She longs for the man who’s been writing to her for fifteen years. He wishes he could tell her it’s him. Can they come to the truth before it’s too late?Simon Ackerley arrives in Lisbon for his temporary job as a consultant, not expecting to find his secret penpal easily. After all, he doesn’t know what she looks like or what her real name is. But when a biking accident reveals that Simon’s … accident reveals that Simon’s prickly co-worker Isabel is the elusive Amélie, he has to win her trust before he can confess his true identity.
Isabel Antunes is content with her life as director of the English Academy in Lisbon, until the chairman hires a consultant without her knowledge. Despite Simon Ackerley’s repeated assurances to the contrary, Isabel believes he’s after her position, and she won’t hand it over without a fight. As if dealing with him at work isn’t enough, he shows up at her book club as well. Her only solace is writing to the penpal she knows simply as Elliot.
As they work together, Isabel realizes Simon is nothing like her first impression and a tentative friendship grows between them. But how can she explore the possibilities when her heart belongs to Elliot?
Always You is a sweet secret identity romance and it can be read as a standalone.
Falling For You Romance series:
Book 1— Always You
Book 2— Truly You (coming soon)
Book 3— Only You (coming soon)
A companion series to the Romano Family series.more
This story of Simon Ackerley and Isabel Artunes are secret pen pals. Simon writing under the pen name Elliot and Isabel writing as Amelie. For years confiding and trusting one another through their writing until one day from a biking accident reveals Simon’s co-worker Isabel has really been Amelie all along. Simone must convince Isabel who he really is before their friendship and love is lost. I really enjoyed reading this sweet romance.
Love the friendship turned love
15 years was all it took. Too long yet not long enough. They had been pen pals promising no personal details in their correspondence just pen names. Simon is through waiting for them to agree to meet he is on a mission to find her. He had no idea how but he was determined even without knowing her real name. Little did he know that fate would step in and help. This author is new to me and has great style. Love her characters and the edge of mystery that clung to the story. This is a clean read which adds so much more to the story along with the recipes at the end of the story. The author did a great job keeping the element of surprise incorporated into the story and added some surprises as well. It’s a beautiful story well written with emotions felt to the core. Loved it
This was a sweet romance. I enjoyed the story of penpals making the final step of meeting each other for the first time in 15 years. I love how open and honest they were with each other in their letters. I love that Simon literally runs into his penpal on his first day in Portugal. I like that he keeps it to himself. It added a bit of mystery to the story. Isabel starts falling for Simon, but is trying not to because he seems to be taking her place at her job. The couple has a sweet romance brewing, but has several secrets that are threatening their relationship. Overall, this was an enjoyable story that I would recommend to those that like sweet romances and secret identities.
I LOVE this cover and am so excited to read this one! I am a huge fan of Lucinda Whitney’s books. <3
I thought it was great that Isabel “Amalie” and Simon “Elliot” became pen pals through a school program and continued to write to each other fifteen years later. I enjoyed reading about all the recipes Isabel was making and wished I could try them and about Lisbon and all the wonderful places to visit. It made me want to plan a trip there. Simon only wanted a chance to be in the same city as his pen pal. He never thought that the job he accepted would involve investigating her. Isabel thought Simon was after her job, but his real reason for being there was so much worse and he couldn’t even tell her about it. I liked that they became friends as themselves before it was revealed that they had been pen pal friends. Isabel wasn’t happy with her job and she needed the push to go after what she really wanted in life. There was plenty of humor, romance, suspense, and food in this sweet secret pen pals best friends story.
I loved Always You, a clean romance where two people who have been pen pals for 15 years finally meet. Isabel and Simon were very well developed and believable. Lucinda Whitney makes Portugal come alive as a character in her stories. I could not put it down.