Comeback Love, A Novel, by Peter Golden - REVIEW

Synopsis from Goodreads:


What would you do if you had a second chance with the one that got away? 

More than thirty-five years ago, Gordon Meyers, an aspiring writer with a low number in the draft lottery, packed his belongings and reluctantly drove away, leaving behind Glenna Rising, the sexy, sharp-witted med student he couldn’t imagine living without. 

Now, decades later, Gordon is a former globe-trotting consultant with a grown son, an ex-wife, and an overwhelming desire to see Glenna again. Though she’s stunned when Gordon walks into her Manhattan office, Glenna agrees to accompany him for a drink. As the two head out into the snow-swept city, they rediscover the passion that once drew them together—before it tore them apart. And as the evening unfolds, Gordon will finally reveal the true reason for his return. . . . 

Comeback Love is an evocative journey into the hearts of two lovers who came of age in the 1960s, and who never truly let each other go. Plumbing the depths of youth, regret, and desire, Peter Golden deftly illuminates the bonds that mysteriously endure in the face of momentous change.

Paperback Version/Release Date: April 3rd, 2012 - Original Edition

My Take:
Finally, I stumble upon a love story that is riveting with such delight, force, full of romance and so truly becoming that I fell completely and deeply mad in love with this book. I literally fell head over heels in love with these characters/couple, as they did with each other. This 'debut fiction novel' by Peter Golden surpasses a 5-star rating in this reader's opinion! This is a love story that is absolutely radiant, one you will not soon forget, as it will leave an imprint on your own heart. This book can truly answer the age old question of 'can love really last forever'? This story is a love story that is beautifully and romantically written, yet very realistic at the same time.
These two people meet in their college years and become a couple, Gordon and Glenna, and fall deeply in love during the 1960's, a trying and turbulent time, when the entire world was in unrest. Not only was the world at unrest, so were these two people which made for a riveting story. Each character needed to grow, one more so than the other. Cautious and trepidacaous with both of their hearts, they both try to guard them from one another, yet no matter how hard they try, their love would not allow them to. Something kept them together, until Gordon could tell something was happening with Glenna and her attitude once she started her Residency and also got involved in something illegal at the time. Shortly after noticing this change in Glenna, they had their first huge break-up in which Glenna would do something so severe to Gordon, that she was so angry at herself for doing it, she blames Gordon and makes him leave. Right then. Right there. NOW. It broke Gordon's heart. He was doubled over in pain.
Gordon is drafted and off he goes to Vietnam, but he still writes to Glenna. That love they have/had is still there. Every now and then, time willing when Gordon was in Glenna's neighborhood, the two of them would get back together. It must be because they were together for so many years that they still had that spark. I know this is what I felt about their visits. Some visits came to fruition, most did not.
Will true love win out in the long run of life?  
I truly fell as deeply in love with these characters as they did with each other. This is a love story that is so beautifully and romantically written, it will stay in your heart forever. I was glued to this book and I carried it with me wherever I went in the house, or even outside and while riding in the car. I just could not put this book down. 
Peter Golden's style of writing is very captivating and engaging. It is very descriptive and full of emotion. He knows what and how to tell a love story so touching and heartfelt, you simply cannot stop reading it. The length this relationship lasted, until the time they broke up and reunited, until the book ends, was timed to perfection. His writing is absolutely beautiful.
This book flip-flops between the past and the present. For instance, it starts off in the present during the Christmas holidays, with Gordon being stranded in New York city because of a blizzard. The airport is shut down, and there are no hopes of it opening soon. He takes a room at the Hyatt, and while stranded there, thirty-five years after their break-up, he decides to call upon Glenna again, after all this time has passed. 
Gordon goes to Glenna's office to see if she might happen to be in, pondering this because of the time of day. She's in! They meet, and walk together arm in arm, to get a drink and reminisce their past relationship. Gordon is still very attracted to her. The snow is still falling, the roads are almost empty, so they decide to walk to the restaurant. It turns out to be a romantic setting, through the streets of New York during the holidays, through the new fallen snow
The past: Gordon is a freelance writer who earns very little money with his writing as the stories he sells to different publications do not pay much money.  Glenna was a pre-med student who is now in her first year of internship at a local hospital. This immediately causes a little friction between the two, as Glenna is the bread winner of the two. She shares a large apartment with a friend, whereas Gordon is still living back home with his parents. Not an ideal situation for Gordon. Remember that during the 60's, with the Women's Movement, women were just starting to become very self dependent. Gordon somewhat felt a little 'less than' as compared to Glenna with his income.
This relationship is not without it's struggles and/or difficulties, but along with it's wonderful moments, those do outnumber any negatives. That is, until  eventually something huge happens that is so large, circumstances and words make hurts that cannot be mended whatsoever, and the relationship ends completely.
Each go their separate ways, but through the years, do get back in contact with the other, and they meet up every so often. Sometimes when they meet, Gordon finds out Glenna has completely changed more times than not. Growing pains, but I think Glenna had more of them than Gordon did. That is for you to read about and decide.
Back to the present, yet this is where the book begins, and as I began to tell you a little about Gordon and Glenna's relationship. Stranded, Gordon goes to Glenna's office to see if she's there or not. It's a toss-up he thinks. She is or isn't, but worth the chance. Yes! She's there! She is on her way out the door, as it is closing time. Gordon asks Glenna if she would like to go out for a drink, which is where my review has started.
As I said above, again, this book shows that love does still stand the test of time. The great part of it is finding out how and enjoying the ride.
I would LOVE to tell you more, but I cannot. This is the type of book that you will be glued to, and is a very personal experience of love, different for every person who reads this book. When you do start reading it, you are going to want to devour everything and find out just exactly how and where their relationship takes them as you escape into this fabulous love story. I HIGHLY recommended this book! Put it on your TBR lists now! You are going to find a NEW author, Peter Golden, who you are going to love!
My favorite line from the book "Comeback Love" by Peter Golden:
"Not every conviction is impervious to the lessons and corrosion of time, and I could feel the past and present gathering together to become, if I was lucky, the future I desired."
This is one of my FAVORITE books of the year so far! It is going on my "Favorites List of 2012".
I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! 


