This Isn’t a Romance. It’s Something Far More Lasting.

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© 2025 Alex Diaz-Granados

Why Reunion: Coda Isn’t a Romance Novel—And Why That’s the Point

For readers who don’t do “romance,” this one’s for you.

Love is in the story—but it’s not the story.

Reunion: Coda isn’t a romance novel. It doesn’t follow genre formulas, offer tidy resolutions, or hinge on whether “he gets the girl.” Instead, it’s about what endures when love becomes memory, and how we move forward with all we didn’t say.

Jim Garraty, now a respected history professor, is living in the present—but haunted by the emotional undertow of his past. What begins as introspection slowly widens into something deeper: a reckoning with lost moments, fractured friendships, and a silence that has lasted almost two decades. Reunion: Coda is about the power of reflection—not to rewrite the past, but to understand it.

If you’ve ever stood in front of a school you haven’t seen in years…
If you’ve ever wondered what your younger self would think of the person you became…
If you’ve ever loved someone quietly, completely, and too late…
This book is talking to you.

It’s told in a layered structure that includes dual timelines, coming-of-age chapters, and even epistolary moments in the form of deeply personal email exchanges. It explores love, yes—but also friendship, regret, grief, and renewal. The kind of love that stays with you even when the person doesn’t.

Here’s a moment that says everything about the tone—not romantic, but resonant:

“The building holds so much—great teachers like Mrs. Quincy, Marty’s infectious laugh, the moments that shaped who I am now. Standing here feels both comforting and painful, like visiting an old friend who’s grown distant.”



That’s not a love story. That’s a life story. One shaped by choices made, and choices missed.

So if you're someone who doesn’t normally read romance, good news: this isn’t one.
But if you read for emotional depth, lyrical prose, and a kind of story that lives quietly in your chest long after the last page...

Then maybe it’s time to meet Jim Garraty.

 

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