Maybe love can come home after generations in a way not even Hollywood could imagine. 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 … 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.
- Full length clean romance
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs
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This is an absolutely incredible contemporary/historical romance!
The characters in this novel are so well developed that I felt I could sit down for a cup of tea and visit with them. I was especially captivated by all four of the main characters. It was like I could get right inside their heads at any moment.
The way the story flowed between the two time periods was wonderful. I don’t read very many duel-time-period books so it did take me a couple of switches to get used to it.
The historical portion really brought to life for me what the conflict between Tories and Patriots was like during the Revolutionary War. I had never really considered that they would be living in close proximity with each other. The fact that Esther and Hamilton had grown up as close friends and then found themselves on opposite sides was heartbreaking for me.
All four of the main characters had personal journeys to grow closer to God and mature. There was past baggage that they had to sort out and move on from. I love it when the characters grown throughout the story. That is what life is all about.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Celebrate Lit and NetGalley. I have chosen to write this review to express my personal opinions.
Disclaimer: *Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion – which I’ve done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*
Such a great read!!! I am a fan of Rachel Hauck but I haven’t read too much from her, however everything I’ve read so far I loved and this was no exception. I loved the back and forth in time, it was done in a seamless and compelling way that added to the story in my opinion. Chloe and Jesse, Hamilton and Esther. Even though I may have found myself routing for these couples in different ways at the beginning of the book I felt peace with the various endings whether they ended the way I wanted them to or not.
Speaking of beginning I just LOVED the meeting and first interactions of Chloe and Jesse I could read those particular chapters again and again. It was effortless, intriguing, playful, and intimate all without smut.
The journey these two couples made kept me turning the pages just to find out what would, hoping for one thing then changing my mind then thinking “no don’t do this to me” then “yes”. So many emotions . Loved it.
The Love Letter by Rachel Hauck
My rating is 4.5 Stars
Chloe’s dream of a forever marriage was born in her early childhood, despite the fact that her parents had never made that commitment themselves. They loved each other deeply and were still living together after 35 years, but never made the covenant to remain together – and that really bothered Chloe.
The Love Letter is a deeply moving story of four people, two who live in the present day, Chloe and Jessie, and two who lived during the Revolutionary War, Hamilton and Esther. Author Rachel Hauck intertwines their stories in such a beautiful way. The characters are rich and relatable, and their stories reached deeply into my heart.
I loved the way that reasons for some of the colonists joining the rebellion were brought to light beyond the one that I’ve always heard – taxation without representation. The added drama of friends and neighbors ending up with opposing views on the political issues and the way it ripped lives apart added a very rich dimension.
The spiritual journeys of each of these four were different, and yet they had a common element that was not revealed until the very end. Each of these people had hurts that were just too significant to be ignored, they had to be healed before anyone was able to sustain a relationship.
There were so many surprises throughout. While some things were hinted at enough that I knew how they were going to pan out, I was not expecting others.
This review was originally posted on AmongTheReads.net.
Get a preview of The Love Letter at amongTheReads.net
I would like to thank Celebrate Lit for giving me this copy of the book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.
The Love Letter is the latest novel by Rachel Hauck. Chloe Daschle is auditioning for a role that could change her career. She has become stereotyped into roles where she dies, and it is time to change her fate. She gets the role of Esther Longfellow in Bound by Love written by Jesse Gates. The other thing Chloe longs for is her one true love. After several disastrous romances, she wonders if the right man is out there for her. Then Chloe meets screenwriter and actor, Jesse Gates at a friend’s wedding. Based on a letter from an ancestor, Jesse wrote Bound by Love. When Jesse meets Chloe, he wonders if she is the woman for him. He is not sure that he deserves a happily ever after because of what happened eight years prior.
Esther Longfellow has been in love with Hamilton Lightfoot for many years. She has returned from two years in London with the hopes of marrying him. However, war is breaking out and their families are on opposite sides. Esther’s father, Sir Michael is a loyalist who will not allow his daughter to marry someone unworthy of her much less a patriot. After a devastating death, Hamilton goes off to war and sees many horrors. One night before a big battle, he pens a love letter to Esther. Four people, two stories, one letter.
The Love Letter is a novel about finding someone who will love you, complement you, be there for you during the good times and the bad times. Finding someone to love can be easy but finding your soul mate is a different matter. I thought the story was nicely written and the author takes readers on a journey. The Love Letter is a dual storyline novel that is told from four point-of-views. I did find it jarring with the four POV’s in the beginning (trying to keep the characters and their stories straight). It became easier as I progressed through the book. I found Esther and Hamilton’s storylines more compelling. The author did a wonderful job at capturing the time-period (starts in 1781) with the descriptions of the area, the clothing, the various Revolutionary War battles and attitudes. It was clever how the author connects the four people together (I do not want to spoil it for you). The Christian elements are light but present throughout. Having faith is the main theme. You need to have faith that God has the best plan for your life. I appreciate that the author did not make the characters perfect. She made them realistic with their own flaws and struggles. My rating for The Love Letter is 4 out of 5 stars. It is a lovely story, but I did find the pacing to be slow and the transitions were not smooth (as we switched from character to character). The Love Letter is a satisfying romantic Christian story with an unpredictable, heartfelt ending.
