Sometimes your life is split by a single decision. I’ve spent every day of the last seven years regretting mine: he left, and I didn’t follow. A thousand letters went unanswered, my words like petals in the wind, spinning away into nothing, taking me with them. But now he’s back.I barely recognize the man he’s become, but I can still see a glimmer of the boy who asked me to be his forever, the … me to be his forever, the boy I walked away from when I was young and afraid.
Maybe if he’d come home under better circumstances, he could speak to me without anger in his voice. Maybe if I’d said yes all those years ago, he’d look at me without the weight of rejection in his eyes. Maybe if things were different, we would have had a chance.
One regretted decision sent him away. One painful journey brought him back to me. I only wish I could keep him.
A contemporary romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion
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Staci Hart’s writing will wrap around your soul really tight and never let you go!!
Wade fights an internal war with himself. He’s angry, he’s lost, he feels betrayed by the person whom he promised forever. It’s an up and down rollercoaster ride for Wade. One thing is certain, he never stopped loving Elliot.
Elliot is always caring and gives 100% of herself to the people she loves, even when those people don’t love her back. Losing Wade, made her lose a part of herself and seeing him again gives her clarity that she’ll love him forever. She’ll love him regardless because deep down she can’t love anyone else. He’s her forever and if she can’t have him then she’d rather be alone.
Wade and Elliot’s journey wasn’t easy. They both experienced loss and pain. With time they both changed, yet what never changed was their love for one another.
The thing about this book that you must know is that it isn’t sweet and fluffy. You’ll feel the anguish grip your heart leaving you breathless. I felt hallow in the pit of my stomach and a heavy weight on my heart from every page of this book!
Once again Staci Hart has blown me away with her beautiful words that have marred my very being forever.
‘ ” But it hurts,” she sobbed.
“That’s how you know it was real.” ‘
I stand by my belief that Staci Hart is a closet sadist feeding off our pain. Now that I got that out of my system, holy Hell woman!
As usual, I love the tie ins with old friends popping up. Wasted Words is still my dream job. Too bad they never replied to my application. Sigh.
But that’s not what had tears spilling from my eyes and my heart twisting in grief and pain, no that honor is rests squarely on the despair, longing, and heart break of the main characters. All created by MISTRESS SADISTIC HART. ( Anyone else think that her last name is ironic?)
MISTRESS S. Hart, as she will herein be named, created the tension, turmoil, and desperate longing. She alone made hearts break, twist, and become shadowed by grief, fear, and hate. She is to blame.
She tore apart a young couple that clung to a sweet, intense love and turned them into shadows of themselves. And what does she have to say about this…
Well clearly you need to read A Thousand Letters because I can’t do it justice. Plus I don’t do spoilers…but just because certain people get a little something that’s owed to them and it makes you happy… hope not telling. Karma, I don’t want that B coming after me.
So in conclusion of my vague ramblings above, Mistress S. Hart is mean, makes the feels hurt, and picks on the poor kids in love. I may have left out some of the sunnier parts of the book, hmm. Ok. Well, there are some other people. Some are nice, some aren’t. You will fall in love with a man incapable of returning your love (why are the good ones always taken). And don’t even get me started on the ending…Sigh.
p.s. The meaning of A Thousand Letters at the end, oh my. Seriously that’s the stuff romance novels are made of. Way to clinch the book, my heart, and fans for life.
reviewed for Sweet Spot Sisterhood
I just devoured this book and read it in one day! The story gripped me from beginning until end and it never let me go. A truly inspiring but emotional story that will have your heart broken but also healed. I’ve enjoyed the authors books but this one is just another level! An absolute must read for me and definitely worth 5 stars!
Elliot and Wade were inseparable when they were younger and made a promise to marry each other but some things have happened and it left them both heartbroken. Wade went away and now after all these years he’s back home but not under great cirumstances. Both still have so many unanswered questions and there’s still a love lingering between them. Although everything around them seems to be falling apart even more, they slowly take the steps they need to in order to forgive each other for all the things unsaid between them. Will Elliot finally stand up for what she believes in? Will Wade finally let go of his anger?…
No matter what life throws at you, love can find a way…
Yet another masterpiece from Staci Hart! Her words are as breathtaking as ever, and they really shine here. This book is as beautiful as it is painful. It’s a stunning and emotional story that had me hooked from start to finish. I adore Staci’s romcoms, so getting to see a new side of her writing in A Thousand Letters was just another testimony to how talented she is! I highly recommend this one.
4.5 emotional, angsty and beautiful stars. As much as there is sadness, there is hope. You can’t help but root for Elliot and Wade, and learn the value of communication and forgiveness. Highly recommend this book.
I love adaptations of Jane Austen’s work and I had high hopes for this one! Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed. I finished the book. I guess I kept hoping it would get better but it didn’t.
