If You Stay

Cole (Dante’s Girl) offers a new adult take on the classic bad boy/good girl theme with her first If You Leave contemporary. Mila Hill is taking photos of Lake Michigan when she stumbles upon Pax Tate, who has overdosed on a number of substances. After she saves his life by calling an ambulance and performing CPR, Mila is drawn to find out more about this poor little rich guy who finds oblivion in drugs and alcohol. She slowly gets to know him as a damaged man whose mind is trying to shield him from a horrific childhood incident. Told in alternating first-person perspective, the story digs deep into the multitude of reasons why these two need each other so badly. Pax is hard to love, but soon the reader comes to see why Mila feels the way she does. In places, the unvarnished emotions will bring readers to tears. Gritty, raw and real. (Apr.)