An Optimist's Guide to Heartbreak (Heartsong, #1)

by Jennifer Hartmann

There’s a certain kind of magic in sharing something soul-deep with someone else.

I’ll be back next week with more mediocre covers and subpar originals for you. Goodnight, everyone.”

“He’s not married,” I shake my head. “He has honest eyes.” “Ted Bundy had honest eyes.” I wrinkle my nose. “Valid point. Keep me posted.”

I’m late. There is nothing that gives me more anxiety than running late. I even put on my resume: PROMPT AND PUNCTUAL. I capitalized it for emphasis. Now, I’m a liar. A late liar.

“There’s only two reasons a man threatens anyone who makes a move on a woman,” he says, looking at me pointedly. “Either that woman is related to him, or she’s a woman he has a personal interest in.”

told my parents the bike was the best gift I ever received, and nothing could ever top it. I meant it at the time. But then… Cal smiled at me.

My receptionist looks like we purchased him off Wish dot com and he got lost in the mail.”

“I’m fine. It’s fine.” Everything is fine.

“I haven’t had sex in two years, Lucy.”

“God help the woman who breaks that streak.”

“Fuck, sunshine, I got you.” My heart stutters.

I have missed you. You miss me?

name them because things without names are just things.

“I’m a mechanic, not a fucking magician.”

“If I wanted to get laid, Lucy, it wouldn’t be difficult. I’m with you because I want to be, whether you’re in my bed or not.”

If I Die Young by The Band Perry.

There’s a line that says, “what I never did is done.” It makes me want to do everything.

pumpkin ravioli

sage-butter sauce.”

It’s a feeling of familiarity tied to nothing specific, like a lost memory I can’t seem to locate.

I close my eyes, blackening my vision until all I can do is be still. No sound, no sight, no taste.

Things that make us sad aren’t all bad. Sometimes, sad things serve as a gentle reminder that we still feel.

My heart lurches when I spot Cal looking as dapper as I’ve ever seen him. It leaps like it’s trying to reach him somehow. Like it wants to plow through his chest and dance with his.

“A girl as sweet as you shouldn’t look like sin,” he murmurs, voice full of grit. “Brings me to my goddamn knees.”

A man unwilling to love when love makes a worthy case for itself, is a man who will only ensure a future of disappointment. Life’s too short to pursue disappointment.