Publishers Weekly08/19/2013
There's a big gap between where 18-year-old Reena Montero expected to be and where she is. Instead of studying journalism at Northwestern after graduating from high school a year early, she's living with her parents in hot, sticky Florida, taking courses at the local community college and caring for her toddler, Hannah. It's not what Reena planned, but she's making the best of it. Then her one love—Hannah's father, Sawyer LeGrande—comes back to town. In a confident debut, Cotugno structures Reena's story in alternating "before" and "after" chapters that explain how Reena and Sawyer got together, what brought them to where they are now, and where they could end up, maybe, if they can push through a tangle of guilt, anger, and complicated family connections.