One kiss lasts a moment.
But a thousand kisses can last a lifetime.
One boy.
One girl.
A bond that is forged in an instant and cherished for a decade.
A bond that neither time nor distance can break.
A bond that will last forever.
Or so they believe.
When seventeen-year-old Rune Kristiansen returns from his native Norway to the sleepy town of Blossom Grove, Georgia, where he befriended Poppy … Grove, Georgia, where he befriended Poppy Litchfield as a child, he has just one thing on his mind. Why did the girl who was one half of his soul, who promised to wait faithfully for his return, cut him off without a word of explanation?
Rune’s heart was broken two years ago when Poppy fell silent. When he discovers the truth, he finds that the greatest heartache is yet to come.
Standalone Young Adult Tearjerker Romance.
For ages 14 and up.
more
Viking fell in love with Poppymin and our lives changed forever. Beautiful message if you could just wade through an enormous ocean of tears while you experience blinding pain…
life is fragile, yet in that fragility, there is strength. There is love. There is purpose. It reminds us that life is short, that our breaths are numbered and our destiny is fixed, regardless of how hard we fight. It reminds us not to waste a single second. Live hard, love harder. Chase dreams, seek adventures … capture moments.
Live beautifully.
Powerful and emotional, this story is overwrought with knock out sentiments. It hits you like a wrecking ball and shatters your heart in a million pieces. A superlative piece of writing, be prepared to cry non stop, be besides yourself with grief and cuss out loud for the unfairness of life!
Beautiful , sweet, sassy girl Poppy Litchfield meets Rune Erik Kristiansen, when he moves in the house next door. At age 5, they shake hands and become instant best friends, morphing to lovers by the tender age of 11. They have eyes only for each other, completely submerged in the rosy waters of the love pool and they don’t wanna come up for air.
“When you’re near, my heart doesn’t sigh, it soars, I heard your heart’s song, and yours heard mine.”
At 5, Poppy’s memaw gives her a jar to start her collection of a thousand boy kisses. Special ones which would make her heart burst!. She embarks on this adventure with Rune and their kisses are exclusively for each other.
“A new adventure, Rune. To collect a thousand boy-kisses before I die, from my soulmate.”
I’m going to stop right here, because I’m seriously bawling now.
Time and circumstances separate them which results in Poppy losing her fight and Rune closing off his heart
I’d seen Poppy every day since I was five. Slept beside her almost every night since I was twelve. Kissed her every day since I was eight, and loved her with everything I had for so many days I’d stopped keeping track. I had no idea how to live a day without her next to me. How to breathe without her by my side.
What happens next will kill your heart, to say the least
“Maybe we’re like the cherry blossom, Rune. Like shooting stars. Maybe we loved too much too young and burned so bright that we had to fade out.”
I had been putting off reading this book for a long time, hearing all the ugly cry reactions. Finally put my big girl panties on and here I am…on the floor, curled up into a ball.
Well done Tillie, you made me a snotty sobber !!
5 stars for Moonbeam hearts and sunshine smiles
Beautiful-Heartbreaking-Deep-Soul-Connecting-LOVE THANK YOU my Dear Patty for gifting me this!! I owe you.
This was more than I expected or hoped it would be.
HEA- Yup!!! I think so. (Some might not agree. I guess it’s up to interpretation)
The ending was PERFECTION! #swooned all kinds.
This book made me have a tear and snot fest!!
I can’t string a sentence together at the mo and I don’t even want to try and write a review…so this will be it.
Beautiful. Heartbreaking. Cry fest. And now I have a headache.
It has been three days. Three days since I’ve read A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole. And still, every sad song I hear on the radio brings me back to Rune and Poppy, almost making me cry again. I’ve read Tillie’s other books, and know she can write beautiful stories with the use of normal words, but A Thousand Boy Kisses feels different; no brutal events, no underworld, no spiteful parents. Just two teenagers with a such a powerful love for each other, a love that transcends all.
