An Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestseller.From New York Times bestselling authors Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward comes an unexpected love story that started with a boy and girl and heats up when the man and woman reconnect.I’d never forgotten him—a man I’d yet to meet.Griffin Quinn was my childhood pen pal, the British boy who couldn’t have been more different from me. Over the years, through … been more different from me. Over the years, through hundreds of letters, we became best friends, sharing our deepest, darkest secrets and forming a connection I never thought could break.
Until one day it did.
Then, out of the blue, a new letter arrived. A scathing one—one with eight years of pent-up anger. I had no choice but to finally come clean as to why I stopped writing.
Griffin forgave me, and somehow we were able to rekindle our childhood connection. Only now we were adults, and that connection had grown to a spark. Our letters quickly went from fun to flirty to downright dirty, revealing our wildest fantasies. So it only made sense that we would take our relationship to the next level and see each other in person.
Only Griff didn’t want to meet. He asked that I trust him and said it was for the best. But I wanted more—more Griff, in the flesh—so I took a big chance and went looking for him. People have done crazier things for love.
But what I found could change everything.
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There are moments when you just need a warm hug. This book offered me a soft, sweet embrace last week–just when I needed it. Thank you, ladies, for a sweet hero and a lovely HEA.
Rating:
I thought it would be dirtier!
The fact that the book was titled Dirty Letters and really only had one or two racy letters did disappoint me quite a bit. I was hoping for a bunch of racy letters exchanged between the two main characters and then after they meet, the book would get steamy and they would do some of the things they wrote to each other about. However, this book turned out much differently that I had expected. Though not necessarily bad, I just wanted a bit more tension and sizzle.
The two main characters, Griffin and Luca had been pen pals from the ages of about 7 to 17, they told each other everything including information about their virginity. They were falling in love by writing to each other. Luca had gone through a traumatic event when she was 17, and stopped answering Griffins letters and they eventually stopped coming.
Their lives went in completely different ways and eight years later when drunk, Griffin writes Luca a letter which detailed how angry and frustrated he had been when she ghosted him. Luca, now 25 years old, finds the recent letter when she goes to New York to clean out her father’s apartment.
Luca writes back to Griffin explaining what happened and they begin exchanging letters again. They send the letters to post office boxes and use the same fake last names they originally got from their teachers when they were kids. Though Griffin has moved from Great Britain to the US during the eight years they weren’t writing to each other.
They start telling each other everything again and become close. They do talk about sexual topics but not so much in a sexting type of way, it seemed more clinical. The letters start getting a bit racy but then they stop writing to each other because they end up meeting face to face.
There are a few steamy moments and one in particular when Griffin talks about all the things he wants to do now that they have met. However after that happens, the remainder of the book is about the issues between them and whether loving each other is enough to overcome their issues.
It is a good moral and I was liking the way it was going, but for me it just took too long getting there and though it showed a side of mental illness that I hadn’t seen before, It just got a bit boring and I ended up getting to frustrated with the character of Luca. Not so much her issues but things she did.
Queue the freaking tears from beginning to end. Hands down my favorite book of 2019. Vi and Penelope outdid themselves from chapter one to the epilogue.
They are cruel to build their readers up with sexiness and break us down piece by freaking piece. Dang this was just …… GOSH!!!!
This was an emotional, beautiful story about two people who developed a bond as pen pals but lost touch because of traumatic events that occurred in their lives. A chance of circumstance brought them back together but could their relationship survive? Griffin and Luca had to learn to trust, love and believe in second chances. This story had me laughing, crying and captivated by the characters that I devoured every page not wanting to put it down. This is definitely a top read for me and one I highly recommend!
I have no idea – honestly – where to start on my thoughts about “Dirty Letters” by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward but it will come to me as always once I start.
Maybe with the words – I am still trying to recover from reading it – trying to sort my emotions.
Wow. . .
There was so much in there that spoke to me and not only on one but many different and very personal levels
The main subject for the female in the book is not mentioned in the blurb so it is difficult for me to skirt around it – but it is a subject I can relate to as on a smaller scale I share some points with the female lead so everything in there from the opening words to the plot hit home full force …. So full it hurt – Vi and Penelope did a wonderful job bringing this subject to the readers. In all details, it was easy to understand and relate and I hope that even people that have not yet been confronted with this should be able to understand everything that goes along with being in this situation.
