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.

Lizzy & Jane || Katherine Reay

Title: Lizzy & Jane

Author: Katherine Reay

Length: 339 pages

Publication date: October 1, 2014

Genre: Adult contemporary

Rating: 4/5

Elizabeth is a professional chef in New York, with her own successful restaurant. But lately the magic seems to be gone, and something is off with her cooking. In order to find that spark again, Elizabeth goes home to Seattle to visit her family: her father, widowed after her mother passed away from cancer when she was a teen; and her older sister Jane, currently fighting her own battle with cancer. The trip becomes more than Elizabeth or Jane could have guessed, and leaves Elizabeth questioning her career, relationships, and faith.

This book hit really close to home for me. After losing my father to cancer a year and a half ago, cancer stories always impact me on a different level. Picking this story up, that was not what I was expecting, but I was pleased with Reay's depiction on how cancer affects the whole family. I found the story to be quite realistic in its portrayal of emotions, relationships, and situations the characters found themselves in.

This story has a romance sub-plot (what else could you except from a story whose heroines are named after Jane Austen's most famous sisters?) but at the heart of it this book is about family, which is a refreshing change. There are also good friendships to be found here, which I always look out for as well.

I feel that I should note that this story does revolve heavily around cancer, so that might be very stressful for some readers. Also, there is a scene where a character suffers an injury that, while not horribly graphic, imagining it made me quite squeamish indeed. Other than that, I couldn't recommend this more.


I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.