There was too much telling and not enough showing. I don’t think first person PoV was the right choice for this story. I understand that it’s an easier, faster way to bring the reader into the thoughts and emotions of the characters but it ended up cheapening things for me. I would have much rather intuited their feelings from interaction and circumstance. I would have even been happy with first person from just Elliot’s PoV! But the way it was written left nothing to surprise me, and actually frustrated me a bit. It was too repetitive, which made it difficult to empathize with the characters.
Austen’s characters have a richness, a dynamic quality that was completely absent here. It almost felt like caricatures. I liked Charlie best and we saw very little of him.
There are better adaptations out there.
I was really looking forward to reading Staci Hart’s “A Thousand Letters,” but unfortunately, I ended up being disappointed with it. This story is much angstier than the previous book in the series, but that makes sense to me since it was inspired by Jane Austen’s “Persuasion.” I’ve always found that to be the angstiest of Austen’s published works. At any rate, I could have lived with all of the angst if it hadn’t been coupled with a healthy dose of “big misunderstanding” between the two main characters, Elliot and Wade. For most of the book, there didn’t seem to be anything keeping them apart besides their own stubbornness and a refusal to have an honest conversation.
I didn’t find either Elliot or Wade to be particularly likeable, either. Elliot came across as a real pushover, and it bothered me that she was still just drifting along two years after finishing college with no real direction in life. She seemed to have very low self-esteem because she took pretty much whatever crappy treatment her family and others dished out, particularly Wade. I hated how selfish he was and the fact that if he couldn’t have things exactly the way he wanted them, he would just throw a tantrum and run away. For all that he was supposedly a military hero, Wade was a complete emotional coward. He failed at supporting his sisters after their father died, refused to have a simple conversation with Elliot so that they could figure out their relationship, and basically just made himself and everyone around him miserable for the majority of the book.
The only characters I actually did like in this book were Elliot’s brother-in-law, Charlie, and her best friend, Wade’s younger sister Sophie. I’m very happy that Charlie will be getting his own story in the next book of this series; he deserves a much better partner than Elliot’s horrible older sister, Mary.
Overall, I gave “A Thousand Letters” a two star rating because the writing itself was pretty good (as Staci Hart’s books usually are), and because I know there are readers out there who will enjoy all of the angst. I personally didn’t enjoy the story, however, and can’t recommend it.
*ARC provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.
What an interesting concept for a book thoroughly enjoyed it
I love how the characters are developed.
Heart warming characters
Enjoyed this book. Didn’t want to stop reading.
Way too long. It was very difficult to stay interested
A Thousand Letters helped me to understand the process of losing my parents, and my sister. I only remembered feeling numb. It was a PERFECT reading love story!
So enjoyed this book….similar to Persuasion from long ago!
Excruciatingly long tragic love story
5 Thousand Stars!!!
This is Staci Hart’s best book yet!! This isn’t my first book by her. But, it was something completely new for her. I for one absolutely loved it. At only 8% I was deeply invested and crying and not ready for this to end.
Elliot and Wade where high school sweethearts. Once Elliot graduated high school she planned on following Wade anywhere he went in the army. But, when he wanted to change the plans Elliot couldn’t just drop everything. When Wade left Elliot was devastated and realized she made the worst mistake of her life, she wrote him. For an entire year she wrote Wade begging him to forgive her and comeback for her. After year of silence she gave up.
Wade hasn’t been home more then a day or two since the day he left without Elliot. 7yrs later he’s back because his was diagnosed with cancer and few weeks to live. If that wasn’t a kick to the gut, his sister wants her best friend by her side. Elliot. Wade agrees BC he knows his father is just as important to Elliot as he is to Wade and his sisters.
Being around each other is proving to be very difficult. They’re all doing whatever they can to make Wade’s dad peaceful. They’re trying to stay outta each others way as much as possible. Only together for their small family activities. But, when things get hard on them they always grab onto the closet thing that can ground them. Each other.
This was so beautifully written. The beginning of every chapter had parts of a poem that set up the chapter. The secondary characters except for a few were great as well. Wade’s father stole every scene he was in when he was with Wade or Elliot. I’m hoping and praying Staci continues writing more stories like this, BC she’s a natural. It’s another must read from this incredible author!
I’m reading A THOUSAND LETTERS for the second time and it’s wrecking me all over again (in a good way). This is my favorite Staci Hart book because it’s so beautifully written. Every sentence is poetry, aching and emotional.
This story! All the feels! As a military wife, I truly understood Elliot and Wade. This book was beautiful, sad and full of both life and death and most of all HOPE! So thank you Staci for sharing your words with us!
So many tears.
There were times I wanted to kick Wade in the junk. HARD! and Mary and Elliot’s dad.
So many people needed a swift kick. I’m not normally a violent person but damn many needed it.
This is my first by this author and I enjoyed it. There is so much pain. Pain in young love and tough decisions made. Pain in war. Pain in dysfunctional families. Pain in lost identity. Pain in the death of a loved one. Pain in unsettled relationships. Pain over hurting those you love.
Sometimes honesty is the only way to cope with all that pain. It doesn’t take it away, but it’s healing. And believing in yourself, standing strong, can set you free.