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At twenty-two years old, Sydney is enjoying a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers that Hunter is cheating on her—and she’s forced to decide what her next move should be.
Soon, Sydney finds herself captivated by her mysterious and attractive neighbor, Ridge. She can't take her eyes off him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either. They soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one.
A passionate tale of friendship, betrayal, and romance, Maybe Someday will immerse readers in Sydney’s tumultuous world from the very first page.
Maybe Someday
For weeks now, the guy in the apartment across the courtyard has sat on his balcony and played for at least an hour. Every night, I sit outside and listen.
I’ve noticed a few other neighbors come out to their balconies when he’s playing, but no one is as loyal as I am. I don’t understand how someone could hear these songs and not crave them day after day. Then again, music has always been a passion of mine, so maybe I’m just a little more infatuated with his sound than other people are. I’ve played the piano for as long as I can remember, and although I’ve never shared it with anyone, I love writing music. I even switched my major to music education two years ago. My plan is to be an elementary music teacher, although if my father had his way, I’d still be prelaw.
“A life of mediocrity is a waste of a life,” he said when I informed him that I was changing my major.
A life of mediocrity. I find that more amusing than insulting, since he seems to be the most dissatisfied person I’ve ever known. And he’s a lawyer. Go figure.
One of the familiar songs ends and the guy with the guitar begins to play something he’s never played before. I’ve grown accustomed to his unofficial playlist since he seems to practice the same songs in the same order night after night. However, I’ve never heard him play this particular song before. The way he’s repeating the same chords makes me think he’s creating the song right here on the spot. I like that I’m witnessing this, especially since after only a few chords, it’s already my new favorite. All his songs sound like originals. I wonder if he performs them locally or if he just writes them for fun.
I lean forward in the chair, rest my arms on the edge of the balcony, and watch him. His balcony is directly across the courtyard, far enough away that I don’t feel weird when I watch him but close enough that I make sure I’m never watching him when Hunter’s around. I don’t think Hunter would like the fact that I’ve developed a tiny crush on this guy’s talent.
I can’t deny it, though. Anyone who watches how passionately this guy plays would crush on his talent. The way he keeps his eyes closed the entire time, focusing intently on every stroke against every guitar string. I like it best when he sits cross-legged with the guitar upright between his legs. He pulls it against his chest and plays it like a stand-up bass, keeping his eyes closed the whole time. It’s so mesmerizing to watch him that sometimes I catch myself holding my breath, and I don’t even realize I’m doing it until I’m gasping for air.
It also doesn’t help that he’s cute. At least, he seems cute from here. His light brown hair is unruly and moves with him, falling across his forehead every time he looks down at his guitar. He’s too far away to distinguish eye color or distinct features, but the details don’t matter when coupled with the passion he has for his music. There’s a confidence to him that I find compelling. I’ve always admired musicians who are able to tune out everyone and everything around them and pour all of their focus into their music. To be able to shut the world off and allow yourself to be completely swept away is something I’ve always wanted the confidence to do, but I just don’t have it.
This guy has it. He’s confident and talented. I’ve always been a sucker for musicians, but more in a fantasy way. They’re a different breed. A breed that rarely makes for good boyfriends.
He glances at me as if he can hear my thoughts, and then a slow grin appears across his face. He never once pauses the song while he continues to watch me. The eye contact makes me blush, so I drop my arms and pull my notebook back onto my lap and look down at it. I hate that he just caught me staring so hard. Not that I was doing anything wrong; it just feels odd for him to know I was watching him. I glance up again, and he’s still watching me, but he’s not smiling anymore. The way he’s staring causes my heart to speed up, so I look away and focus on my notebook.
Way to be a creeper, Sydney.
“There’s my girl,” a comforting voice says from behind me. I lean my head back and tilt my eyes upward to watch Hunter as he makes his way onto the balcony. I try to hide the fact that I’m shocked to see him, because I’m pretty sure I was supposed to remember he was coming.
On the off chance that Guitar Boy is still watching, I make it a point to seem really into Hunter’s hello kiss so that maybe I’ll seem less like a creepy stalker and more like someone just casually relaxing on her balcony. I run my hand up Hunter’s neck as he leans over the back of my chair and kisses me upside down.
“Scoot up,” Hunter says, pushing on my shoulders. I do what he asks and slide forward in the seat as he lifts his leg over the chair and slips in behind me. He pulls my back against his chest and wraps his arms around me.