The first thing that drew me to this book was the setting and the history side of the story. I’ve visited the historic Cowpens battlefield, walked the dirt paths and imagined what it may have been like. When we visited the honeysuckle’s were thick and fragrant.
The characters are realistic and face real struggles. With an over-arching question of what is real love and what does it look like, readers are invited into the dialogue and challenged to possibly rethink their own ideas.
For me, the Historical time period in the story was my favorite. However, I did enjoy all the characters and I thought how Rachel wove the two time periods together was fabulous. There were a couple of spots in the story that I found a bit slow, but all in all, it was an enjoyable read!
This is the first book I’ve read by Rachel Hauck and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future. I give this story 3.5 stars and would encourage anyone who enjoyed reading time-slip stories to pick this one up!
(I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including Netgalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own.)
Modern-day Hollywood connected to the Revolutionary War by a letter.
When Chloe Daschle reads the script for a movie, she wants the role. It’s the ancestors of screenwriter/actor Jesse Gates who penned the letter. The dialogue between Chloe and Jesse as they share their dreams and their failures (perceived or real), was one of my favorite parts of this book.
Esther and Hamilton’s story takes a backseat to that of the other couple, but it provides a strong comparison to Jesse and Chloe’s tale.
Rachel Hauck has a unique and special ability to make characters memorable. Whether one of the four main characters or some of the supporting cast like Smitty or Chloe’s family, each character has a place in the story.
Another thing Hauck excels at is writing memorable conversations and lines. I rarely highlight a book more than I do with those Hauck has written. There are always so many great words and insights into relationships, human nature, and God; I have difficulty choosing one or two (that’s why you’ll find all of them in the quotes section on Goodreads).
In the end, The Love Letter reminds us that while sometimes Hollywood creates the happily ever after, other times, life is so much more than can be imagined. And while our dreams are sometimes unrealized, God remains steadfast in replacing the death of one dream with the promise and joy of another.
Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
So, while we were reading this book Kristin and I had very different takes on how this book should end. There was a ton of temptation to flip to the back and find out (I didn’t! I can’t answer for her however.) She felt that if the story didn’t end a certain way she was going to be mad. Very mad. Like rating affecting mad. (No accounting for cray-cray people!) I on the other hand felt the opposite and that if it did end that way I would be disappointed, and Rachel had up this point never disappointed me. I felt like the ending Kristin wanted just didn’t ring true for the story, the characters, or even common sense. I mean I get, sorta, why she wanted that ending but it just didn’t mesh for me. Needless to say, without giving spoilers, only one of us got our way. And the one that didn’t? Sucked up that disappointment and was content with the ending that was given. The one that did get her way? Still not disappointed in a Rachel book. Just sayin’. However, it brings to the forefront the idea that two people that read many of the same books will have very different ideas about those books. Different personalities, different expectations, and different approaches to books and life. We don’t have to be the same to love a book. Heck, sometimes we don’t have the same outcome from the same book. I loved it she didn’t, or swaparoo. You can learn a lot about a person by their take on a book.
All that to build up to the letdown of my rambling attempt to review this book. Seriously, I loved this book (even the cover . . .it’s WAY prettier in person than you can begin to imagine from a photo and I’m not even a cover person!). I loved basically everything about this book. Well, there was a bit where it tended to drag with some self-pity wallowing on both Chloe and Jesse. I get ahead of myself. Just as Kristin and I’s desired outcome for this book was not the same nor were the central characters of this book. Chloe and Jesse were common day, Hollywood types, her just looking for her forever after and him just looking for forgiveness. Meanwhile Hamilton and Esther were smack dab in the middle of the Revolutionary War, on opposite sides of the conflict. Growing up together, in love with each other, and torn apart by politics. He, looking for revenge while she was just looking for him, and trying to please her very English father. They were very different people who risked a lot, a LOT, for love. Relationships were lost, relationships were found, and everyone eventually discovered there are more than one way to love another.
Hamilton sacrificed his relationship with Esther in order to protect her from the harsh realities of life. She wasn’t ready for them and was a bit too naive to understand. That is love. Jesse walked away from his movie, his script partly because of what they wanted to do with Chloe’s character. I mean she was the Queen of the Death Scene and she was supposed to live! He walked away instead of doing the rewrite for her not to live. That is love. Chloe embraced her role as Esther in the movie and died valiantly. That is love. Chloe set aside her fear of rejection and wrote a letter to Jesse on faith that he felt the same. That is love. Jesse gave up his new old life and went back to Hollywood on the idea of a letter. That is love. Hamilton never sent his last letter to Esther despite their adult life friendship after both had lost their spouses. That was also love. Love comes in many forms. Love presents itself in many ways. But there’s just something special about a generations old love letter. Sometimes just a handwritten letter can tell more of any story. . .
