Love in the Present Tense Book

For five years Pearl has managed to keep the past from catching up to her and her bright, frail five-year-old son. Life has given her every reason to mistrust people, but circumstances force her to trust her neighbor Mitch with watching Leonard while she goes off to work. Then one day Pearl drops her son off…and never returns.
They are an unlikely pair: Mitch is a young, unattached business owner, and Leonard is a precocious, five-year-old boy. But together they must find a way to move forward in the wake of Pearl’s unexplained disappearance. Their bond as parent and child shifts and endures, even as Mitch must eventually surrender Leonard to a two-parent home.
Is it possible to love the people who can’t always be there for us? The answers will surprise and move you. As their lives unfold, profound questions emerge about the nature of love and family. Ultimately, this novel’s richest reward is watching Mitch and Leonard grow up together, through...

The Washington Post - Carolyn See

The simplicity of prose might indicate nothing more than purity of heart, and the talk about "forever love" might be nothing more than a deeply felt reaffirmation of love that lasts forever. (It's only the mean kids in the back row of the class who are snickering.) What you feel about Love in the Present Tense, then, will depend entirely on who you are. Don't be so quick to dismiss this. Love can sucker-punch anybody, anytime.