Review of Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin

Cronin's heartwarming, charming novel about nonagenarian Eddie and his new, younger best friend offers hope after grief and loss and the possibility of redemption in second chances.

Eddie Winston is a 90-year-old gentleman who has loved but somehow has never been kissed.

He spends his days working at a charity shop, a benevolent recipient of others' unwanted items, sometimes garbage-level junk, and, often, beloved items with associations so painful, they must be removed from sightlines and daily life.

Luckily for Bella and those like her, who might regret the culling of personal belongings from those they've loved who have died, Eddie sets aside a special stash of items that donors might seek out again in a panic. This practice allows Eddie and 24-year-old Bella to meet. They become friends after she comes in to donate items from a loved one who has died. Bella is grieving, and as they spend time together, she puts her energy into renewing Eddie's potential for a love life.

We see glimpses of Eddie's past and understand more about how he came to be in this never-been-kissed status that threatens, as he ages, to become permanent. His present-day kind, gentle manner carries through from his youth, but it's even more powerful when we know about his past pain. We learn more about Bella's history as well, as well as her relationship with her young love.

The friends' bonds grow deeper, and new avenues open up for each of them because of their support for each other and their willingness to experience joy again. The second-chances aspect of the novel is satisfying and quietly powerful.

I loved this sweet story of renewed hope, platonic love, and romantic promise. It's often funny and consistently charming, but never cloyingly sweet. Cronin strikes the perfect tone with these wonderful characters and their lives.

I read this book for my book club, and it was a perfect summer read.

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Marianne Cronin is also the author of One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, a book I loved and gave five Bossy stars.

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