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It Takes Two
Twenty years ago, Willow Dwyer nearly died in a school shooting that stole the life of her true love, James. Now she's forty, infertile, newly divorced from a man who refuses to leave her alone, and on the brink of a breakdown.
Even after all this time, she still finds herself unable to move forward from the dream of a life and family she lost that day of the shooting. At the suggestion of her therapist, Willow takes up the tango, the dance she’d mastered with James before his death. It seems an innocent enough plan, until Willow dances with Merrick Montagne.
Merrick is a strikingly handsome, twenty-year-old college student with an uncanny ability for the tango. He makes her heart race for the first time in she can’t remember how long, and the strangest thing is, he claims he’s been searching for her his entire life. Willow doesn’t know if she believes him, or if she can handle the scrutiny she’s sure to get for dating someone so much younger than her. Yet no matter how hard she tries, she just can’t seem to walk away. When revelations begin to connect Merrick even further to her past, Willow must decide how much she’s willing to risk for a love that should be impossible, a love she’s not sure she could survive losing again.
Even after all this time, she still finds herself unable to move forward from the dream of a life and family she lost that day of the shooting. At the suggestion of her therapist, Willow takes up the tango, the dance she’d mastered with James before his death. It seems an innocent enough plan, until Willow dances with Merrick Montagne.
Merrick is a strikingly handsome, twenty-year-old college student with an uncanny ability for the tango. He makes her heart race for the first time in she can’t remember how long, and the strangest thing is, he claims he’s been searching for her his entire life. Willow doesn’t know if she believes him, or if she can handle the scrutiny she’s sure to get for dating someone so much younger than her. Yet no matter how hard she tries, she just can’t seem to walk away. When revelations begin to connect Merrick even further to her past, Willow must decide how much she’s willing to risk for a love that should be impossible, a love she’s not sure she could survive losing again.
254 pages, Paperback
Published February 2, 2022
About the author
Nicole Sallak Anderson
20 books214 followersNicole Sallak Anderson is Computer Science graduate from Purdue University, and former CTO for a small Silicon Valley startup, turned novelist, speaker, and blogger, focusing on the intersection of technology and consciousness. Her essays range from AI and Zen to direct democracy to the loneliness of modern parenting— featured as a top twenty story on Medium. In addition, her work on Universal Basic Income has been included on 2020 presidential candidate, Andrew Yang’s, website.
She is the author of nine novels and one memoir. Her recent work is the contemporary romance duo Justice and Grace, a love story in two installments set in Chicago that spans from the '90s to today.
You can keep up with all her latest writing on her website www.nicolesallakanderson.com or by following @NSallakAnderson on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Medium. Feel free to contact her, she almost always answers to any query or comment!
She is the author of nine novels and one memoir. Her recent work is the contemporary romance duo Justice and Grace, a love story in two installments set in Chicago that spans from the '90s to today.
You can keep up with all her latest writing on her website www.nicolesallakanderson.com or by following @NSallakAnderson on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Medium. Feel free to contact her, she almost always answers to any query or comment!
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 25, 2022
Steamy, philosophical, and highly entertaining, but don't start reading at night unless you plan on staying up to finish it because you won't be able to put it down.
October 19, 2026
Nicole Sallak Anderson’s It Takes Two is an intriguing, emotionally layered romance that explores grief, second chances, and the possibility of finding love when you least expect it. What caught my attention was the unusual premise of a woman in her forties falling for a twenty-year-old college student, but beneath this unconventional romance lies a story about loss, healing, and learning to open your heart again.
Willow Dwyer has spent twenty years carrying the weight of a tragedy that took away the love of her life and the future she once imagined for herself. Divorced, struggling with her past, and unable to move forward, she begins learning tango again on the advice of her therapist. What starts as an attempt to reconnect with something she once loved takes an unexpected turn when she meets Merrick Montagne, a young man whose connection to her seems far too extraordinary to be mere coincidence. I was particularly interested in how dance becomes more than just a shared passion, bringing two people together while gradually drawing them closer to secrets neither could have anticipated.
I also found the age gap an interesting element of the story, especially because it introduces questions about societal judgment, personal insecurities, and whether love can truly be explained by conventional expectations. Willow’s hesitation feels understandable given everything she has endured, and her struggle to reconcile her feelings with the fear of losing someone again adds emotional weight to the romance. Merrick’s mysterious connection to her past makes their relationship even more intriguing, giving the narrative an additional layer beyond the usual romantic tropes.
I appreciated the way the premise brings together romance, grief, and the possibility of beginning again, even after years of believing that the best part of life is already behind you. It is a reminder that healing does not always follow a predictable timeline and that sometimes, the most unexpected connections can make us question everything we thought we knew about love.
Willow Dwyer has spent twenty years carrying the weight of a tragedy that took away the love of her life and the future she once imagined for herself. Divorced, struggling with her past, and unable to move forward, she begins learning tango again on the advice of her therapist. What starts as an attempt to reconnect with something she once loved takes an unexpected turn when she meets Merrick Montagne, a young man whose connection to her seems far too extraordinary to be mere coincidence. I was particularly interested in how dance becomes more than just a shared passion, bringing two people together while gradually drawing them closer to secrets neither could have anticipated.
I also found the age gap an interesting element of the story, especially because it introduces questions about societal judgment, personal insecurities, and whether love can truly be explained by conventional expectations. Willow’s hesitation feels understandable given everything she has endured, and her struggle to reconcile her feelings with the fear of losing someone again adds emotional weight to the romance. Merrick’s mysterious connection to her past makes their relationship even more intriguing, giving the narrative an additional layer beyond the usual romantic tropes.
I appreciated the way the premise brings together romance, grief, and the possibility of beginning again, even after years of believing that the best part of life is already behind you. It is a reminder that healing does not always follow a predictable timeline and that sometimes, the most unexpected connections can make us question everything we thought we knew about love.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews