The Things You Kiss Goodbye

Bettina Vasilis can hardly believe it when basketball star Brady Cullen asks her out, and she just about faints when her strict father actually approves of him. Over the course of the summer, Bettina falls in love with Brady . . . and with the new freedom that comes along with him.

But when school starts up again, Brady changes. What happened to the sweet boy she fell in love with? Then she meets a smoldering guy in his twenties, and this "cowboy" is everything Brady is not-gentle, caring, and interested in getting to know the real Bettina, or "Beta," as he nicknames her.

Bettina knows that breaking up with Brady would mean losing her freedom-and that it would be inappropriate for anything to happen between her and Cowboy. Still, she can't help that her breath catches when he smiles, or that she longs for the scent of his auto shop whenever she's anywhere else.

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.

Leslie Connor has written a lyrical, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about family, romance, and the immense power of love.