The next thing was that when I was about 18 years for some reason I told a friend he should write his girlfriend something romantic and he responded saying he had no idea how and I asked him if he ever listened to a song in the radio closely. He said – he never did … at that time (and yes I AM THAT OLD) – ABBA was one of my favorites and I knew ALL OF THEIR SONGS by heart so I pointed out a specific song text to him and he noticed for the first time that songs actually had meaning. I was astonished I thought people knew so I asked around only to learn that due to the fact that I was bilingual and the others were not – English was for me normal but they never made the effort to translate the texts. I was shocked to see what they were missing. Years later I noticed that almost all the songs I loved were songs that had a text which transferred real meanings. And that I always told people what I felt the meaning was when they said they shared my feelings for that song. Thinking back to when it started I came to that moment with that ABBA song. Where am I going with this you ask ? Letters and Song texts have a lot in common and you will understand where I am going with this when you read the book.
Again Vi … Penelope … you hit close to home …. Wow…
Then there is the male lead – many of my best friends are only in my life because of a real life person like him. I am sorry to be vague again as the plot is not mentioning it – I will not be the one to spoil the beans. There is really not much more I can say except that this is again a hit close to home. And if there is a person out there that is not in love with Griffin after reading his story I would love to read the explanation for that because I feel that it is simply impossible not to fall in love with him.
So with all of this you might imagine that the whole plot is leaving my emotions all over the place , crying, laughing basically the whole range that is to be expected.
The books by this writing duo have a dynamic that is one of my absolute favorites and their writing together will be a one-click without even taking a closer look at the plot at any day.
I will never ever be able to look at a furby again without smiling. And I probably can point out every other person looking at a furby that read this novel just be looking at them. ….
Let me close with the words I borrowed from Benny Goran Andersson & Bjoern K. Ulvaeus
They passed me by, all of those great romances
You were, I felt, robbing me of my rightful chances
My picture clear, everything seemed so easy
And so I dealt you the blow
One of us had to go
Now it’s different, I want you to know
One of us is crying
One of us is lying
In her lonely bed
Staring at the ceiling
Wishing she was somewhere else instead
One of us is lonely
One of us is only
Waiting for a call
Sorry for herself, feeling stupid feeling small
Wishing she had never left at all
I saw myself as a concealed attraction
I felt you kept me away from the heat and the action
Just like a child, stubborn and misconceiving
That’s how I started the show
One of us had to go
Now I’ve changed and I want you to know
One of us is crying
One of us is lying
In her lonely bed
Staring at the ceiling
Wishing she was somewhere else instead
One of us is lonely
One of us is only
Waiting for a call
Sorry for herself, feeling stupid feeling small
Wishing she had never left at all
Never left at all
Staring at the ceiling
Wishing she was somewhere else instead
One of us is lonely
One of us is only
Waiting for a call
I read this book in one day. It’s one of those books I couldn’t put down only when necessary. I’m more of a blurb reader rather than a cover person. But having read the blurb, I assumed I would get something different, which I did and that’s the surprise.
Luca and Griffin were pen pals since second grade up until their teens when Luca stopped writing. After losing her father and waiting over a year to clean up his apartment, Luca finds a letter from the boy she stopped writing so many years ago. Luca who hasn’t cried for over two years, the floodgates started pouring. Without giving out too much of the story, both Luca and Griffin have changed in so many ways. When they commence writing to each other, well things take an interesting change.
I felt for both Luca and Griffin. I was rooting for them. Oh Doc, he is the father figure we would all want.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book by this author duo. I had all the feels reading this book. If you want to read a beautiful yet emotional love story, pick up Dirty Letters.
DL by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward tells Luca and Griffin’s story. Both were pen – pals, but life happened and thye lost contact. Now they’re writing each other again and they form a bond. Both carry scars, visible and invisible and both are through a lot, a lot.
They between a rock and a hard place, jump or stay, what to do?
I never ever was that emotional about a Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward book before.
DL is the rawest and grittiest book these two authors wrote, believe me when I say, my heart was bleeding for the characters and I had more than one ugly cry. They’re honest, down to earth characters and I simply ” got ” them. DL is definitely the best book I read by this two outstanding authors. It goes to my re-read list and is hands down, my favorite read in 2019.
The story btook my breath away and I in’t wanted it zo end, no mam. And that’s the best kind of stories, when you’re looking how many pages are left, not because you want it to end – because you don’t want to say good bye.
I highly recommend DL and give 6 Stars.
