Nickolas Butler, the critically acclaimed author of SHOTGUN LOVESONGS, returns with A FORTY YEAR KISS, a beautiful, life-affirming novel about second chances and sunset triumph. Featuring a sixty-something couple giving love another try as they revisit their youth, the book will appeal to any reader in need of a love story for the ages.

When we meet Charlie, he is 64 years old and nursing a beer in a bar as he waits for his date to arrive. It’s not exactly the future he had planned. Married at 20 and two more times since then, Charlie never expected to be having butterflies as he waits for a love match to find him. But even more surprising than being single at 60 is the identity of his date: his ex-wife, Vivian.

Married for four years in their early 20s, Charlie and Vivian divorced for a number of reasons, but they all come back to one: Charlie’s drinking, a bad habit with which he continues to struggle. But unlike the Charlie of 40 years ago, this Charlie at least knows he has a problem. He’s determined to bury it once and for all so that he can love Vivian the way he was meant to: totally, completely and endlessly. It’s a real “wish upon a star” kind of dream, but he is ready to do whatever it takes to earn her trust again, even if it means laying all of his cards on the table.

"This truly is a literary valentine that will appeal to readers from all walks of life and ages.... Perfect for book clubs, A FORTY YEAR KISS is dazzling in its lyricism and poignant in its takeaways."

Of course, 40 years isn’t a small amount of time, and while Charlie has been busy getting married and divorced and nursing his heartbreaks with alcohol, Vivian also has moved on. Married only one more time after Charlie, Vivian is now the single mother of Jessie and Melissa, and grandmother to Melissa’s two girls, Ainsley and Addison. Jessie lives in a group home, so Vivian resides with Melissa and her daughters, fully immersing herself in all the pleasures and delights of grandmotherhood.

Looking back, Vivian wouldn’t change the trajectory of her life for anything --- not when she has two beloved, adorable granddaughters to show for it --- but even she can admit that she hasn’t always been happy and her current life can sometimes feel a bit smothering. Simply put, it has been a long time since anyone really treasured her or was simply nice to her. So when she receives a message from her ex-husband, she doesn’t think twice. What’s wrong with grabbing a drink with an old friend?

Charlie is quick to admit the real reason he returned to their small town after a near lifetime of working on trains: he is in love with Vivian and wants them to try to make it work again. Vivian is touched, even flattered by Charlie’s zeal, and she can’t deny that he certainly seems different: more focused and responsible, and less reactionary. But she also can’t ignore the fact that she’s grown very accustomed to her independence. Where she once cowered from her husband’s outbursts, she is now much more comfortable having outbursts of her own, standing up for herself, and maintaining the boundaries she so carefully has built up after a lifetime of hurt.

Rather than being turned off by this new, more confident Vivian, Charlie is entranced. This, he thinks, is the Vivian he always loved, the one he knew was hiding behind her unflappable exterior as he drank their life and love story away.

With Charlie and Vivian committed to at least trying again, a few painful truths come to the forefront. First, Vivian has been hiding a secret from Charlie for 40 years, one that not only could threaten their reunion, but could change his life forever. Second, falling in love and agreeing to marry when you’re young is one thing --- naivety comes with blinders, after all --- but doing the same thing at 60 is unbelievable, radical even. Both are set in their ways and routines, and blending their lives --- and those of Vivian’s daughters and granddaughters --- comes with much higher stakes than it did when they were just two dumb kids in love. Add to that Charlie’s alcoholism, and you have not just a love story, but a love battle, the ultimate fight for true love in all its iterations.

With Charlie and Vivian confronting their pasts --- both shared and individual --- it will take many painful discussions, a lot of uncomfortable truths, and some serious reckoning with redemption for them to usher in and revive their love. Fortunately, with Nickolas Butler at the writing helm, A FORTY YEAR KISS does just that.

This truly is a literary valentine that will appeal to readers from all walks of life and ages. Although it’s a tender and compassionate tale, Butler is never overly sentimental or mawkish, choosing instead to let his characters’ burdens and backstories ground the otherwise romantic plot and give it some real literary heft and muscle. Far from diluting the love story, this choice actually helps the romance between Charlie and Vivian come to life, almost turning it into a third character, the underdog you really root for.

Although Charlie and Vivian are the stars of this tale, I was equally if not more charmed by Melissa and her interactions with Charlie. Despite the fact that Charlie has never fathered children or created a real family, his ability to adapt to and even rescue Vivian’s daughter from herself is proof of his total redemption. It makes Vivian’s love for him --- despite his flaws --- gritty and real, but also soaring and romantic.

Perfect for book clubs, A FORTY YEAR KISS is dazzling in its lyricism and poignant in its takeaways.