New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde is at her best in her latest book, MY NAME IS ANTON. This epic love story --- which spans over 15 years, where lost friends are found again --- will not disappoint those looking to quench their thirst for romance during this holiday season. But this is not a typical romance novel. Anton and Edith struggle with trauma and try to redefine the meaning of love.

Anton Addison-Rice is only 18 years old when he meets Edith, a woman who lives in the apartment building across the street with her husband. Spying on someone with your telescope is not the traditional way to make a friend, but that is how Anton finds Edith. With the telescope directed at her window, he sees her husband abusing her. Anton calls the police, who rush over, and the next day he pays a visit to Edith’s apartment. Anton knocks on the door with a clipboard in hand, pretending to be taking a survey. When Edith’s husband steps away, Anton notices her black eye and asks if she is okay. The two soon develop an unlikely friendship.

"MY NAME IS ANTON is a page-turner. We want to know what will happen to two good people who met before it was their time. Or was the timing perfect? This is a love story that does not disappoint."

Edith is 15 years Anton’s senior. They have lunch together daily, until Edith’s husband spots them talking and later beats her. With their meetings on hold, Edith sneaks out of her apartment and goes to Anton’s place while his parents are out of town. The two spend their days cooking, watching movies and divulging their deepest secrets. Anton’s hand blew off when he tried to stop his brother from shooting himself. His mother is controlling. His grandfather, who was his best friend, passed away. But luckily, he still has the love and support of his grandmother and uncle.

Edith must leave town, to save both herself and Anton. She wishes to protect him. Her husband cannot know where she is going. There’s just one problem: Anton is in love with her. But Edith worries about the taboo of being involved with a younger man. In fact, we don’t know what she’s feeling when she gets on a Metro-North train and heads to an undisclosed location, waving goodbye to a man who will never forget her.

Anton sacrifices his own happiness to make sure Edith is okay, leaving readers to question our true motives for being in love. Would we ever love another knowing we might never see them again? Anton leaves the diamond Edith gave him around his neck for the next 15 years, until the two --- older, wiser and never forgetting one another --- meet again at the turn of fate. This chance encounter seems unlikely, but is it? How often do we see or reconnect with people out of the blue, bumping into those we had just thought about the day before?

MY NAME IS ANTON is a page-turner. We want to know what will happen to two good people who met before it was their time. Or was the timing perfect? This is a love story that does not disappoint. We deeply feel the connection and the respect that Anton and Edith have toward one another, how they never take each other for granted, and how putting someone you care about before yourself might be the true definition of love.