“Rune lifted his hand to hold mine. He lowered our joined hands by his side. “I’ll give you a thousand kisses, Poppymin. All of them. No one will kiss you ever, but me.” My eyes widened but my heart didn’t slow down.”
Rune Kristiansen is five years old when he moves from Norway to America with his father and mother. He’s very angry with his parents for the move, but the anger disappears when he meets his neighbor girl, Poppy. Poppy becomes his very best friend, growing into something much more when they reach adolescence. But when Rune is fifteen, the Kristiansen family has to move back to Norway, which means leaving Poppy behind. Rune truly breaks when the other half of his soul cuts of all communication, sending him out of control. When the family returns to Blossom Grove two years later, all he wants to know is ‘why’.
“I can’t lose you, Poppymin. I can’t. I can’t let you go. I can’t live without you. You’re my forever always. You’re meant to walk beside me through this life. You need me and I need you. That’s all there is to it.”
Poppy Lichtfield is a sweet, silent girl, deeply in love with her boyfriend Rune and content with her life. When Rune has to move back to Norway with his parents, her heart breaks. But soon Poppy has a much more serious issue to deal with, and in order to protect Rune, she sets him free, or so she thinks. When she returns to Blossom Grove around the same time as Rune, the sweet boy she knew so well is gone, a very angry and cold Rune has taken his place. Although she tries to keep her distance, all she can do is tell him the truth.
“This date was our start. These joined hands, a reminder. A reminder that we were Poppy and Rune. Somewhere under all the hurt and pain, under all the new layers we’d acquired, we were still here. In love. Two halves of one heart.”
From the moment the children meet, Rune and Poppy form an instant bond, and are inseparable. Though they are so young and innocent, their friendship changes into a real love when they reach their teenage years, something that doesn’t surprise the people around them. When Rune and Poppy see each other after two years, both are hurt and upset, but once Rune learns the truth – the reason why Poppy broke things off with him – the young couple slowly reacquaints with one another. Knowing their time is precious, the couple goes on all sort of adventures, including Poppy’s ‘thousand boy kisses’.
As I have said before, Tillie Cole’s writing keeps amazing me. Her other series are sweet and emotional, others raw and gritty. All very different, but all very moving in their own way. A Thousand Boy Kisses is written in the same beautiful style; due to the age of Poppy and Rune it’s a young, sweet romance at its finest, but their story is anything but. It’s brutal, heartbreaking and realistic, and so is the way its written. I love Poppy and Rune and the way Tillie Cole tells their story; you feel their pain and despair, but also the acceptance and love they have for each other.
“Life is fragile, yet in that fragility, there is strength. There is love. There is purpose. It reminds us that life is short, that our breaths are numbered and our destiny is fixed, regardless of how hard we fight. It reminds us not to waste a single second. Live hard, love harder. Chase dreams, seek adventures … capture moments. Live beautifully.”
Poppy and Rune – and their love story – will stay with me for a long time. I give this heartbreaking tale 5+ stars.
Tugs at your heart, Poppy and Rune-forever, always
This book wrecked me. I’m not sure if I went more than a handful of minutes without crying, but I have no regrets. I was drawn in immediately and couldn’t put the book down. The characters were wonderful. The story was well-written. The pacing and flow were perfect. And, even though it destroyed me, I cannot reccomend it enough. Even though I wouldn’t necessarily say it had a HEA, it left me feeling whole and satisfied. Grab as many tissues as you can find and read this book as soon as you can.
Oh my gosh what an emotional read from start to finish.
The story of Rune and Poppy will have you smiling happily one moment, and crying utterly broken the next. It’s devastatingly beautiful whilst completely and utterly heart wrenching.
I loved this book with a passion. I wanted their smiles, their good times not their sadness and tears, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
There’s beauty in sadness and this book just proves that.
Have tissues handy. This book broke my heart, yet I’m so happy I read it. It’s beautiful in a tragic, yet uplifting at the same time.
