Review by Booklist Review
Aubrey MacLean is miserable. The mathematics job of her dreams has just been stolen by a coworker whom she thought she could trust, and without it, her New York City life is suddenly very hollow. Left with no other option, she is forced to return to the one place she swore she would never see again: her small, Indiana hometown, site of the heartbreak she hasn't forgotten thanks to her ex, Nick Thatcher. When she starts receiving love letters from an old classmate, Gallant Nobel, she thinks this could be a new start . . . until those letters start to sound uncannily familiar to the ones that made her fall in love with Nick all those years ago. Gandhi's latest gives a delightful Cyrano de Bergerac frame to this small-town, second-chance romance with triumphant results. Gandhi's deeply emotional writing brings Nick and Aubrey's full-bodied yearning to life, and the use of dual points of view and split timelines results in a perfectly paced conflict. This Colleen Hoover read-alike speaks to those longing for a good, old-fashioned love letter, and in our increasingly technological world, who isn't?
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Old wounds reopen and old feelings resurface when a woman returns to her hometown in this stunning small-town sizzler from Gandhi (When We Had Forever). After mathematician Aubrey MacLean unfairly loses her job in New York, she heads back to Henderson, Ind., to figure out her next move. There, she's reunited with both Nick Thacker, the boy who broke her heart 17 years prior, and Gallant Nobel, Nick's high school nemesis. Gallant asks Aubrey out and proceeds to woo her by sending her heartfelt love letters that make her swoon. Unbeknownst to her, however, Gallant has been buying the letters from Nick's online love letter--writing business, a side hustle to his job at the local steel mill. Even before this is revealed, Gallant's letters remind Aubrey of the notes Nick used to write for her in high school, bringing back old feelings. These feelings deepen when both Aubrey and Nick volunteer for the town's fall festival, allowing them the chance to get to know each other as adults and leaving Aubrey torn between two men. Animated by juicy secrets and intense sexual and emotional tension, this second-chance romance delivers big feelings. It's one readers are sure to remember. (Dec.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
After 17 years away, Aubrey returns to her hometown, hoping to quietly regroup after her career hit a rough patch. Her plan to lay low unravels quickly when she runs into Nick, the man who broke her heart before college, as well as Gallant, an old classmate with surprising charm. Being back home stirs up memories that Aubrey thought she had buried, and everywhere she turns, Nick is there, serving as a constant reminder of what they lost. As she tries to move on, she grows closer to Gallant, but in person he doesn't match the man she has come to know through his heartfelt letters. Meanwhile, Nick longs for a second chance with Aubrey, but not at the risk of his relationship with his young daughter. Determined not to repeat the mistakes of his own father, he walks a careful line, until a long-buried secret about his and Audrey's breakup comes to light. At the same time, Aubrey learns that Gallant hasn't been entirely honest with her. With her trust shaken on all sides, Audrey must decide whether the past is worth revisiting or best left behind. VERDICT Gandhi (When We Had Forever) writes a wonderfully heartfelt, small-town, second-chance romance perfect for fans of Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins.--Ashli Wells
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