All the Men I’ve Loved Again by Christine Pride
All the Men I’ve Loved Again by Christine Pride is a brand new coming-of-age romance chock-full of so much millennial nostalgia that I doubt readers will be able to read this and not be transported back in time.
We meet Cora in 2021 as she’s reflecting on her past, caught in a love triangle for the second time with the same men she loved 20 years ago.
The Power of College Friendships
It all started in college in 1999. It’s Cora’s first time on her own — away from her Dad — and she’s thrilled and panicked in equal measure. As the lone Black girl from an affluent high school, Cora now has a chance to make friends, find herself as a Black woman and maybe even fall in love.
In class, she sits next to Neisha, who is hilarious with strong opinions and easily sidetracked by her own thoughts. The two form an instant bond, one that Cora has only ever seen on the TV shows she’s used to create a vision board of sorts for her life.
After meeting Neisha’s roommate, Kim, the trio is complete. They will be friends for life, supporting one another through all the tough times and celebrating the big wins. There’s nothing quite like the friends you meet in college.
First Love Is Always Messy
When she spots Lincoln working at the school’s bookstore, the idea that love is a real possibility flickers to life as their eyes connect. The two hit it off after properly meeting at a bar, and they’re together from that moment on — but as graduation looms near, their perfect bubble bursts when Cora must choose between starting a new life with Lincoln or going back home.
A family emergency ultimately sends Cora back home, where she meets Aaron, a photographer, who’s hiring an assistant. After a four-hour-long interview, she’s hired, and they spend a summer falling in love. We learn about their relationship through Aaron’s letters to Cora, and a long weekend they spent together in Paris.
Two Men, Two Eras, One Choice
It’s impossible to read about these men — and Cora with each of them — and not have an opinion about who is the better fit. One is her first love, years in the making. They went through difficult times and grew into adults together in college. The other was sunshine after a dark time in Cora’s life, offering a new way to look at life.
All your visions of how life would unfold then were about as substantial as mist, and all your emphatic ideas about how the world worked turned out to be as slippery as sand.
Fast forward to 2021, and we find Cora to be living her best single, independent life in a post-COVID world. Perfect timing for her to reconnect with Lincoln, who is newly divorced and all too happy to hear from Cora. But as things start to heat up between them with a real shot at a second chance romance, she runs into Aaron at Neisha’s 40th birthday party. And wouldn’t you know it, all the sparks come back to life.
A Realistic Yet Light COVID-Era Story
It’s always tricky when books include the COVID era. Is it better to suspend reality or tackle it head-on? I personally felt like author Christine Pride did an excellent job at acknowledging life during that time without getting bogged down in the minutia. Cora attends a wedding which is held outdoors and a party where some guests wear masks. All of this is mentioned in passing and not the focal point. Life was moving on albeit differently than before.
Even now, days later, I’m thinking about the way she had a character wear a mask to a party after boosters were available. It was stated in a subtle way — emphasizing his expressive eyes — but was actually important to his character arc.
A Novel You’re Sure to Love
From the descriptions of the clothing, getting cell phones for the first time, and experiencing adulthood between the mile markers of 9/11 and COVID, I could picture myself navigating life in Cora’s shoes.
I cried with her, rooted for her, and sometimes wanted to tell her she was making a mistake. Christine Pride successfully keeps us guessing until the very end, and for better or worse, Cora finds love with her friends by her side.
About Christine Pride:
Christine Pride is a writer, editor and longtime publishing veteran. She’s held editorial posts at many different trade imprints, including Doubleday, Broadway, Crown, Hyperion and Simon & Schuster. As an editor, Christine has published a range of books, with a special emphasis on inspirational stories and memoirs, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. As a freelance editorial consultant, she does select editing and proposal/content development, as well as teaching and coaching, and pens a regular column — “Race Matters” — for Cup of Jo. She lives in New York City.
