I received a complimentary advance copy from the author and am leaving my honest review.
I have not read any of Dana Wilkerson’s novels prior to this one, but I will be adding her to my last of continuing authors (which seems to grow at an alarming rate.)
Leslie Beckett used to be the pen pal of Ashley Hamilton, but there’s a problem. She never told Ashley, who is a boy, that she was a girl. For four years, Ash told her his secrets then they drifted apart. Now years later, Leslie has moved to Chicago and works in a PR company that Ash just so happens to be the legal counsel for.
While at a lunch with her co-worker, she starts to choke, and Ash’s brother Randall gives her the Heimlich. Introductions cause her to be exposed to Ash for a fraud, and all Leslie is hoping for is that he won’t hate her too much. Is it too late to ask for forgiveness?
I loved this book. It was light, funny, and super cute. It’s established almost 40 years ago in 1988, but since I was born then with older siblings, I don’t consider this historical romance. It was really nostalgic to remember how dating used to be done before cell phones and the internet. I do remember us having AOL Instant Messenger, but even then, you tied up the phone line, so it was easier to write letters or talk in person. I also remember how the fourth grade started the “pen pal” program. My assigned partner never wrote me back, so I wrote to an older distant cousin who was a Marine (best pen pal ever), but I can say that I probably would have done what Leslie did and not told Ash that I was a girl. Once you are comfortable with something like that it is hard to let go.
However, I did find Leslie to sometimes be too much of a drama queen for my tastes. I have no patience for relationship drama, not when I was a teenager and certainly not now as an adult. That said I wish there had been more letters written in the novel, as it would probably assist with Leslie’s progression and had saved on any misunderstandings. Then more drama could have unfolded in different, more pointed area. That particularly one wasn’t wrapped up for me, so I’m hoping the next installment will answer any unasked question.
I loved Ash the most, because he was so wholesome and down to earth. Honestly the best line of the whole novel was “Then you’ll always be my Frank.” (If you know, then you know.) I loved his interaction with older brother Randall, but it was how he handled Carmen and his sisters that really sealed the deal. Unfortunately, the attitudes that author Wilkerson wrote about immigration and women working 40 years ago haven’t completed changed today. Sometimes I can’t help but think that the immigration aspect has gotten worse, or at least the violence of it is more openly talked about.
Overall, I rate this novel 4.5 out of 5 stars. I can’t wait for the second novel coming out summer of 2023, per What’s Next note. This time it will be Wendy’s turn and I cannot wait to see what happens.
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