Welcome to what is probably my favorite book of 2023 so far. Granted we are only nine days in but...
This book is literal perfection. I'm a Pride & Prejudice, romantic book lover, and rom-com devotee. This book has all of these things. A perfect love stroy.
Sophia Worthington and her childhood best friend Phillip Eliot spend summers at her Aunt Mary's home in Bramblefields Park and end up falling in love. Phillip makes a promise to Sophia before he leaves at the end of summer to pursue his art and to travel, that he will come back when he is twenty-one and when he was financially able to take care of her and give her the life, she deserves.
Sounds great, we love a man with a sound plan.
ENTER THE PLOT TWIST. *Dun dun dun*
Very a la Ally's mother in The Notebook, Phillip's mother keeps all the letters that Sophia and Phillip have been exchanging while he has been away for the last three years. Phillip's mother doesn't think Sophia is good enough for her son. When Sophia stops hearing from Phillip, she assumes that he has moved on and his promise to her was merely just words. She ends up losing her father during the course of this time and has to basically become the metaphorical glue that holds her family together. Despite the silence from Phillip, she continues to write him about the things going on in her life. (I'm serious, his silence (even though he didn't do it himself) was very kin to Avatar's "and when the world needed him most, he vanished." Well Sophia sure as hell needed Phillip.)
Three years later and Sophia is running her family farm and dealing with her annoying uncle who butts in everywhere he is not needed and has been trying to find every possible loophole to steal the farm from Sophia. Sophia is also engaged to Mr. Burns, a man who has financial connections that are helping Sophia run her farm.
ENTER PHILLIP.
Phillip returns to Worthington Farm to find Sopiha engaged to Mr. Burns, and he is very much in love with her and will not go down without a fight. They dance around their feelings for each other but it's so obvious they only have eyes for each other. Phillip is determined to prove to Sophia he is there for her, and he didn't know his letters were not making it to her and being kept by his mother. Actually, at one point during his stay at her farm he slips his letters she never read under her door and isn't just the most romantic thing you have ever heard.
Ultimately, Phillip wants to marry Sophia. BECAUSE THEY ARE SOULMATES. <3
I absolutely loved this book. I loved even more how halfway through Phillip's mother decides she was wrong to keep the letters and she teams up with Sophia's Aunt Mary to get the two together and away from Mr. Burns who is not appearing to be who he says he is. I loved the matchmaking. They stick their noses into everything, and I was here for it. Like at one point they are having a card game and they go, "Hey Mary come sit by me so Sophia can sit by Phillip." (Heart eyes.)
I swooned, I sighed, I rallied for Phillip and Sopiha to stop being complete idiots and just admit they love each other goddammit. Granted Sophia was kind of backed into a corner and couldn't just leave Mr. Burns because he was one of the reasons her farm was doing so well but Sophia and Phillip could barely even look at each from across the room because of all the pure sexual attraction.
I feel like based on its small number of reviews here on Goodreads that this is a relatively unknown book. Please, please, please go to Amazon and purchase a book like I did, you will not be disappointed.