*I received this book for FREE from Washington Square Books, a  Division of Simon and Schuster, AND through Crazy Book Tours through their Book Reviewers Program in exchange to read this book and write a review about it.  It is NOT required for the review to be either positive or negative, but, of my own opinion. Free means I was provided with NO MONIES to read this book or write a review, but to enjoy the book. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html

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About the Author:

FROM AMAZON'S AUTHOR PAGE:

Visit Peter Golden's website: http://www.goodreads.com/Peter_Golden
Peter is touring in SEVERAL cities across the US, and you can find where he is at on his website.

Biography

Peter Golden is an award-winning journalist and the author of six full-length works of non-fiction and fiction.

Some of Peter Golden's work has appeared in the Detroit Free Press Magazine, Albany Times Union, New Jersey Monthly, Microsoft's eDirections, Beyond Computing, Electronic Business, Midstream, The Forward, and Capital Region Magazine.

Golden's Quiet Diplomat, a biography of industrialist and political-insider Max M. Fisher made the Detroit Free Press bestseller list. Among those he interviewed were Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush; Secretaries of State Kissinger, Haig, and Shultz; and Israeli Prime Ministers Shamir, Peres, and Rabin.

For more on Peter Golden visit http://www.petergolden.com/

Peter Golden is an award-winning journalist and the author of six full-length works of non-fiction and fiction.

Some of Peter Golden's work has appeared in the Detroit Free Press Magazine, Albany Times Union, New Jersey Monthly, Microsoft's eDirections, Beyond Computing, Electronic Business, Midstream, The Forward, and Capital Region Magazine.

Golden's Quiet Diplomat, a biography of industrialist and political-insider Max M. Fisher made the Detroit Free Press bestseller list. Among those he interviewed were Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush; Secretaries of State Kissinger, Haig, and Shultz; and Israeli Prime Ministers Shamir, Peres, and Rabin.

With J. Stanley Shaw, Golden wrote, I Rest My Case: My Long Journey from the Castle on the Hill to Home, a memoir that chronicles Shaw's life from his childhood years under the supervision of the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum in the 1930s to his career as one of the preeminent bankruptcy attorneys in the United States.

Golden's O Powerful Western Star, a history of the Cold War, will be published in the fall of 2011. For that book, Golden re-interviewed Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, and other world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev.

Golden's novel, Comeback Love, will be published the first week of November 2010.