How To Love by Katie Cotugno

Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Purchased
Publication Date: October 1, 2013

Goodreads Synopsis:
Before: 
Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he's never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.

After:
Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena's gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she's finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn't want anything to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said Sawyer's being back wasn't stirring something in her. After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice.

Review:
Most of the books I had lined up for April are intense thrillers and historical fiction novels. After reading four already this month, I needed something light hearted. Enter, How to Love by Katie Cotugno.

I liked the format of the book where each chapter alternates between the present and the past. The "After" chapters represent current day where Reena is living her life with Hannah after Sawyer has left. The "Before" chapters describe the events in Reena's life leading up to her pregnancy.

How to Love has been in the market for well over a year and has some mixed reviews. I can see how some readers are torn. Sawyer is a very difficult character to life because he is so carefree and disregards the feelings of those close to him, especially Reena. I think others may also have issues with Reena and Sawyer's relationship. In both timelines they are deceitful and show very little remorse for the people they hurt as they rekindle their childhood romance. Despite all of this, I still enjoyed the book and can see myself reading this again. The love story is believable and most of the characters are realistic enough that readers can relate to them. If you're looking for a quick, feel good read, this book is a great choice.

Rating: ★★★★★

After finishing How to Love, I found out that Katie Cotugno has a new book coming soon, 99 Days will be released April 21, 2015. I've already added it to my TBR list for the summer.