I don’t know how to review this. I don’t know how to begin to put my thoughts into words regarding A Thousand Boy Kisses. I listened to this on Audible, which I totally recommend. I loved hearing Rune’s accent and I think it really added to my enjoyment of the story.
ATBK was as equally beautiful as it was sad. God, it was devastatingly beautiful. Poppy’s outlook on life is one that I dream of having. Her faith was stunning – it’s no wonder she wasn’t afraid. While listening to this, I cried myself to sleep and had to finish it in the morning. A Thousand Boy Kisses Wrecked my soul, and I’m glad it did.
i think that A thousand boy kisses is by far the first book that made me shed in a tear in every single page. Rune and Poppy’s relationship is so healthy, beautiful, caring and just always there for each other. They were literally each others childhood best friends so its a Strangers to childhood best friends to couple which is my opinion is one THE BEST troupes out there… And eventually Rune had to go back to his hometown because his father was moving there temporarily and the something tragic happened in poppys life that made her cut all contacts with Rune… its such a page turner and will have you on the edge the whole freaking time… And the world construction… OMG!!!!
Even if its not a sad line you will cry out of happiness as if you really there with them… and if you annotate like me, get like 3-4 pens cause you will fall in LOVE with a lot of the paragraphs and quotes
I don’t think that I’ve ever read a book that made me cry more and more with each turn of the page. I purchased this book a couple of years ago with the intention of reading it right away. Riiiiggghhht.. It didn’t happen. I was deterred by the reviews stating this book was sad, heartbreaking, emotional and would wreck your life. And that is exactly how I felt and I have yet to pick up anything else because of this novel.
Rune and Poppy’s story started with the sweetest, heartfelt beginning and ended the same way. Their story burned a hole in my heart and left me with an endless ocean of tears. Seriously, people…I cried for hours after finishing this book. Just know that you need to be in the right mindset to read this book, and let this story take you on sweet but sad journey. You’ll never be the same after reading A Thousand Boy Kisses.
” . , . ‘ .”
: young adult, contemporary, small town, neighbors, childhood friends to lovers, first love, second chance, emotional and non-HEA
Wow!! I had huge expectations for this book, but it completely blew my mind. One of the most beautiful stories I have ever came across.
Poppy and Rune have the most epic love story. They met when they were kids and slowly fell for each other. They were each others first and had so many adventures together.
But when Rune’s father has to move away for work, they promise to stay in contact. What Rune doesn’t expect is that Poppy cut the ties with no explanation. 2 years later, Rune is back to town and he won’t stop until he gets answers.
Ugh, the emotions this book took out of me are insane. I laughed, cried, swooned and cried more, but still I don’t regret picking it up.
Poppy is one of the strongest heroines I have ever come across. Besides her age, her way to see life and optimism are so inspirational.
Rune despite his broodiness and tough attitude he is a total cinnamon. He did everything for his girl and wasn’t afraid to show the world his love for her.
These two are the definition of soulmates and I’m so happy they’ve got to live lot of adventures together.
Overall, if you want a heartwarming story, told in a beautiful way and an epic love story, please give it a try. It’s a MUST read!!
I was in another mood this week so I decided to do a quick reread of Tillie Coles A Thousand Boy Kisses.
And by that, I mean, I had the need to have my heart ripped out of my chest, stomped on, and then handed back to me in a bloody unrecognizable mess. Hey, It was a slow week and I needed a little pain.
Is it weird that I love the pain??
Any way I digress… This book definitely delivered.
Here’s the synopsis:
When seventeen-year-old Rune Kristiansen returns from his native Norway to the sleepy town of Blossom Grove, Georgia, where he befriended Poppy Litchfield as a child, he has just one thing on his mind. Why did the girl who was one half of his soul, who promised to wait faithfully for his return, cut him off without a word of explanation? Rune’s heart was broken two years ago when Poppy fell silent. When he discovers the truth, he finds that the greatest heartache is yet to come.
