By: Nickolas Butler
Narrator: Richard Poe
RBmedia | Recorded Books
ISBN: 9781464221248
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: 02/04/2025
Format: Audio & e-book
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC) (ALC)
From the critically acclaimed author of Shotgun Lovesongs comes an exquisitely written, small-town story about one couple's hard-won second chance at love, forty years after their divorce.
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.
"Captivating!
It’s never too late for love & second chances—lyrical & big-hearted, from lost love, forgiveness, hope & redemption. I loved it!
A perfect literary Valentine read.”
My Review
Nickolas Butler's latest exquisite tale, A FORTY YEAR KISS, is utterly captivating! It's never too late for love & second chances —lyrical & big-hearted, from lost love, forgiveness, hope & redemption. I loved it!—a perfect literary Valentine read.
A compelling small-town love story. A couple who met up again forty years after their divorce. There is a lot of hurt, mistrust, and living in between. Will they make it the second time around? Their moving, emotional journey will surely resonate with readers.
About...
Charlie and Vivian divorced after four years of marriage. There were too many problems. Charlie drank too much, and they both went on to live their lives.
Forty years later, Charlie returns to Wisconsin and knows he wants to rekindle his relationship with the one love. Even though he married twice after. He wants to try and pick up the broken pieces.
They have had other relationships, regrets, secrets, mistakes, and baggage; they are set in their ways and from different economic backgrounds.
Charlie is an alcoholic with a vast wine collection and has just taken over a large farm. He wants Vivian to be a part of his life. He has done very well for himself at age 64, retired from the railroad, and has stock in Apple. So, financially, he can help Vivian. He is a giving man and has the best of heart.
On the other hand, Vivian is barely getting by and lives with her daughter and two children by different men. They struggle financially. She shops at Walmart and thrift shops.
While she enjoys the attention and the lavish dinners, she is also guarded and has her pride. She does not make it easy for Charlie to return to her life. He still must make changes for them to try again. Is he up for the challenge?
In addition, Vivian has a big secret that could also affect their relationship. This secret, when revealed, adds a layer of complexity to their journey, making the story even more compelling.
My thoughts...
I loved A FORTY YEAR KISS! and the reveal was unexpected. I am not typically a romance reader; however, I adore literary fiction and late-in-life stories of redemption.
Being older with so many regrets and life takes work, and it was refreshing to hear from Charlie and Vivian's perspectives. Their growth and resilience will inspire you.
Your heart will break and be put back together before the end. I loved reading the inspiration behind the story from the author, Nickolas Butler. He drew from his observations, which added a personal touch to the narrative.
A FORTY YEAR KISS is a profoundly moving, transcending, beautifully written, uplifting story of love, family, second chances, forgiveness, wisdom, kindness, and redemption.
My first book by the author, and I was highly impressed. I cannot wait to read his backlist and upcoming works. His storytelling is truly admirable.
Audiobook...
I had the privilege of reading the e-book and listening to the audiobook narrated by the talented Richard Poe, elevating the novel and capturing its compelling characters and raw emotions, making the story come alive. I was hooked from the beginning. I highly recommend the audiobook, and it is perfect for Valentine's.
Recs...
A FORTY YEAR KISS is for fans of the author, Richard Paul Evans, Nicholas Sparks, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Tim Johnston, Allen Eskens, Viola Shipman, Fredrik Backman, Charles Martin, JoJo Moyes, Ken Jaworowski, and Ethan Joella. (all favorites).
If you enjoyed it, I recommend Only After We Met (audio fantastic) by Alice Keelen, narrated by Gail Shalan and Benjamin Crow. It is about a younger couple who had many issues and came back together after a world of hurt, addiction, struggles, and wisdom.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and Recorded Books via NetGalley for an advanced review and listening copy—and the introduction to this talented author!
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: Feb 4, 2025
Praise
“Life-affirming and straight-up beautiful. Will stoke the good fire in your chest. I absolutely loved it. A must-read.”
—Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook
“A big-hearted, comforting novel about second chances—at love, at recovery, at forgiveness and redemption. Butler treats all his characters with dignity and affection. When we die, we’d all be lucky to come back as a character in a Nickolas Butler novel.”
—Ash Davidson, author of Damnation Spring
“Nick Butler only writes good books, but this is the one that sticks most tightly in my brain and heart... It’s a book for the midnight optimist that is waiting inside us all.”
—Leif Enger, bestselling author of I Cheerfully Refuse
“Nick Butler is at the top of his game with A Forty-Year Kiss. The characters are so real, I feel like they are family. The story is absolute perfection and a romance for the ages. From the first sentences, the reader is placed right into the pages, and I didn’t want it to end. I have been waiting a long time to read a book like this, and Nick’s writing will forever live in my heart.”
—Mary O’Malley, Skylark Bookshop
“Nickolas Butler sets the page on fire in A Forty-Year Kiss. This is not an out-of-control wildfire of a love story—it is, instead, the slow burn of mature people who know love. A Forty-Year Kiss understands the peaks and dives of a lifelong romance and illuminates them gloriously on the page. Charlie and Vivian are complex, fallible, and very real. Let yourself fall head over heels for the new novel by this remarkable author.”
—Pamela Klinger-Horn, Valley Bookseller
“An unforgettable love story that transcends time. Nickolas Butler has crafted a stunning portrayal of new beginnings that is raw, honest, and deeply moving. A Forty-Year Kiss inspires hope and proves that it is never too late for a second chance at love. I couldn’t put it down!”
—Maxwell Gregory, Madison Street Books
About the Author
Nickolas Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop.
His first novel was the internationally best-selling and prize-winning Shotgun Lovesongs, which has been optioned for film development and has been translated into ten languages. Beneath the Bonfire, a collection of short stories, followed a year later. In 2017, he published The Hearts of Men which was short-listed for two of France’s most prestigious literary prizes even before its American publishing. In 2019, his fourth book, Little Faith was published, and he is already at work on another novel, this one set in the mountains of the American West.
Butler is the recipient of many literary prizes and commendations and has published articles, reviews, short stories, and poetry in publications such as: Ploughshares, Narrative, and The New York Times Book Review, to name a few. Prior to publishing Shotgun Lovesongs, Butler worked a long list of jobs including: coffee roaster, liquor store clerk, office manager, hot-dog vendor, author escort, meat-packer, bed-and-breakfast manager, telemarketer, and Burger King maintenance man.
He is married and lives with his wife and two children on sixteen acres of land adjacent to a buffalo farm in rural Wisconsin.. WEBSITE
Nicklos Butler Books
About the Narrator
Richard Poe is is an American actor. He has worked in movies, television and on Broadway.
He has provided narration for the audiobook version of Cormac McCarthy's novels Blood Meridian, The Crossing and Suttree, as well as Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. He won the 2004 Audie Award for his narration of East Of Eden, has been nominated three other times, and has been a frequent recipient of Audiofile Magazine's Earphone Award. WEBSITE
