Stay With Me by Paul Griffin

Here’s a quick bite from the author’s webpage: Fifteen-year-olds Céce and Mack didn’t expect to fall in love. She’s a sensitive A student; he’s a high school dropout. But soon they’re spending every moment together, bonding over a rescued dog, telling their secrets, making plans for the future. Everything is perfect. Until. Until. Mack makes a horrible mistake, and in just a few minutes, the future they’d planned becomes impossible. In this stark new reality, both of them must find meaning and hope in the memories of what they had, to survive when the person they love can’t stay.

My Take

If you like happy endings with hearts and flowers…this is not a story like that.  It had its fair share of hearts and Cece and Mack fall deeply in love, which was beautiful.  They were both deeply scared individuals who had a rough life up to finding one another.  To see so much hope, possibility and optimism about a future that seemed at best unsure before they met each other was joyful.  But it’s amazing how fast things can change.  A person’s whole life can hinge on a moment.  This book illustrates the frailty of life and the pain of paying for wrong choices.  In reality none of us gets any “do-overs”.

Mr. Griffin creates characters that you genuinely care about and want to see succeed.  He also includes gritty reality and truth.  You see the characters short-comings, their broken places and you celebrate their growth and mending too.  Stay With Me gets 5 sloppy puppy dog kisses from me!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Librarything as part of their early book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”