“The Love Letter” ~ Book Review

Sep 3, 2018 by Rachel

Welcome back to Rachel’s Back Talk! I’m so glad you could join me again. Today I am reviewing Rachel Hauck’s newest release, The Love Letter.

 

As is my custom, if I could ask Rachel one question about The Love Letter, it would be — “Is it difficult writing in two time periods for one book?” And if you want to know why I asked that question, I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out!

 

And without further ado, onto Rachel’s Back Talk!

From the Back Cover:

Romance has never been actress Chloe Daschle’s forte—in life or on screen. But everyone knows who to call for a convincing death scene . . . and it might be killing her career.

When Chloe is given a peek at the script for an epic love story, she decides to take her destiny into her own hands and request an audition for the lead female role, Esther Kingsley. The compelling tale, inspired by family lore and a one-page letter from the colonial ancestor of scriptwriter Jesse Gates, just might break her out of this career-crippling rut. Jesse would rather write about romance than live through it after his past relationship ended in disaster. But once on-set together, the chemistry between Jesse and his leading lady is hard to deny.

Centuries earlier, in the heart of the Revolutionary War, Hamilton Lightfoot and Esther Longfellow wrote their saga off the silver screen. Esther’s Loyalist father opposes any relationship with Hamilton, but Esther must face her beloved father’s disapproval and the dangers of war in order to convince Hamilton of their future together. Hamilton has loved Esther for years, and on the eve of battle pens the love letter she’s always wanted—something straight from the heart.

Set in stunning upcountry South Carolina, The Love Letter is a beautifully crafted story of the courage it takes to face down fear and chase after love, even in the darkest of times. And just maybe, all these generations later, love can come home in a way not even Hollywood could imagine.

 

Rachel’s Back Talk: 

5 – award winning covers

                    

Rachel Hauck’s books never disappoint! Filled with historical details, two beautiful love stories, and the perspectives of four real characters, The Love Letter is a book that everyone needs to read. This book contains two stories in one, and while those books can sometimes be hard to follow along with, Rachel knows how to do it in a way that does not leave the reader confused.

Starting off with Chloe — she is filled with such self-doubt, though she is intent on proving herself by her own merit and determined to make her own way. It was neat to see how she put all of herself into every part that she was given, especially Esther’s story even if the ending didn’t turn out like she originally anticipated. But most of all, I loved how Chloe relied on her faith no matter what crisis she was facing.

Enter Jesse — the screenwriter for the movie that Chloe is acting in. These two strike a fast friendship and continually struggled with wanting something more. Throughout the book, the reader got the sense that Jesse was struggling with something from his past, and I liked how he ended up realizing that he did need to resolve that before he could fully move forward in his future.

I loved seeing how Rachel was able to weave parallels between Jesse and Chloe’s love story and Harrison and Esther’s love story. It was interesting to read how Jesse thought his grandfather’s story should end compared to finding out what actually happened generations ago. While the reader knows that somehow these two stories are connected, they don’t realize HOW until the end which is so neat!