C Jane Read : Jane Reviews: The Love Letter by Rachel Hauck

Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Releases: June 12, 2018
352 pages

About the Book:

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.

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Rachel Hauck's Website

My Rating & Thoughts: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 (4 stars)

Releases June 12th!

This book had a different feel than previous dual-timeline novels I have read from Ms. Hauck. It is hard to explain exactly what it was about it that made it feel different for me, maybe it was the fact that we don’t really witness a lot of the budding romance or the fact that the way the past and present storylines interweave is obvious the whole way though. But whatever it was exactly, I could not put this book down I had to know what happened to each character.

I don’t know much about the Revolutionary War and at times found these scenes to be a bit hard to understand what exactly was happening, but I could feel the pain that the characters of Esther and Hamilton were going through. They loved each other but life seemed to be determined to keep them apart. I was rooting for their story to have a happy ending and even though it didn’t end the way I hoped, I found myself satisfied with the way things did turn out.

The present day setting has the characters of Jesse and Chloe. Jesse has written his first screenplay and Chloe gets cast as the leading lady. These two meet for the first time at a wedding and there seems to be an instant connection between them. I wondered if their feelings were hyped because of the setting or if something could really be there? I have mixed feelings about the way they told the stories of their past hurts to one another. I feel like the interweaving and sharing little pieces at a time helped them both relax enabling them to share, but I did find it to be a bit confusing to follow at times. I enjoyed the scenes between them and wish there had been more of their budding relationship. Both captured my heart and I was cheering for them to overcome their struggles. I loved that Chloe fights for what she wants but she also opens her heart to hear what God wants from her and is willing to accept whatever outcome He has planned. Jesse captured my heart the moment he stood his ground on an issue that felt important.

Each character is dealing with various forms of guilt and each one has to take their own path to discovering the powerful love and forgiveness that can only come from God. Love, redemption, sacrifice and loyalty are themes that resonate throughout this story. Overall I really enjoyed this book, but I do wish there was more scenes of the budding relationship.