Love Story' by Jessica Soffer

I’ll be the first to admit I’m a crier.

But you've got to get me in the right moment. I get misty-eyed at a nostalgic song and as the credits roll on a beautifully shot movie. I cry when I'm happy as much, or perhaps more, as I do when I'm sad. The sentimental girls get it.

A well-written book scratches that itch. There's something special about that cathartic feeling of letting it all out when you reach the acknowledgments. Reading is, after all, a journey. It takes time and concentrated effort. You become part of the world built with nothing but words. The characters become part of you. Finishing a well-written book can be an overwhelming experience – you did it! How emotionally wrecked are you?

The crying, then, usually happens only toward the end of the novel, as characters seek a resolution. But when I read “This is a Love Story” by Jessica Soffer, I was in tears by page four.

Out now from Dutton Books at Penguin Random House, “This is a Love Story” (★★★★ out of four) tells a tale of romance, family and loss through Central Park. Here, the park is not so much a fixture as it is a figure, as any New Yorker will tell you. Seasoned or rookie, we all have a corner of our heart reserved just for it.