Review Tour: Dirty Letters: Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

by Kimbytx - Wednesday, November 06, 2019

Dirty Letters

Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward
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Release Date November 5, 2019

I’d never forgotten him—a man I’d yet to meet.

Griffin Quinn was my childhood pen pal, the British boy who couldn’t have been more different from me. Over the years, through hundreds of letters, we became best friends, sharing our deepest, darkest secrets and forming a connection I never thought could break.

Until one day it did.

Then, out of the blue, a new letter arrived. A scathing one—one with eight years of pent-up anger. I had no choice but to finally come clean as to why I stopped writing.

Griffin forgave me, and somehow we were able to rekindle our childhood connection. Only now we were adults, and that connection had grown to a spark. Our letters quickly went from fun to flirty to downright dirty, revealing our wildest fantasies. So it only made sense that we would take our relationship to the next level and see each other in person.

Only Griff didn’t want to meet. He asked that I trust him and said it was for the best. But I wanted more—more Griff, in the flesh—so I took a big chance and went looking for him. People have done crazier things for love.

But what I found could change everything.

Luca and Griffin were pen pals as kids and teens, but then Luca stopped writing. And eight years later Griffin sent one last scathing letter that got her attention. Soon they are back to sharing their innermost thoughts and feelings while engaging in some flirty and dirty banter. But there are some things that are hard to explain.

Luca has been through some terrible events that have had an effect on her current life. She has had success in some areas and is stuck in others. She is trying to work through her issues, but it takes time, determination, and patience. But she is smart, sweet, funny, and trying to be brave. I think the authors did a great job illustrating how defeating and difficult it can be to live with these types of thoughts.

Griffin lives across the country now, and his life is very different. In some ways it is good, and in other ways bad. He is sexy, charming, generous, and talented. From the outside it looks like he has everything, but Luca is the only person that really sees the true him under his public image. But she might be the one girl he cannot truly have.

These two live opposite lives. And her greatest fears are part of his daily existence. But their relationship was already based on blind trust, faith, and an unshakeable bond. But it is easier with anonymity. Real-life can bring complications and challenges. They say love can conquer all, but can it really?

Will they be able to overcome the issues to have a true relationship or are is being pen pals as far as they can really go?

This is a flirty, witty, sexy, emotional, second chance love story with some unique challenges. I loved getting both of their points of view, reading their letters, and sharing Griffin's lyrics. I felt like these characters were laid bare and we got to see all of the raw emotions, anxiety, and doubts. I loved both Luca and Griffin, and together they were both completely adorable and totally hot. Griffin stole my heart with his patience, devotion, and dirty-talking charm. Doc and even Hortencia added to the story as well.

I devoured this book. The storyline was more than I was expecting and kept me invested throughout. They truly struggled and had to face challenges, fears, and insecurities and ultimately figure out if they were worth fighting for. My heart was broken and put back together several times. And in between I smiled, I laughed, I teared up, and I swooned. And the little extra something-something provided to go along with the story was a fun treat.

Griffin and Luca built a childhood friendship on pen pal letters crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Their connection through words was strong, sharing their deepest secrets, hopes, and dreams with each other until Luca suddenly stopped returning Griffin’s letters. Eight years later, she receives a letter out of the blue that causes her to finally share what has kept her from writing all these years.

When Griffin learns why the letters stopped, he offers forgiveness and they pick up their letter writing where they left off as children, quickly moving from friendly to flirty and beyond in their letters. But when Luca suggests exchanging updated pictures Griffin resists.

As they get to know who they are now, it becomes clear very quickly that they live opposite lifestyles and there is very little overlap in their habits.

I loved the struggle these two experience. They already know they have a spark -- they could feel it in their correspondence. But keeping that spark alive while trying to figure out how to mesh 2 very different lifestyles and Luca’s particular needs proves to be the biggest hurdle to a future for their relationship. I loved the lengths Griffin was willing to go to in order to have Luca join him where he was, but I also loved that it wasn’t just about him making things easy for her. She had her own hurdles to overcome, and as much as Griffin wanted to make things easier for her, he couldn’t actually do the heavy lifting for her.

This was a fun read with some unexpected circumstances keeping these two apart. I enjoyed watching as they reconnected and develop their relationship deeper than was possible from their childhood selves.The side characters, particularly Doc, added a special sweetness to the story. I loved Doc’s nontraditional methods with Luca and the hand he had in guiding both Luca and Griffin in their journey.

Vi Keeland

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in twenty-five languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.

Penelope Ward

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.

She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.

With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.

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