My eyes betray me when the sound of the guitar stops abruptly, and I glance across the courtyard once more. Guitar Boy is eyeing us hard as he stands, then goes back inside his apartment. His expression is odd. Almost angry.
“How was school?” Hunter asks.
“Too boring to talk about. What about you? How was work?”
“Interesting,” he says, brushing my hair away from my neck with his hand. He presses his lips to my neck and kisses his way down my collarbone.
“What was so interesting?”
He tightens his hold on me, then rests his chin on my shoulder and pulls me back in the chair with him. “The oddest thing happened at lunch,” he says. “I was with one of the guys at this Italian restaurant. We were eating out on the patio, and I had just asked the waiter what he recommended for dessert, when a police car rounded the corner. They stopped right in front of the restaurant, and two officers jumped out with their guns drawn. They began barking orders toward us when our waiter mumbled, ‘Shit.’ He slowly raised his hands, and the police jumped the barrier to the patio, rushed toward him, threw him to the ground, and cuffed him right at our feet. After they read him his rights, they pulled him to his feet and escorted him toward the cop car. The waiter glanced back at me and yelled, ‘The tiramisu is really good!’ Then they put him in the car and drove away.”
I tilt my head back and look up at him. “Seriously? That really happened?”
He nods, laughing. “I swear, Syd. It was crazy.”
“Well? Did you try the tiramisu?”
“Hell, yeah, we did. It was the best tiramisu I’ve ever had.” He kisses me on the cheek and pushes me forward. “Speaking of food, I’m starving.” He stands up and holds out his hand to me. “Did you cook tonight?”
I take his hand and let him pull me up. “We just had salad, but I can make you one.”
Once we’re inside, Hunter takes a seat on the couch next to Tori. She’s got a textbook spread open across her lap as she halfheartedly focuses on both homework and TV at the same time. I take out the containers from the fridge and make his salad. I feel a little guilty that I forgot tonight was one of the nights he said he was coming. I usually have something cooked when I know he’ll be here.
We’ve been dating for almost two years now. I met him during my sophomore year in college, when he was a senior. He and Tori had been friends for years. After she moved into my dorm and we became friends, she insisted I meet him. She said we’d hit it off, and she was right. We made it official after only two dates, and things have been wonderful since.
Of course, we have our ups and downs, especially since he moved more than an hour away. When he landed the job in the accounting firm last semester, he suggested I move with him. I told him no, that I really wanted to finish my undergrad before taking such a huge step. In all honesty, I’m just scared.
The thought of moving in with him seems so final, as if I would be sealing my fate. I know that once we take that step, the next step is marriage, and then I’d be looking at never having the chance to live alone. I’ve always had a roommate, and until I can afford my own place, I’ll be sharing an apartment with Tori. I haven’t told Hunter yet, but I really want to live alone for a year. It’s something I promised myself I would do before I got married. I don’t even turn twenty-two for a couple of weeks, so it’s not as if I’m in any hurry.
I take Hunter’s food to him in the living room.
“Why do you watch this?” he says to Tori. “All these women do is talk shit about each other and flip tables.”
“That’s exactly why I watch it,” Tori says, without taking her eyes off the TV.
Hunter winks at me and takes his food, then props his feet up on the coffee table. “Thanks, babe.” He turns toward the TV and begins eating. “Can you grab me a beer?”
I nod and walk back into the kitchen. I open the refrigerator door and look on the shelf where he always keeps his extra beer. I realize as I’m staring at “his” shelf that this is probably how it begins. First, he has a shelf in the refrigerator. Then he’ll have a toothbrush in the bathroom, a drawer in my dresser, and eventually, his stuff will infiltrate mine in so many ways it’ll be impossible for me ever to be on my own.
I run my hands up my arms, rubbing away the sudden onset of discomfort washing over me. I feel as if I’m watching my future play out in front of me. I’m not so sure I like what I’m imagining.
Am I ready for this?
Am I ready for this guy to be the guy I bring dinner to every night when he gets home from work?
Am I ready to fall into this comfortable life with him? One where I teach all day and he does people’s taxes, and then we come home and I cook dinner and I “grab him beers” while he props his feet up and calls me babe, and then we go to our bed and make love at approximately nine P.M. so we won’t be tired the next day, in order to wake up and get dressed and go to work and do it all over again?
“Earth to Sydney,” Hunter says. I hear him snap his fingers twice. “Beer? Please, babe?”
