The Letter

by Elizabeth Blackwell

So begins the passionate letter Cassie Armstrong findshidden among her grandmother's quilting supplies. It'ssigned with the mysterious initials F.B. and Cassie has noidea who that is. It's certainly not her grandfather, Henry,a man more comfortable with actions than with words.

Learning that her grandmother, whom she's always seenas somewhat conventional, might have had a secret lovesends Cassie on a quest to find F.B. But doing that meansraising questions about Lydia and Henry—and aboutCassie's own relationship with her fiancé, Cooper Lynch.Questions Cassie might not be ready to face. Because ifHenry isn't the love of Lydia's life, maybe Cooper isn'tthe right man for Cassie, either. But love, like the letter,will end up surprising Cassie in more ways than shemight expect…

Genres: Romance

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

About the author

As the daughter of a U.S. Foreign Service officer, Elizabeth Blackwell grew up in Washington, D.C., interspersed with stints in Africa, the Middle East and Europe--pretty much always with a book in hand. She majored in history at Northwestern University (hooray! more reading!) and received her master's in journalism from Columbia University, which led to a career as an editor and writer for a number of publications that have since gone out of business (surely just a coincidence?). She now writes fiction from her home office in the Chicago suburbs, in between wrangling her three children and fighting for a parking spot at the local Target.

Reviews

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story alternates between present day and Grandma's day. It moved a little slow, but I enjoyed the mystery of the love letter.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE LETTER was unusual in its set-up. It encompassed two separate times within one family but running parallel with each other. Miss Blackwell had each odd chapter devoted to Cassie, the granddaughter, in the present moment. The even chapters take Lydia, Cassie's grandmother, to the 1930's and beyond. Normally I am not fond of this method of writing but for some reason in THE LETTER, it worked.

It all began when Cassie, concerned with her life, found a letter from an unknown man signed F.B. He had pledged his love to Lydia. It would not have been a problem except Lydia had been married for over 50 years to Henry Armstrong, her one and only love. Cassie was both fascinated and intrigued; she wanted to find out more.

Along the way, Cassie began to have doubts about her engagement. Successful and smart, she started to think that her own life was dull. She realized she knew very little about what her fiancee, Cooper, thought and felt. And was he happy with her? Driving everything was a fragile piece of paper with words spoken from the heart many years ago.

This story was more women's fiction than romance. It is not time-travel, either. Instead, it is about memories and how they shape you. It is about choices and how they affect you. It is about finding that special someone and realizing their importance in your life.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Everlasting Love
Category: Classic Romance