.

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

A sweet, slow and steady, second-chance love story.

Charlie and Vivian were married for 4 years in their twenties. After retiring, Charlie begins to look back in his life, realizing, now in his sixties, he doesn’t have a lot of life left to live, and decides to track down his ex-wife to make amends. When he and Vivian reconnect, she realizes just how much she still loves him, but she’s skeptical that he’s actually changed.

It was nice to read a love story about two mature characters, even if their struggles weren’t necessarily relatable to me personally. The characters were complex, well-developed, and likable. Despite Charlie’s behavior in the past, it’s easy to root for his redemption and his happily ever after.