I quickly grab his beer, give it to him, then head straight to my bathroom. I turn the water on in the shower, but I don’t get in. Instead, I lock the door and sink to the floor.
We have a good relationship. He’s good to me, and I know he loves me. I just don’t understand why every time I think about a future with him, it’s not an exciting thought.
Kristas_Dust_Jacket
Posted Tue Mar 18 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I am not quite sure if a book has ever affected me in such a way as Maybe Someday did. Colleen Hoover is a master at reaching inside of me, grabbing my heart and squeezing it with her beautiful words. She's done it before, and, I don't know. I shouldn't be surprised by it anymore. And, yet, when I read the final word, I sat here blinking my eyes, my mouth opening and closing like a damn fish, completely blown away.
Sydney and Ridge catch each others' eye across the courtyard of their apartment complex when he plays his guitar on his balcony and she sits on hers and makes up lyrics. Ridge asks for her help in giving words to his songs, and a friendship is born. Just in time too, because when Sydney's boyfriend cheats on her, she has to move out, and it turns out Ridge's apartment has an empty bedroom. The close proximity allows them to continue writing music together, but it also monumentally complicates things. You see, Ridge has a serious girlfriend, and his feelings for Sydney are now blurring the lines.
I was thrown for a loop nearly right away when Ridge reveals a secret he's been keeping from Sydney (I won't spoil it for you!). It affects the entire story in an incredible way, and was probably my favorite part of the whole book. How this secret is woven into the musical part of Ridge's and Sydney's story was utterly beautiful and a little heartbreaking at times. When it was first revealed, I was totally shocked, but once I finished the book, I don't see how this book would've been even half as amazing as it was without it.
It was Sydney really for whom my heart broke the most. Ridge was amazing. He's funny, charming, intelligent, artistic and chivalrous. He takes Sydney under his wing, protects her from her douchey ex and gives her a real purpose. How could she not fall completely and utterly in love with him? And, yet, he's been in a relationship for five years with a disgustingly wonderful girl named Maggie, and has no designs to break things off with her. Being around the two of them absolutely kills her, but it's the lesser of two evils, as far as she sees it. Because her world without Ridge in it at all would be even worse.
Can you imagine what that would be like? Sydney is constantly denying herself what she wants more than anything in life. And to make matters even worse, sometimes Ridge makes it seem like he wants her too. Talk about head games. But, they share this incredible connection through music that is impossible to ignore.
Unfortunately, the fact that they have a harder and harder time ignoring that connection and the beautiful music they make together, causes the worst heartache ever. Because Maggie also has a secret, and when that is revealed, it changes things for Sydney. She has to come to terms with the nature of hers and Ridge's relationship and face the fact that she might never be able to have him the way she wants him.
Sydney is stronger than I could ever be. She makes tough choices and tries to make the best of an increasingly difficult situation. Even though Ridge is the main link in this love triangle, it's absolutely impossible to be mad at him. You think you would, right? Nope. And then there's Maggie. You really, really want to hate her. But, you just can't. She's a genuinely nice person.
Maybe Someday is told in dual POV, so we get the benefit of all the angst from both Sydney's and Ridge's heads. The language pretty clean; the sex very minimal. Although there's almost no sex, the passion and sexual tension between Ridge and Sydney made my head want to explode. It was That. Good. And then there's the end. OMG - THE END. Completely, utterly, totally, wonderfully P-E-R-F-E-C-T.
I need you to go out today and read this book. Then, come back here and tell me that you get what I've been trying to say. That you understand now why I'm telling you how amazing it is. I can't wait to hear from you.
18 out of 28 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Mar 23 00:00:00 EDT 2014
There are certain books that you read where you don't feel anything after, and you can forget you ever
read them. Then there are books where you read it, and you think WOW what did I just experience, and it stays with you...
This book gave me that reaction and then some! It's the type of book where the author got everything right.
I want to tell everybody that I know to read this book so they can experience what I just did!
