4 Smooches!
Synopsis
They hadn’t seen each other in six years.
She’d always had a crush on him.
He’d only ever seen her like a little sister.
And now…he’s back.
Brooklyn
I thought that he was a part of a distant past. I thought I didn’t feel anything for him now, but I was not so sure anymore. Having him back in my life, for however long it was, was making me see things differently. So many things had changed in the last six years and somehow I’d lost myself and forgotten all about my dreams.
My home life was still a mess, my personal life was nothing to boast about and when I see how successful he is, how everything he’d always wanted came true, I couldn’t help but feel lacking in a lot of ways. But he’s back and he needed me. I knew I was the only one who understood that part of his life, the only one he’s willing to share it with. My heart is still beating too hard and too fast for him and this time around, I was as much an adult as he was.
Having a six year age gap didn’t mean shit.
Nolan
Being back in Riverdale was harder than I thought. I’d turned my back on that life, but there had always been that one girl in my head. Little B. Now she’s nothing like the twelve year old girl I’d last seen. She’s a young woman, gorgeous and sexy. I couldn’t stay away. There’s something drawing me to her and it goes beyond my need to reconnect with her, to have her back in my life and fill the hollow part of my chest. But I couldn’t forget the little girl she had been; I shouldn’t forget the little girl she used to be.
Growing up with a junkie mother and nobody else, my neighbor, Brooklyn, had been my only happy place. I had taken care of her, and when I had left, I had to leave behind a huge part of me. I couldn’t do it again. I needed her. Once again, she’s the only person I want in my life, but I wasn’t sure if it was for all the right reasons.
Were there too many obstacles in the way?
Contemporary Romance standalone novel for readers over 18.
Review
Nine-year-old Brooklyn was a lonely young child. The only child to born to emotionally absent parents still grieving over the loss of their first child, she didn’t have much of a home life or a parental support system. While her parents were physically present and did not abuse her, they ignored her and went on about their lives as if she didn’t exist.
Nolan Bell was an angry 15-year-old boy. His father wasn’t in the picture and his mother was a junkie. He was left to his own devices, and he often had to take care of his mother. He filled his time with girls and his dreams of leaving this life behind for college.
One night, nine year old Brooklyn meets her next-door neighbor, 15-year-old Nolan, and a friendship is started. For Brooklyn, Big No was the one solid force in her young life. She loved him, and as she grew older, that adoration grew into a young girl’s crush and then finally into love. For Nolan, Little B was the bright spot in his otherwise dark world. She was the only person who believed whole-heartedly in him and she pushed him to do better. Over the years, their friendship grew and they both relied upon each other and became the most important person in the other’s life. Until Nolan left for college without saying goodbye and without a backwards glance, leaving a brokenhearted and shattered Brooklyn behind.
“He was tattooed on my heart, in my bones, through my soul.”
Six years have passed and Nolan has become a successful, best selling author. He lives in New York, he’s wealthy and he’s in a relationship with the “right” kind of girl. He has not kept in contact with anyone from home. But his mother is now dying and she reaches out to him, and he returns home to deal with those demons.
“She’s my past and should be my present and future.”
He is shocked when he sees Brooklyn again. She is not the 12 year old girl he left behind. He soothed himself by thinking that he left her to pursue his dreams and she’d be doing well, she’d be dating a nice boy and she’d welcome him home with open arms. Brooklyn, however, has grown up. She’s a little harder now, life hasn’t been easy for her and her dreams were destroyed long ago.
“I was brokenhearted.”
Between the chilly reception he receives from her to the fact that she has blossomed in to a beautiful and sexy young woman, Nolan is nearly obsessed with reconnecting with Brooklyn. She is less enthusiastic. He attempts to rekindle the big brother role in her life, and she is not having it. Brooklyn slowly warms to Nolan’s persistent attempts to spend time with her. But the more time he spends with her, the more feelings he develops. He’s very confused by these feelings because this is his Little B and he’s six years older than her. But Brooklyn is the calm voice of reason for Nolan, and she consistently shows an incredible amount of maturity and patience during this time. He is enthralled with this Brooklyn, but he’s struggling with his feelings for her. Can Nolan reconcile and embrace his feelings for Brooklyn and overcome his hang-ups about their age difference?
“There’s something about her that made it impossible for me to let go. No matter what, she truly was a piece of me, the best one.”
This beautiful story is one about love in all its forms and transformative powers of it. It’s about two people purging the pain of their pasts to forge their future together built upon a solid foundation of their history together and their deep love for each other. I loved it, and it gets 4 smooches from me!
~ Danielle Palumbo