Incredible Romance
I am in awe! When you read a journey with your heart in your throat, it’s touched you irrevocably. All inclusive, the good, the bad, the dark, the light. Griffin and Luca, and fate! This one has it all, not leaving out a single thing, to get to their much fought for HEA
Dirty Letters and Happy Hearts
It wasn’t a question of if I would like this book. I knew I would like it. I assumed I would smile. I didn’t expect to cry. (Silly, I know because I’m an emotional ninny.) But Dirty Letters (and the accompanying song- OMG, just wow!) stole my heart and took it with each letter sent.
I honestly believe these two (Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward) are either fairy godmothers in disguise or the newest version of the Grim brothers but with much better endings! Dirty Letters is a wonderful and extremely romantic tale of friends that were lost and have been found. It’s a story of young love being recognized. It’s a story of overcoming fears and loving people for who they are not who the could be.
It’s also an emotional journey that will leave you smiling through tears. Best of all, it will be an ear to ear smile of perfect contentment.
“A love story that starts long before the lovers meet.”
With a quote like that, how can you resist this story??? But in all seriousness, there isn’t any book by these two that I don’t read. Everything they pen is pure romance magic. DIRTY LETTERS is no exception. 5 stars.
There’s so much goodness here, I don’t even know where to start. Complex, interesting, multi-layered characters. A sweet, sexy friends-to-lovers with a hint of second chance storyline. And the writing of this dynamic duo that never fails to pull me right in and keep me reading compulsively and obsessively.
I loved the original idea behind this storyline. Texting as a way of communicating is one of my favorite things in books, so I knew that having these characters be pen pals would be fun. And it was fun, I enjoyed their letters even if I did sometimes think that they moved maybe a little too quickly and too easily into a sexually charged exchange. I didn’t always connect with that, and felt like I would have liked some more emotional depth to their story. I felt like the emotional piece was told to me, while the physical chemistry was shown to me, and in the end it left me feeling a little let down. I mean, this storyline by nature was incredibly emotionally charged and I think it could have packed a huge emotional punch – and I never really felt that.
That said, it was still an incredibly addictive read. I still found myself needing to know what happened. And I still loved Griffin and Luca (and the adorably quirky Doc) pretty fiercely. Dirty Letters was a little bit of a mixed bag for me, but overall a satisfying read nonetheless. ~ 3.5 Stars
I love the collaborative works of Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward. Both authors are absolutely fantastic individually, but their co-written books are outstanding—contemporary romance magic. Undoubtedly born from their years of partnership and friendship, their writing styles blend in a very natural, effortlessly feeling way for the reader, and as a result, their words come together impeccably into the addictive, unputdownable stories that they’re known for penning. This writing duo is exceptional, and I simply can’t get enough of their imaginative storytelling.
Dirty Letters is my (new) favorite from Keeland/Ward. A slow-burn, second-chance romance between two seemingly different people who ultimately want the same thing, Luca and Griffin’s heart-tugging romance pulled me in from page one. This story hit me right in the feels, there were so many emotions pummeling me at every turn. The longing for not only each other, but also for their individual circumstances to be different and to find a way to just make it all work out. This relationship was teeming with love and a fair amount of blind faith. Sometimes, though, love and blind faith might not be enough. Despite their soul-deep connection and the sizzling chemistry flowing between them, this was definitely a square peg-round hole scenario. It was heart-breaking and devastating at times, and I felt their desperation as I wept big, fat tears right along with them. But it’s in those deepest, darkest times when someone has a moment of clarity—an epiphany—where everything just snaps into place, and suddenly, it all becomes unmistakably clear. That is the moment when the will finds the way.
This story was just so rich—both in emotion and love, but also technically in the details, development and plotting. Told from dual points of view, the couple rekindles a youthful friendship and budding teen romance through the same means as they began it—handwritten letters. I adored this element of the story because it gave the hero and heroine both the freedom and the opportunity to be honest, vulnerable and frank with each other in an unusual and rare way. The quirky supporting characters rounded everything out, bringing depth and added detail, and elevating this story from a really great one to something truly special. I loved the entire journey, every single mile of tough terrain and smooth sailing. Griffin and Luca’s love story, with all its many ups and downs and highs and lows, was gorgeous, breathtaking and memorable.
Dirty Letters from Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward is a must-read, not-to-be-missed love story about forgiveness, acceptance and love against all odds. They say what comes easy won’t last long, and what lasts long won’t come easy, and Luca and Griffin’s grandly romantic, hard-fought love story is a perfect example of that. Their story captured my attention and swept me right off my feet as my hopeful heart ached and raced for this couple to get their happily ever after. A top favorite read of 2019, Dirty Letters by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward gets five smooches from me!
