The Love Note cover

The Love Note

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THE LOVE NOTE
by
Joanna Davidson Politano
Genre: Christian / Historical Fiction / Romance
Publisher: Revell
Publication Date: October 20, 2020
Number of Pages: 400
Scroll down for the giveaway!

SYNOPSIS

The Love Note cover

Focused on a career in medicine and not on romance, Willa Duvall is thrown slightly off course during the summer of 1859 when she discovers a never-opened love letter in a crack of her old writing desk. Compelled to find the passionate soul who penned it and the person who never received it, she takes a job as a nurse at the seaside estate of Crestwicke Manor.

Everyone at Crestwicke has feelings—about the man who wrote the letter, but he seems to have disappeared. With plenty of enticing clues but few answers, Willa’s search becomes even more complicated when she misplaces the letter and it passes from person to person in the house, each finding a thrilling or disheartening message in its words.

Laced with mysteries large and small, this romantic Victorian-era tale of love lost, love deferred, and love found is sure to delight.

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Notable Quotable: "The letter I'd found in that desk was a piece of something much larger, a story more epic than mere romance. And piece by piece, it was about to be uncovered."

Book Trailer

REVIEW

Clueless Gent’s Rating

5 star rating

The Love Note is a love story for the ages. I found the storyline to be original, and it was told in a way as to make it delightful to read.

The story is about Willa Duval, a passionate nurse with aspirations of becoming a doctor, like her father. You may not think very much of that, as there are many doctors today that are women. However, this story is set in the mid-nineteenth century. There weren’t so many back then, if any. Further, the story is set in England, and English medical schools at that time did not accept women.

“It was a strange, rather starkly empty world when one’s mother was no longer in it.”

The story is not really about Willa’s path to becoming a doctor, but her passion for medicine and helping patients is prevalent throughout the story. Rather, the story is about an old note Willa finds in her desk – a love letter. While considering the significance of the note, Willa decides to try and deliver it to the person for whom the note was intended. The problem is, she doesn’t really know who that is. All she knows is that the desk the note fell out of came from Crestwicke, where she spent many days of her childhood while her father treated the owner of the property. Thus, the adventure begins.

The love letter has a very prominent role in the story. In fact, the old love letter is part protagonist and part antagonist, depending on who is reading it. I’ve never read a story where a piece of paper had such a pivotal role.

That’s enough about the storyline. I don’t want to give anything away, except to say – IT’S GOOD! But not only is the story good, the way Politano told it is also worthy of mention.

“Wounds are only useful for reminding us when to duck next time.”

If I enjoy a story, I typically highlight a handful of passages that I think are worth remembering or otherwise well written. In The Love Note, I highlighted thirty-nine such passages! Part of that can be attributed to the fact that common language was different back then compared to today’s vernacular. However, without Politano’s way with words, I’m certain I would not have enjoyed the story nearly as much as I did.

The author’s use of fine description adds significant value to the story.  For example, when I read, “Her eyes glinted like sun against gunmetal,” my mind formed an immediate picture.  Here’s another example that touches on several senses:  “Soon we were escorted to a box seat near the stage, with red velvet chairs and gold-fringed curtains, the smell of gaslights filling our nostrils.”

The story takes a number of turns. Some of them were expected, but most of them were not. Whenever I thought I knew where the story was going, I soon learned that I was wrong. I consider that a testament to the originality of the storyline.

“Every word a mother speaks is like a knife—with power to shape or to wound.”

The pace was steady from the beginning through the climax. However, there were a number of times I wanted to skip ahead to find out what happened – but I didn’t. (I suggest you don’t either. The surprises are very nice.) Even though the storyline was original, I found all of the character arcs to also be original.

This is a wonderful read. Even if you don’t consider yourself a love story kind of reader, I think you’ll enjoy this one. I highly recommend that you give it a go!

I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.
Bookstagram courtesy of Maida.

About
the Author

Joanna Davidson Politano Author Photo

Joanna Davidson Politano is the award-winning author of Lady Jayne Disappears and A Rumored Fortune. She loves tales that capture the colorful, exquisite details in ordinary lives and is eager to hear anyone’s story.

She lives with her husband and their two kids in a house in the woods near Lake Michigan. You can find her at www.jdpstories.com.

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!
ONE WINNER
Copy of The Love Note
+ $25 B&N Gift Card + Pack of 50 Love Notes Cards.
OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 6, 2020
(US ONLY)
The Love Note tour giveaway graphic. Prizes to be awarded precede this image in the post text.
FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY
Or, visit the blogs directly:

10/27/20

Book Trailer

Hall Ways Blog

10/27/20

Review

Jennifer Silverwood

10/28/20

Character Interview

Reading by Moonlight

10/29/20

Review

Rainy Days with Amanda

10/30/20

Top Five

Story Schmoozing Book Reviews

10/30/20

Review

Carpe Diem Chronicles

10/31/20

Excerpt 1

All the Ups and Downs

11/1/20

Excerpt 2

Book Bustle

11/2/20

Author Interview

The Adventures of a Travelers Wife

11/2/20

Review

The Clueless Gent

11/3/20

Guest Post

Max Knight

11/4/20

Top Eight List

Chapter Break Book Blog

11/4/20

Review

Missus Gonzo

11/5/20

Review

Jennie Reads

11/5/20

Review

StoreyBook Reviews

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