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I Love That Girl by Hannah R. Goodman is a Celebrate Weddings Bookish Event pick #newadultromance #romance #weddings #giveaway

  • Writer: N. N. Light
    N. N. Light
  • Jun 10
  • 4 min read

 

Title:

I Love That Girl 

 

Author:

Hannah R. Goodman

 

Genre:

New Adult romance 

 

Book Blurb:

 

Once called the four-headed monster in high school, only to be decapitated by the disaster of coupling up, four childhood friends have healed their wounds and found their way back to each other in college—or so they thought.

 

Now, months before they enter the "real" world, decapitation, once again, is imminent by way of: a rejected proposal, a birth control fail, an almost ménage a quartet, and a secret (and thought-to-be-impossible) hook-up. Everything explodes over the course of a Christmas vacation in Florida, leaving the survival of these four friendships, once again, on the brink.

 

Excerpt:

 

We haven’t really gotten a chance to talk this

whole time, which I know is in line with Guy Day, but I

need to talk. To a guy. Who’s dating a girl. And I’m not

really close with a lot of guys who date girls. So I try.

“How are things, E-man?”

 

“Good, good, A-game.”

 

I can feel Ethan’s eyes on me. Awkward.

 

I say, “South America was amazing?”

 

“Yeah, unbelievable.”

 

We walk a few more steps, and he says, “Lots of

time without any distractions. Lots of time just doing

real work, building sidewalks, a playground, fixing up a

school. Those kids, some so little. It was intense.” He

pauses. “How are things, you know, with you and

Glendolyn? She’s a good roommate?”

 

“Yeah, yeah. It’s been fun.” It’s right there. The

opportunity to mention it, that Gwen and I are…we

are…what are we? I wipe my face with the little towel

again, stalling, trying to find the right way to say it, the

right tone in my voice making it sound normal.

 

We both get quiet and watch another group of

golfers ahead of us.

 

“She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?” Ethan has

this faraway look on his face.

 

The sweat forms again on my lip. I wipe at it again.

“We’ve loved those girls for a long time,” he

continues.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing. Nothing.” He sighs, takes his shades off

and puts them back on.

 

From far away, someone calls, “Fore!”

 

“Listen, man. I gotta tell someone. I bought a ring

for Nori.”

 

“Oh! Like a ring, ring?”

 

“Yes, yes.”

 

I digest this news and watch the caddy pull ahead

of us.

 

“It was the orphans,” Ethan tells me.

 

“The orphans?”

 

“Yeah, they came to see the school as we were

renovating.” He shakes his head. “This one kid, he

carried a football, clutching it like a teddy bear. He

came right up to me and asked me to play with him. He

couldn’t have been more than six. We played all

afternoon. And when it was over, he hugged me really

tight and said, I wish you were my papa. I wish I had a

papa.” He stops and his mouth kind of twitches.

 

“Anyway, everything, and I mean, everything inside me

changed like a kaleidoscope. You know and I saw my

whole life, Dad, my dead mother, and everything with

Nori. I got a second chance with her and with life. And

there I was, standing there, giving this kid what I

thought was just a fun afternoon, but it really was

important. The next day, I saw this man at one of the

open markets selling diamond rings, and it all came

together for me.”

 

I have to turn away for a minute; something tugs at

my heart, maybe the little orphan, maybe how certain

he is about Nori and how I know she is certain about

him, makes me tear up. I cough and blink.

 

“That moment with that kid made me feel

significant. And Dad, as a father, he just wasn’t around

much. And all these years I’ve carried so much anger

about that and about my mom, but that moment with

that kid, it released the guilt. All because of that

moment with that kid. Shit.”

 

Now my lip is quivering a little. All these

emotions, thoughts about my own father, Gwen, what

will happen when we go back home, all of it explodes

inside me.

 

“Oh, hey, man—”

 

I rub my eyes, swallow the explosion of emotion

inside me and clap a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay,

Ethan. E-man. That’s awesome about the ring. And

don’t worry, I won’t say anything. Not even to Gwen.”

 

“Thanks.” We smile at each other.

 

“When are you going to do it?”

 

“You mean propose?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I’m thinking the night before we leave to go back

home. No offense, but I want us to be alone.”

 

“None taken, E-man.”

 

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):

 

Amazon (ebook) - https://amzn.to/4fkJSTZ

 

Amazon (Paperback)- https://amzn.to/3WnGNvd

 

 

 

 

 

What makes your featured book a must-read? 

 

A romance that will sweep you off your feet!  I Love That Girl. Vacation romance. Four different POVs. Secrets. Confessions. Childhood friends reunite and shenanigans ensue!

 

Giveaway –

 

Enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card:

 

 

Open Internationally.

 

Runs June 9 – June 17, 2025.


Winner will be drawn on June 18, 2025.

 

Author Biography:

 

Psychotherapist by day and writer by night, Hannah R. Goodman prefers tea over coffee, cats over dogs, and staying in over going out. Her latest book, I Love That Girl, a New Adult romance novel, was published by The Wild Rose Press this year. One Goodreads reviewer says I Love That Girl is "simultaneously joyous, sexy, and uncertain" and is "the perfect book for any season of life." Reviewers and readers have praised her award-winning YA romance series, The Maddie Chronicles, for tackling tough issues with humor and sensitivity. Hannah republished the first three books in the series in 2021. Book four, Till It Stops Beating, was published in 2018 by Black Rose Writing. To learn more about Hannah, go to hannahrgoodman.com

 

 

Social Media Links:

 

IG: hannahrgoodman75

Threads: hannahrgoodman75

Twitter: @hannahrgoodman

©2015-2025 BY N. N. LIGHT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (2015-17 on Wordpress) 

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