crushed: the boys that never liked me back

In this real life rom-com, Kiersten Lyons asks the universal “Why is it that the boy (or job or dream or
every single life plan you’ve ever had) never likes you back?” only to uncover answers she never saw coming.

While tying the bows on her wedding invitations, Kiersten’s fiancé walked in and told her he didn’t think he loved her, and maybe never had…. Oh, and he’d cheated. At a place called The Magic Castle. Because what’s hotter than aging celebrities performing magic in a fake castle in the Hollywood Hills? But don’t worry, because six months later, while Kiersten was struggling to pay rent, he won $100,000 on a reality
show. Yes, you read that right….

A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.

Why is it that the minute you get your heart broken, whether by a boy or a dream (or if you’re Kiersten,
every single life plan she’s ever made), you look around to see everyone else is doing amazing! Everyone’s life is perfect!

Because everyone else is stupid….

Oh, and why are they always telling you “everything happens for a reason”?! Your family, your friends, that checkout lady eyeing the three pints of non-dairy ice cream you’re buying?

Leave me alone, Cheryl!

But also, don’t. Because when you’re alone, you’re hit with the reality that you can’t wake up from this bad dream. Also, why is everybody looking at you like that? Equal parts pity and confusion, like they’ve never been rejected before. Why are you the only one heartbroken? The only one struggling? The only
one… Crushed?

But what if that’s the stupid part? The lie that you are the only one.  In this nostalgic memoir equally cut with anguish and humor, Lyons invites readers along on a lifetime of Crushed moments and the hope of being left in awe of the pivots she never wanted in the first place.  And what if realizing you aren’t alone is the first step to one day knowing you’ll be in awe too?