The Love Letter | Rachel Hauck

Title: The Love Letter

Author: Rachel Hauck

Length: 352 pages

Publication date: June 12, 2018

Genre: Adult fiction

Rating: 3.5/5

With the colonies at war and his country divided, Hamilton Lightfoot must choose sides: Fight for the British Crown or for the Independence of America. But after witnessing the death of his family at the hands of redcoats, he fears he’ll fight for revenge instead of honor. On the verge of a great battle, he pens a letter to Esther, the woman he loves. Esther Longfellow is in love with Hamilton, but her father is a loyalist, living in upcountry South Carolina and working for a wealthy British lord. When the Revolutionary War comes to her doorstep she is forced to choose between devotion to her father and her love for Hamilton.
Chloe Daschle is the daughter of Hollywood royalty—a great director and an Oscar-winning actress. Yet her career has taken an unexpected turn: She’s the queen of death scenes. Trying to break out, she accepts a supporting role in a revolutionary war film. But she longs for the perfect role and the perfect real-life romance. Does happily ever after only exist in the movies? After a life-changing tragedy, MIT graduate Jesse Gates decides to leave his life behind and move to LA to try his hand at acting and screenwriting. When he finds a page from one of his ancestor’s letters, he becomes consumed with the love he finds there.  Determined to help his grandfather find happiness at the end of his life, Jesse writes and sells a screenplay based on the events surrounding the lost love of previous generations.
When Jesse meets the woman he has cast to play Esther Longfellow—his grandfather’s one true love—the stories of all four collide across time and space. The love letter from the past might have more power to affect the future than any of them could have imagined.

I generally enjoy stories that have two timelines that weave together, but I usually end up preferring one timeline to the other. The Love Letter was no exception. Not that one was worse than the other one, but I did prefer the contemporary portion to the historical portion. I just liked those characters better. One thing I liked in the book were the relationships - I think Rachel Hauck really understands how to write realistic relationships. The way the romances bloomed and the emotions that went along with those developments were well done, in my opinion. I did enjoy the theme of the story as well, especially in the contemporary timeline. The faith element was well done as well. I've read Christian romance in the past where the characters went to church once or twice, but their lives didn't really reflect a relationship with Christ. In this one, I felt that while the characters had their (realistic) flaws, the faith element wasn't watered down. And that ending was just too sweet, it melted my heart. Overall, this was an enjoyable Christian romance!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.