The Things You Kiss Goodbye

Fans of Sarah Dessen will love this heartbreaking story about family, loss, and the joys and disappointments of first love.

Bettina Vasilis can hardly believe it when star basketball player Brady Cullen convinces her strict father to let them date. That summer, Bettina falls in love with Brady and the freedom that comes along with him. But when school starts up again, Brady unexpectedly changes for the worse. Unable to give up on her first love just yet, she finds herself trapped in an abusive relationship.

Then she meets "Cowboy," a smoldering older guy and the last guy her father would approve. Yet he is everything Brady is not-gentle, caring, and interested in getting to know the real Bettina. When tragedy strikes, Bettina must tell her family the truth-and kiss goodbye the things she thought she knew about herself and the men in her life.

One boy is the perfect lie. The other is a dangerous truth.

• First Love, First Heartbreak: Star athlete Brady Cullen seems like a dream, but Bettina's perfect summer romance soon becomes a nightmare she can't wake up from.
• Toxic Relationship: From public adoration to private cruelty, Bettina struggles to escape a relationship that's chipping away at her sense of self.
• Age Gap Romance: Enter Cowboy, a gentle mechanic who sees the real Bettina. He's everything she needs, and everything her strict father has forbidden.
• Strict Parents: Navigating a first relationship is hard enough without an old-world father whose approval is everything?and whose rules could break her.