Book Review: "Say You Still Love Me" by K.A. Tucker

How many of us would jump at a second chance with a lost love, or wish we had that opportunity at some point in our lives? What would we be willing to risk to see that second chance through?

Piper Calloway is being groomed to take over her father's multibillion-dollar real estate development firm, if he's ever willing to retire. She definitely knows her stuff and can go toe-to-toe with any man in the business, but many believe she's only risen through the ranks of the company because she's the boss's daughter. Since she's beautiful and 29, and a woman, many aren't willing to take her seriously—at their own peril.

As if battling for respect from one of her father's right-hand men isn't hard enough to deal with on a daily basis, she also needs to work closely with David, her ex-fiancé, who is a fellow VP at the firm. He's handsome and intelligent—and he knows it—but Piper's father still hasn't gotten over their ending their engagement, since David is both surrogate son and sidekick. David is just biding his time until Piper realizes the error of her ways.

One day, in the midst of all her daily chaos, she sees a face she hasn't seen since the summer she was 16 years old. Kyle Miller, the handsome, cocky boy who stole her heart when they were summer camp counselors 13 years ago—and then broke her heart when the summer ended and they went their separate ways—has grown into an immensely handsome man. She's never been able to find him on social media, never heard from him again—what is he doing in her building?

"Because, even after all these years, with college and boyfriends, and my career and my engagement to David, Kyle Miller has always been a sliver in my heart, a shadow in my thoughts. A lingering 'what if' that I have never been able to truly shake."

It turns out Kyle is now a security guard in her building, and at first, he didn't seem to even know her name. But when he admits that was an act, he also admits he'd like to keep their relationship formal. Too many years have passed, she's nearly the CEO of the company that owns the building in which he works, and he's just a security guard. Once again, they're on either side of the financial divide, and Kyle would like to keep it that way.

Piper can't seem to shake the feelings that Kyle has reignited. Was this just a summer relationship between two high school kids, not destined to go anywhere, or did it have the potential to be so much more? Why did Kyle cut her off completely, change his name, and disappear, leaving her wondering whether the feelings he told her he had were genuine or just a way to get what he wanted that summer? Can a relationship succeed between two people who are so different that forces will try to keep them apart?

K.A. Tucker's new book, Say You Still Love Me, explores the idea of a second chance years later, when so much has changed, but the people are still the same at their core. Can a teenage relationship from summer camp blossom into something serious, all these years later? Can a relationship in which the participants are so far apart financially ever work? Are there secrets which can keep them apart even now?

The narration shifts between when Piper and Kyle first meet at camp 13 years ago and present day. It also shifts between Piper's attempts to understand Kyle's disappearance and his distance since then and her struggles to succeed outside her father's shadow. It's an exploration of friendship, first love, family, and the secrets that threaten to destroy it all, or which incite us to want to throw it all away.

I read Tucker's last book, The Simple Wild, earlier this year and fell completely in love with it. I was really excited to get the opportunity to read Say You Still Love Me before it was published. I really enjoy the way Tucker writes, and her combination of emotion, humor, and sex is really appealing.

I definitely enjoyed this book, and loved the concept (especially having gone to summer camp for 10 seasons and seen many couples from that time married now), but I honestly could have done without the narration from camp. I felt that part of the story dragged and took far too long to tell. I understood Tucker was setting the scene but it seemed to just be the same things over and over again.

More and more, I'm becoming a fan of rom-coms, and Tucker is definitely an author I'll turn to again and again. Say You Still Love Me was an enjoyable, emotional read that brought a tear to my eye.

NetGalley and Atria Books provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

This book publishes August 6, 2019.