Rowan Hill means many things to many people, but to Ellie Hesketh it represents new beginnings. Putting her life back together after a break-up is going to take time, but the crumbling country estate—as much in need of TLC as she is—seems the perfect place to do it.But Ellie is not the only person for whom Rowan Hill is a refuge. There’s Will, damaged and complicated, whose secrets almost nobody … almost nobody knows. And Finn, his brother, who’s finally decided to stop running from his own past. As Ellie is drawn further into saving the estate, she can’t help but try saving the brothers too—and she’s sure she knows just how to go about it. The trouble is, she’s been accused of meddling before…
By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, this story of friendship, forgiveness and unexpected romance reveals the lies we tell to hide dark secrets—and what can happen when we let in a little light.
Revised edition: This edition of Letting In Light includes editorial revisions.
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Have you ever started a book and you’re not at all certain what you’re in for? That would be an accurate description of “Letting In Light” for me when I borrowed it through Prime Reading. I don’t often reach for true chick lit, because often the characters are shallow and have personalities that annoy me. And yet, I couldn’t resist being drawn in.
What I like about “Letting In Light”:
The British slang – I am familiar with some of it. Other terms I have to derive from context. But there is some sort of additional charm in the book being “written British” that just contributed to my immersion in the story.
Ellie’s cottage – The whole time I was reading, I just kept picturing the cottage in the movie “The Holiday”. I love when I can get a good mental image in my mind’s eye.
The characters – I found them so eminently likable. They had depth and flaws, and their interactions, whether warm or tense, felt real to me, so beyond just likability, I actually cared about them. There was a kind of honesty to this book that I don’t really expect from chick lit.
More than just romance – There was friendship and family and community. And while there was also romance, it wasn’t overly sappy. I also appreciated that the bedroom scenes were more suggestion than explicit, because it felt more true to the character of the story itself.
What I didn’t care for:
The cussing – Listen, I don’t keep my consumption PG-13. But cussing in entertainment for me needs to serve a purpose, much like a bedroom scene. If it’s gratuitous, it just feels lazy to me. I am thinking about 50% of it could have been edited out of this book and the effect would have been the same, if not improved. This didn’t ruin the book for me but I wish it hadn’t been there.
It turns out, I am really glad I was inexplicably drawn to a book in a genre toward which I don’t typically gravitate. This was my first experience with an Emma Davies book. I will absolutely seek out more, if she continues to deliver characters and storytelling that live up to the bar she set for me with this one.
I really don’t know what happened with this story, I felt like it was very promising and I was super ready to be glued but at some point, I felt like the Hero was not strong enough, like the love between the main characters was never that deep and I felt like everything was kind of weak. I dont know how to describe this but I felt like at all times the story was missing of depth and whatever was happening with the main hero I never felt any connection with him or the heroine. I feel like the story has so much more to give but maybe the dialogs were not strong enough to make the story more believable.
All I can say is I don’t want to be reading bad language. I quit after 5 pages. She will be one writer I will not choose again. The story sounded good but such a disappointment.