Customer Reviews

Love Letters

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I know I can count on Katie Fforde to help me escape and leave me with a wistful smile on my face. When my neice was a flight attendant, she discovered Katie Fforde on a London layover. We both became hooked and have now read everything Ms. Fforde has written. We like the fact that she writes for Brits and not a US audience. We sometimes have to do a little research to find out what she is talking about. For instance, we had no idea what an Aga was.

When I read Love Letters I was delighted to see characters from one of her earlier novels. Just like the main character, I found Katie's brooding, intimidating, vulnerable, and devastatingly handsome Irish poet irrestible. The lead character in Love Letters is young, but Ms. Fforde just as often gives us characters who (like myself) have been around for a while.

Ms. Fforde's books follow a recipe: 1. Woman faces undesired change. 2. Woman faces change with creativity taking her outside her comfort zone. 3. Woman makes new friends who help her in her transition. 3. Woman meets a man she can't stand and falls hopelessly in love with him. 4. Woman's new skills are put to the test. 5. Woman gets the man and the new life she has worked for. It is a very good recipe. Ms. Fforde is a master chef who manages to make her receipe seem new and fresh every time she serves it to her readers.

I love learning about the places she takes us in her books: Irish villages, Scottish highlands, English country estates, live aboard barges on English canals, and English gardens. Ms. Fforde's characters battle pain, defeat and self-doubt with the help of good friends, food and wine. Does it get better than that?

I usually love Katie Fforde books. Good escapism, good for a read in the tub.

This one though, I was ready to strangle the main character. I hate movies and books that revolve around miscommunication - this one drove me nuts. The man that she loves calls her and texts her and what does she do? Deletes them. Doesn't read them. Give me a break.

I've read all of Katie Fforde's books, purchased most in hard cover. I am a fan of English books on relationships, and KF's books, while light reading, I've found enjoyable in the past. But they have started to deteriorate into silly romances without saying anything useful, interesting, or believable about relationships between people, not just men and women, but parents and children, friends, and more.

The premise of this book is a 26-year-old virgin who hasn't found the right man but is suddenly willing to sleep with a womanizing novelist. I couldn't read further when she spends the night with him after an evening of drinking but can't figure out whether they actually had sex or not! This goes on for pages! And I'm not giving much away because this all happens early in the book. Nor is the rest of the plot either riveting or very believable.

I usually give a one star to any book I can't get through, but as a fan of her earlier books I can't bear to.

Katie Fforde writes a wonderful novel. I love her heroines - they are quirky and creative, they are strong but don't know it. They grow into themselves through whatever adversity Mrs. Fforde drags them into (not melodrama!). I love how natural they are and how one gets to know them as if they could really be friends. Quite honestly, I haven't found another light author besides D.E. Stevenson that grounds the characters so well.
I bought this one because I just couldn't wait for the US edition to release. It was a typically nice story, but the editing was poor. There were spelling errors and grammatical errors.
Mrs. Fforde, please consider a new copy editor!

Now on to the story. This one is not her best. I wouldn't give it to anyone who hasn't read Paradise Fields or maybe Second Thyme Around. As another reviewer stated, the communication tangles are just frustrating, not entertaining. Our heroine acts terribly immature and doesn't really seem to grow much. The hero is nicer than she deserves really, and I'm not convinced of their chemistry or if they will be a success in the long term. Sigh.

That said, won't you (carefully) hurry up Mrs. Fforde, I'm waiting for your next heroine next door.

This was the first Katie Fforde book I had read and I loved it. The story centers around a booklover who works with an author she admires. I think my reactions would have been similar to hers. I enjoyed the romance part of the story, too. I didn't think it was far-fetched as other reviewers did. Miscommunications can easily occur and resentment can set in. It all works out in the end. Funny book.

I thought this was a fun light story and it had the sense of humor that I love in other Katie Fforde books. If you enjoyed her more recent books you'll like it. She paints such a vivid picture and her characters are always quirky.

If you are a fan of Harriet Evans or Jill Mansell, you will enjoy this book. The writing is light, the characters engaging, the plot interesting. Great book to enjoy on long plane flights, on vacation or at home on a rainy day.

Katie Fforde usually writes light, feel-good love stories with likeable characters. Just not this time.

Laura is wimpy, whiney, and downright annoying. Her "I-can't-do-anything" attitude is wearying.

Then, let's insult intelligent women everywhere by making Laura agree to sleep wtih an author in order to get him to appear at a literary festival she is coordinating. Come on. What year is this?

Of course, Laura falls in love with said author who after completely ignoring her for most of the book, suddenly decides he can't live without her. Huh?

Bad story. Bad characterization. Way too much detail on how to run a book festival - if I ever need to run one, I can use this book as a guide. But as a light and fun fiction book? I wish I passed on this one.

Was so looking forward to reading Fforde's latest but was quickly disappointed. Did she really write this drivel? Character development was amateurish. Fforde's women can often be quirky, but this one was simply too silly and unbelievable. Do hope one of my favorite authors can redeem herself in her next book.

I didn't know what to expect with this book. It was on the "recommended"shelf at the library, so I picked it up. It took a bit to get going, but I absolutely loved it once the plot was established. I found the characters to be charming. This is very light fare, but perfect for a quick absorbing read. I couldn't put it down. Shocked it only had 3 stars on Amazon.