I WISH YOU WOULD

Two best friends have the chance to reconnect at a school event after painful months spent apart.

Liberty Prep students Natalia and Ethan have been close since middle school, but they acted on the pact they made as freshmen to be each other’s firsts if they were both still virgins by senior year. Afterward, things changed, and they avoided each other all summer. Anxious Natalia is a scholarship student; she’s also Latina and white at a mostly white school. Ethan, who’s white, is dealing with family problems. Now school is about to start with Senior Sunrise, a 24-hour beach camping trip. The seniors all write private letters about their hopes, fears, and aspirations for the upcoming year, then ceremonially burn them at sunrise. The worst then happens: Spotting the unattended glass jar of letters and fearing someone might read hers (which is all about her complicated feelings for Ethan), Natalia tries to retrieve it but accidentally lets seven other letters blow away in the wind. It’s Ethan who unexpectedly comes to her rescue, and in their quest to keep the senior class’s secrets from getting out, they slowly find their way back to each other. Alternating between Ethan’s and Natalia’s points of view, this novel offers a classic friends-to-lovers storyline with an entertaining twist. The supporting characters are likable and real, all with their own set of confessions that will keep readers intrigued.

A sweet romance with a dash of suspense.