The Incredible Kindness of Paper

In the delightful latest from Skye (The Hundred Loves of Juliet), two childhood sweethearts find each other again after a forced separation years earlier. Growing up in Lawrence, Kans., Chloe Hanako Quinn seems to have a perfect childhood. Her loving parents own a popular ice cream shop and her sunny disposition allows her to see the best in everyone. But when her best friend Oliver Jones and his family disappear the day after Oliver and Chloe’s first kiss, she’s crushed and not sure what to believe. Years later, both Oliver and Chloe—unbeknownst to either—are living in New York City, Oliver as a banker and Chloe as a high school counselor. After Chloe is laid off, she takes to making origami flowers, into which she places positive notes like “chin up, buttercup.” She scatters the flowers around town and they coincidentally reach the right people at just the right time. When cynical Oliver receives one of the flowers, he dismisses its message as meaningless fluff—until it manages to draw him back to Chloe, a reunion that gives them a chance to shed light on the past. Skye ties it all together with perfect pacing and the characters’ undeniable chemistry. Readers are in for a treat. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Agency. (Aug.)