How To End A Love Story by Yulin Kuang

I would have pegged this as a YA Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, but instead it is a straight ahead adult pick. I stand by my assessment, and it does have characteristics I like about her picks in both categories. Helen Zhang was a nerd in high school, prone to keeping her head down and writing rather than athletics. Grant Shephard is the quarterback of the football team and prom king. Their lives collide when he is behind the wheel when Helen's suicidal sister steps in front of his car. They share this trauma but in Helen's family, Grant is the bad guy. Fast forward to the present when they are 30 somethings--Helen is the author of a successful YA series that is being made into a television series and Grant is a seasoned Hollywood script writer who is on the team bringing her books to life. They are both invested in the team not finding out what their real connection is, and they have the inevitable prickly first interactions that lead you know where. It is not just a romance novel but also about the ripple of trauma across ones life. A bit unrealistic, but also enjoyable.