My review:
This was another YA favorite, but please be forewarned that this book is a tear-jerker. Like grab two boxes of tissues.
I’m an emotional reader… like a very emotional reader. I get invested in the characters, in the plot, in the story… the whole shebang. So when I first read the synopsis, I knew I was in for an emotional rollercoaster ride. What I didn’t count on is that this rollercoaster had lots of twists and turns but no seatbelts.
Many books have made me cry before, but this one… man… this one just gutted me. And even though this was a reread, I was gutted a second time.
It’s a story of first love and heartbreak. It’s a story of sacrifice and the ability to forgive. It’s a story that will make you weep (at least I did.) But most importantly it’s a story that will make you feel!
So if you’re looking for a book that will bring out the feels, this is your best bet.
I honestly am at a loss with this book. Aimlessly floating around, trying to regroup after falling apart throughout the entire story. I have never, in my entire life, ever cried so hard while reading a book! My eyes are still red rimmed and puffy and I finished it hours ago.
The author truly has a gift. To pull a reader out of reality and plunge them into the lives on non existent people and make them emotionally drained. That right there is a talent beyond measure!
I will never look at a cherry blossom tree the same and will forever tear up at the word, “Poppymin.”
Standing ovation on this book and praying that someday it will be a motion picture!
This book broke me. This book made me ugly cry. This book brought out some emotions I haven’t felt from a book in awhile. This book was beautiful. I don’t know if it was a different effect having listened to the audible version versus reading it, but hearing the emotion in the narrators with the words, I couldn’t stop the tears falling down my face. There were three times this book pulled emotion from me, but the last hour of the book was the most fierce reaction. Tille Cole will have you believing in soulmates, that you can find the love of our life at the age of five. They were young, but their love was so real, so destined, that you jump right in and you cannot stop. I devoured every word and recommend this with all my heart, even with it being in pieces on the floor.
When another reader tells you “prepare yourself! Bring tissues!” your first thought is usually, eh it can’t be that bad. Oh how WRONG I was!! This book broke my heart from the very beginning all the way to the end. I went through TWO boxes of tissues. I’m not an emotional reader. I have read thousands of books and can count on one hand the number of books that have elicited an emotional response from me, but this book literally soaked my sweater because I could not stop crying. I am completely in awe of this story and absolutely in love with these characters. Poppy’s love for life and Rune’s quiet dark rage are total opposing personalities, but they are drawn together like flame to kindling. They are like two halves of a whole that fit together perfectly and the world lights up, but when they are apart, the world goes dark. This book is amazing and I give it 2 thumbs and 5 stars.
4/5 stars
“This jar is for you to record your boy-kisses, Poppy. All the kisses that make your heart almost burst, the ones that are the most special, the ones you want to remember when you’re old and gray like me. The ones that will make you smile when you remember them in your mind.”
I cried. A lot.
From the first chapter your heartstrings are pulled taut and the tension is constant throughout the entirety of this book. A YA novel of love and loss that reminds us to make the most of what we have when we have it, and to live a life full of “moonbeam hearts and sunshine smiles”.
KU Read
I have been wanting to read this for awhile so when I seen that Tillie was putting it in KU for a limited time I was excited.
Omg this was the best YA ugly cry I’ve ever read. It will give you all the feels. I loved Rune and Poppy’s relationship.
This book is an emotional rollercoaster. It will have you swooning one minute and crying the next.
I absolutely love Rune!!!
A Thousand Boy Kisses is an absolutely heart-wrenching, soul touching romance that turned me into a crying mess at 2 am when I finished the last page. I loved how sweet and honest Rune and Poppy’s story was.
PSA: every copy of A Thousand Boy Kisses should come with a free box of tissues.
I read this book years ago and I still think about it. It’s one of those books that stay with you. I devoured it because I needed to know the ending but it was hard reading with tears streaming down my face. I definitely recommend having a box of tissues on hand.