The Love Letter is a beautifully penned tale of life, love, faith, pain, and redemption. Although a tale of two love stories, set hundreds of years apart, it reads a bit as a tale of three stories. There is the contemporary story, the historical story, and the screenplay that the reader is allowed to experience in bits and pieces. This is the “what if” tale that Jesse, the main character of the contemporary tale has created.
I appreciated the way this story was crafted. It felt as if the author captured Hollywood reality fairly accurately. Chloe was entrenched in Hollywood. Her parents, friends, and sibling embraced worldly trappings and had a hard time understanding Chloe’s belief in one true love.
The Revolutionary War tale also felt very true to me. Esther and Hamilton faced an uphill battle with families on opposite sides of the war. I liked getting to see what was really happening in their lives, while comparing it to Jesse’s screenplay.
Faith, or the lack thereof, was an essential part of both stories, both past and present. It was woven in with a mysterious touch here and there, helping the characters to navigate life and love.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
I am a huge fan of Rachel Hauck’s stories. I really enjoyed The Love Letter, and read it in less than two days. I love dual timeline stories, and this one goes back and forth between Revolutionary times and modern day Hollywood. It was so interesting to travel back in time to the Revolutionary times, and it was refreshing to find people of integrity in modern day Hollywood. Rachel Hauck has a way of writing that draws you into the story and makes you feel like you are there. The Love Letter brings up the question of a legacy, and how family history can really be lost after just a few generations. It made me realize how important it is to work at preserving the stories of our ancestors and our families. Fans of historical fiction, dual timelines, romance and redemption will love this story!
THE LOVE LETTER by Rachel Hauck. Thomas Nelson Publisher
A letter that cover centuries of two couples, the choices they had to make.
It was filled with frustration, unrequited love, that she has intertwined to give us a story from the past to the present. Characters were very well done, you got caught in their emotions, of fear, and yet hope. Readers will once again be caught in a page turner story, as Rachel does so well.
Given ARC for my voluntary review and my honest opinion.
Rachel Hauck is a master at crafting novels with dual timelines, effortlessly transitioning from one time period to the other. Readers quickly become absorbed by both storylines, eagerly reading the developing story to the very satisfying end.
The Love Letter is just like that, a dual timeline novel that pulled me in, keeping me thoroughly engaged from the first to the last. Current day Chloe Daschle is an actress stuck in a rut, a rut in which she dies at the end of every role she’s played. She wants, no needs, to break out of this rut but producers just aren’t getting it. Putting on determination to succeed in her quest, she auditions for the lead role of Esther Kingsley in a screen play written by Jesse Gates.
At a wedding for mutual friends, Chloe and Jesse meet, dancing the night away. The two experience a strong attraction and a sense of knowing this is the one, but after numerous and painful previous heartbreaking relationships, neither are ready to step into exploring a new relationship.
Revolutionary War South Carolina. Esther Longfellow loves Hamilton Lightfoot, but Esther’s father is a loyalist while Hamilton steadfastly refuses to agree to serve on either side, a fact that causes increasing tension with Esther’s father and the townspeople alike. When circumstances force Hamilton to join the war, it is against the loyalists, furthering the estrangement between the two men.
Hauck seamlessly ties the two times together weaving a love story that will leave you breathless.
The Love Letter is a split time inspirational fiction. I was drawn to this book because of the beautiful cover and it’s author. I have read a few of Rachel Hauck’s earlier books and now I feel like I have rediscovered her work. I plan on adding the books I’ve missed to my tbr pile.. This book was captivating from the first page and never let go, and was engaged in both story lines. I thought the author did a fantastic job presenting each story line so it flowed naturally and it was never confusing. I went into this story completely blind, so I had no preconceived ideas or expectations and I was pleasantly surprised at what a great novel this is. Therefore I will not share a synopsis of the book., and let you the reader discover it for yourself. I do want to share my favorite quotes. These quotes touched my heart and made me think about my life and my relationship with God and others.
“Fight in a time of war as the man you want to be in a time of peace.”
“That marriage is the only place where two lovers can exist in a world all their own. that the deep places come from the commitment, the pledging of hearts and lives until death.”
I received an advanced copy from Thomas Nelson fiction through NetGalley. This review contains my honest opinion.
Loved it! Rachel Hauck’s books have real people struggling with real problems and they are not overly preachy in their message. This book is no different. I loved the way the book went back and forth between the historical love story and the current one. I loved the way the connected at the end and did not see it coming! The chemistry between Hamilton/Esther and Jesse/Chloe was superb. I always love when an author can create that chemistry without having the couples go too far physically. This is one of my favorite books that I have read from Rachel Hauck. I could not put it down. It is a great, entertaining read.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Thomas Nelsen through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.