~Danielle Palumbo, Red Cheeks Reads
Leave it to Vi and Penelope to do dirty epistolary! And God bless them for it! LOL! Sexy, addictive and unexpected. Don’t miss the latest from this sensational duo!
A love story that starts long before the lovers meet. Dirty Letters is live!
Dirty Letters is another hit from this amazing duo! A second chance romance between pen pals that has ALL the feels? YES, please! Don’t miss this one!
A love story that starts long before the lovers meet.
A second chance with pen pals? OMGosh yes! I am here for it! I love Vi and Penelope – together, it’s EVERYTHING!
I’d never forgotten him—a man I’d yet to meet.
Griffin Quinn was my childhood pen pal, the British boy who couldn’t have been more different from me. Over the years, through hundreds of letters, we became best friends, sharing our deepest, darkest secrets and forming a connection I never thought could break.
Until one day it did.
Then, out of the blue, a new letter arrived. A scathing one—one with eight years of pent-up anger. I had no choice but to finally come clean as to why I stopped writing.
Griffin forgave me, and somehow we were able to rekindle our childhood connection. Only now we were adults, and that connection had grown to a spark. Our letters quickly went from fun to flirty to downright dirty, revealing our wildest fantasies. So it only made sense that we would take our relationship to the next level and see each other in person.
Only Griff didn’t want to meet. He asked that I trust him and said it was for the best. But I wanted more—more Griff, in the flesh—so I took a big chance and went looking for him. People have done crazier things for love.
But what I found could change everything.
Awwwww!!!! This story melted my heart. Luca and Griffin forevah… This story had all of the feels of those fairy tales we little girls grew up with. Childhood pen pals that never meet but slowly grow into something more. But we have the little hiccup in this story where they DO lose touch. And that’s where this turns into the BEST second chance romance. So innocent and then not. It gets DIRTY. Writing about the DIRTY. Talking about the DIRTY. Well, you get the gist. Loved the tension. Loved the humor. Loved the longing for more. Such a lovely, steamy romantic book. Le sigh.
From the age of seven, Luca and Griffin shared everything and had a deep friendship, through their letters across the sea.
At the age of seventeen everything suddenly stops.
Hurt and confused Griffin tries to reach out to no avail.
Eight years later he again reaches out, still needing the closure, but will she even reply?
Luca is stunned to receive a letter from Griffin, but although her life has changed dramatically, she responds……
Hell yes she does !!! Oh the letters!!! I laughed and I cried and my heart was hanging in the balance needing them to meet!!
Omg this book is everything !!! Told in both POV’s i was hooked from the beginning. Both Luca and Griffin had issues, and Vi & Penelope brought the reality of them to us in such an exceptional way. All through this book, i had such a giddy happy buzz as i ploughed through the pages with time and the world left behind me. The chemistry and connection between this couple was pouring out of them right into my heart yet at the same time i was anxious knowing how many ways they could come crashing down. The strength and trust they had to put into each other was purely beautiful. The character development was written with perfection, and what you get is a story that fills your heart, a story with unexpected twists, story with humour but most of all you get a story that enters your heart and takes hold of it and restores you love of Romance and Love just the way it should be !!!!
4.5 stars
Griffin and Luca built a childhood friendship on pen pal letters crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Their connection through words was strong, sharing their deepest secrets, hopes, and dreams with each other until Luca suddenly stopped returning Griffin’s letters. Eight years later, she receives a letter out of the blue that causes her to finally share what has kept her from writing all these years.
When Griffin learns why the letters stopped, he offers forgiveness and they pick up their letter writing where they left off as children, quickly moving from friendly to flirty and beyond in their letters. But when Luca suggests exchanging updated pictures Griffin resists.
As they get to know who they are now, it becomes clear very quickly that they live opposite lifestyles and there is very little overlap in their habits.
I loved the struggle these two experience. They already know they have a spark — they could feel it in their correspondence. But keeping that spark alive while trying to figure out how to mesh 2 very different lifestyles and Luca’s particular needs proves to be the biggest hurdle to a future for their relationship. I loved the lengths Griffin was willing to go to in order to have Luca join him where he was, but I also loved that it wasn’t just about him making things easy for her. She had her own hurdles to overcome, and as much as Griffin wanted to make things easier for her, he couldn’t actually do the heavy lifting for her.
This was a fun read with some unexpected circumstances keeping these two apart. I enjoyed watching as they reconnected and develope their relationship deeper than was possible from their childhood selves.The side characters, particularly Doc, added a special sweetness to the story. I loved Doc’s untraditional methods with Luca and the hand he had in guiding both Luca and Griffin in their journey.
I received this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.