Next Year, For Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson

“Love isn’t: I love you so much that I need to possess you and control you and be the source of all your happiness. Love is: I love you so much that I want you to have everything you need, even when it’s hard for me.”

Next Year, For Sure is the story of a couple who have been together for nine years, and decide to try an open relationship. This experiment evolves in unexpected ways, and challenges their thoughts on love. Kathryn and Chris are in a loving and committed relationship, with each being very supportive of one another. They share and tell each other everything, so when Chris develops a crush on Emily, a woman he meets at a laundromat, he of course tells Kathryn. When it becomes clear that Chris’ crush is not something that is going away, Kathryn encourages him to go on a date with Emily. With this they embark on an open relationship, which brings up a lot of emotions, and allows the two to explore their own feelings with regards to relationships and what makes them happy.

“He doesn’t want to kiss her. He wants what comes after. After the kissing and the undressing and the confiding. After the discovery and the familiarity and the gradual absence of kissing. He wants the intimacy of friends who used to be lovers.”

This is the kind of book I absolutely love. It is thoughtful and character based, focusing on complex yet relatable feelings and written in a conversational style. The writing style makes it an easy and page-turning read and you feel like you are getting an inside view of someone’s life. What I really appreciated was the fact that there are no “bad guys” in this novel. The characters are not mean-spirited in any way, and the way they respect and communicate with one another is refreshing to read. I loved the simplicity and easy flowing nature of the storytelling, and found the novel as a whole to be very well done. If it sounds like your kind of book as well, I definitely recommend giving it a read!