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Tue Mar 18 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Wow is all I can say. I felt every emotion the characters had in this book... I laughed, I cried, I got mad! Colleen Hoover is pure genius! One of the best love stories I have ever read!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Tue Mar 18 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Why don’t we keep, keep it simple... In the words of Griffin Peterson (Who sings the songs that go along with this book!) I'm in Whoa o o o I’m in trouble, trouble. How do I tell Holder and Daniel and Will Freaking Cooper that Colleen Hoover created another perfect book including another perfect book boyfriend! Seriously, This book is unlike anything else ever written! I was quite literally on the edge of my seat the entire book. The characters are all of incredibly life like, there is so much emotional intimacy in this story. More so than all the others she has written. And I'm not referring to the naked hokey pokey! I mean real raw emotions that no fictional characters should be able to produce, but Ridge and Sydney do. And they do so in the most beautiful of ways! So do yourself a favor and pick up this gem today! Do it! You will absolutely not regret it!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu Apr 03 00:00:00 EDT 2014
This book ruined all other books for me. It shattered my heart into pieces and then filled it up so much I felt like it was going to burst. I had such an emotional reaction to this book that I couldnt start another one until I worked through the emotions this book brought out in me. Its a must read and my new favorite. For probably forever. Dont hesitate to buy this. You wont regret a single penny.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Mar 14 00:00:00 EDT 2014
This is my all time favorite book. It broke my heart and mended it. I laugh and I cried. But mostly I felt it.. I felt every single emotion that they felt. Amazing book; I highly recommend!
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I adored this book. It was beautifully written, believable, the characters were loveable and realistic. I would highly recommend this book. Read It!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu Apr 03 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I never write reviews, but after reading this one, I felt that I had to. It's been 2 weeks since I've read this book and I am still thinking about it. So many stories that I read blend together. This one stands on its own.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat May 17 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I just finished the book and am absolutely in love with it. Colleen is one of my favorite authors, And this book solidifies her spot in the top two. I was hooked on this book. Couldn't put it down. She has a way of making you feel for each character in every way. I love it!!!!!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Tue May 06 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Colleen Hoover doesn't dissapoint. She takes a story line and characters I never would have thought I would care much for and makes me fall in love with it all.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I loved this book. It is hard to find a book thatis romamtic and funny and realistic. I also love that she went just far enough with the sexual tension however didn't cross into full on erotica. I highly recommend this book and will be reading more by Colleen Hoover.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu Apr 03 00:00:00 EDT 2014
WHAT AN AMAZING BOOK. I have never read a book, where i went through every emotion the characters went through... truly a magnificent book. Wow.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu Apr 03 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Maybe Someday! What an amazing book! First time I have read any of Colleen Hoovers' books and I absolutley LOVED this one! I couln't put it down, I actually think that was the first time I have ever read a book that fast! I felt like I was actually there when I was reading it! Great, Great, Great book!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2014
In love with this book. Must buy.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Aug 29 00:00:00 EDT 2014
This book was amazing. I felt like I was experiencing every emotion the characters were. I love this author.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat Aug 30 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Loved loved this book! MUST read!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat Aug 30 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I loved this book. I didn't want it to end. Also loved Hopeless.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat May 03 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I preordered Maybe Someday, because I have LOVED Colleen Hoover's other books. I loved the charcter development in her other books and fell in love with every character she would put down. I was so excited for another book and saw so much hype around this book. Paired with the music aspect that is unique by being able to listen to it as you go, and not only that my really liking the music, left me hopeful for a new all time fave YA novel. I had already placed this book on such a pedestal, which is why I think this book was such a let down for me. First off, Ridge and Sydney did not do it for me in the least. Sydney, bless her heart. I felt bad for her...the ENTIRE book, because I felt like she was getting dragged along and really didn't have anyone..especially Ridge, our supposed hero. .I mean, did she really make NO OTHER friends in college?? Not only that, I didn't like the character development with really any of them. I was hoping one of them would help redeem my opinion of this book. However, they all fell short, besides possibly Maggie. Ridge....blah, what do I say. I felt like Hoover kept trying to reiterate that his heart was in the right place, yet he annoyed me to no end with his justification of so much. I felt like I could never truly enjoy a moment between him and Sydney. Anyways, disappointed and bugged I spent the money on this one.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Apr 14 00:00:00 EDT 2014
After reading the rave reviews I purchased this novel. I was quite dissapointed. It was just boring! I do not understand all the five star reviews.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Oct 12 00:00:00 EDT 2014
What a heartfilled love story, makes one stop and think about important things in life. Enjoyed this book so much. Love is a wonderful feeling and this book expresss it in a beautiful way.
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Overview
At twenty-two years old, Sydney is enjoying a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers that Hunter is cheating on her—and she’s forced to decide what her next move should be.
Soon, Sydney finds herself captivated by her mysterious and attractive neighbor, Ridge. She can't take her eyes off him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays ...