All This Time

The plan was that Kyle would give his longtime girlfriend Kim a charm bracelet, she would stop being so distant, and they would go off to college together. Instead, she breaks up with him for good, and they end up in an accident that leaves Kim dead and Kyle with head injuries and nightmares. Feeling lost and guilty, Kyle visits Kim’s grave and meets Marley, who is pretty, reticent, and endlessly kind. As the duo become friends, former football star Kyle realizes how self-involved he was and begins falling in love with Marley. With no last name, no apparent school affiliation, a tragic backstory, and a knack for telling wise, poignant stories, Marley seemingly embodies a variant of a trope: the shy pixie dream girl. That is, before the big twist. Daughtry and Lippincott (Five Feet Apart) have crafted a fairy tale romance for readers who believe in second and third chances, as well as improbable but destined love. That the pair has built it atop the book’s first half—a fundamentally realistic story of Kyle’s maturation—makes the twists more affecting and, for the right readers, more romantic. Ages 12–up. [em](Sept.) [/em]