Two broken pasts. One last chance. An unforgettable story of star-crossed lovers, found family, and the fight to live fully.no matter the cost. Sawyer Hawkins and Paxton Banks were inseparable as children, their secret bridge in Louisiana a sanctuary from the world--until Hurricane Katrina swept them apart. Thirteen years and a lifetime of battles later, fate brings them back together when Sawyer returns for college. Sawyer, unbroken and unapologetically alive after a relentless battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is determined to seize every moment she's been denied. The bucket list she writes is her lifeline: each item a rebellion against the years stolen by illness, each day a chance to taste freedom, friendship, and love.
Banks, now a reserved architecture student, carries the weight of his father's abuse and his best friend's addiction, feeling unable to save those he loves. But when he discovers his long-lost friend Sawyer is his new neighbor, her courage and warmth begin to melt through his walls. Their reunion is electric, with witty banter, shared secrets, and a spark that refuses to be extinguished. But as their friendship deepens into a complicated, aching romance, old wounds and new tragedies threaten to tear them apart, and Sawyer's still-declining health becomes impossible to hide. Both must confront the truth: sometimes loving someone means letting them go. Filled with longing, laughter, and heartbreak, this is a story about living fiercely in the shadow of loss, about the courage to love even when time is running out, and about the bridges we build--between hearts, across years, and beyond grief. Perfect for fans of If He Had Been with Me , Five Feet Apart , and All the Bright Places , as well as readers looking for: New adult contemporary romance Star-crossed lovers Tragic romance Second chance romance Childhood friends to lovers Found family Stories that will break your heart--and heal it Praise for Past the Broken Bridges : "Heartbreaking, beautiful, raw, inspirational, pure, deeply moving, powerful, and so personal. The snot bubbles were bubbling and the tears were just flowing endlessly.
B. Celeste, where should I send my therapy bill?" "Highly recommend for all my heart-crushing, sob-inducing, tear-jerker-loving besties!" "It was heartbreaking yet perfect, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way." "A love story worth reading and a heartache worth crying over. This will be living rent free in my head for the foreseeable future." "This book wrecked my entire being. This is 6 stars and one of my top reads of the year." "B. Celeste wrote this from her soul and hit me square in the soul with it too.
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