Dear Emmie Blue
by Lia Louis
Atria Publishing

I loved this book so much! I saw the genre classification as Women’s Fiction, but it is truly a romance. The internal dialogue of Emmie clearly conveys the feelings of the character and I could feel her emotions throughout the story.

When 16 year old Emmie Blue sends a balloon into the air with a note inside she is hoping for someone, a friend who she so desperately needs after a traumatic experience. When she receives a message in return from 16 year old Lucas, miles away in France, her prayers are answered and a long term friendship begins.

Emmie’s story is one of struggle, hope, resilience and love. I was so invested in the characters, laughing, hoping, cheering, and even crying along the way. Emmie Blue is a survivor and a beautiful, caring character in a touching story. What a wonderful book Ms Louis has written!

Trigger warnings: sexual assault, bullying, abandonment, exclusion

Thank you to Atria Publishing and NetGalley for the complimentary e-ARC

I went into this with very little background. Sometimes I prefer it that way. I knew a tad about the story but I wanted the blindness to allow me to really capture the story.

This was a good choice for me. I really really enjoyed this read. There were times were it seemed to drag a tad but I think it was a bit necessary to paint the picture accurately.

I loved Emmie's character and her internal dialogue. Readers are really able to understand her feelings well. Her friends were a great comic relief. I'm not typical one for a triangle of sorts. I saw this one coming and was nervous but it played out just how I hoped.

There are a few trigger warnings that may need to be expressed to readers if you are pressing it for them. You're welcome to ask me about those.

Overall this was a solid book. Once I got really going I devoured it. Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I loved, loved, loved this story. Emma Blue releases a balloon with her email address into the sky. A boy in France finds it on the beach and a friendship is born. Fourteen years later Emmie and Lucas are still best friends, although Emmie is secretly in love with Lucas. One night Lucas asks Emmie a very important question. But unfortunately it wasn't the question that Emmie was hoping for. Over the course of the book we are introduced to other characters that play a roll in Emma's life. And we learn that the family we are born into isn't necessarily the ones for us, but instead it is the friends we make along the way that are our true family.

When Emmie Blue was sixteen, she sent a red balloon out into the world with a note. An equally lonely teenage boy, Lucas, finds the balloon, and the two become the best of friends. Now on their thirtieth birthday, Emmie thinks Lucas is finally going to ask her to take their relationship to the next level. But nothing ever works out the way you think it will in life, and Emmie Blue is about to find that out the hard way.

There are SO many layers to this story, and I absolutely adored Dear Emmie Blue! Apparently I am becoming a contemporary fiction/romance reader, and I'm not mad at it!

This book is a love story, but it is also a story about life. Emmie reminds me of the friend who asks for advice but never actually listens. She can't see what is right in front of her because she only has eyes for Lucas. She has put her entire life on hold because of him. I loved that the book explored all aspects of Emmie's life-career, loss, past trauma, absent parents, loneliness, friendship. I laughed out loud more times that I can count and even teared up a bit. Dear Emmie Blue is so much more than a romance, and I will probably come back to this one for a re-read in the future.

Many thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Talk about a meet cute! Wow. I fell in love with Emmie Blue from the first page and my love for her has remained long after I finished her story. Id love a follow up - just to know that this character is OK

This was such a cute, uplifting read. It was interesting to see how the characters relationship developed throughout the years, and how they evolved on their own.

I received an E-ARC through NetGalley. I related to Emmie Blue, a character who wanted to find herself, and thought that she would have everything figured out by the time she turned thirty. However, I found this story long and drawn out.

Emmie’s life is a mess. She is thirty, has a dead end job and learns the man she is in love with is going to marry someone else. She really thought Lucas was going to propose to her and therefore neglected other aspects of her life. A story of life, love friendship and hopes.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Looking at the cover of Dear Emmie Blue, you would think that it would be a lighthearted rom-com, the kind you've read before but still enjoy. This book was so much more than that! There were so many layers to this story - feelings explored, truths spoken. Ah! I loved it!

The story was so relatable - who hasn't felt feelings for someone unattainable, only to wonder if they are real feelings?! Adding to that story is a story about what Emmie went through as a teen, which was horrible - I felt for her on every page. The friendship she had with Lucas and Elliot was beautiful, how they helped her through trauma. The rest of the characters were fabulous too - Fox and Rosie! I don't want to give too much away, just know that this is a wonderful story of friendship and love.

I recommend this book for someone who likes a cute friendship romance story, but wishes they had a little more grit! This is that book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this one early!

Emmie is a dreamer and she decides to use a red ballon as her "message in a bottle" type last hope. She puts her email and name with the red ballon and lets it fly. The balloon ends up in the hands of Lucas who responds instantly. Over time Emmie is falling so in love with Lucas in this dream scenario situation. Her life and love revolves around this mystery man she has yet to meet in person. Will their connection and love really concur all or is this just a fantasy that will devastate Emmie's whole world.

A cute and adorable story of finding love thru unconventional methods.

This book was amazing! I connected with every single character. I cried. I laughed. I wanted Emmie to be happy and I couldn't wait to see how that story developed. It was just a really really good book. A feel good book and makes you smile and cry at the same time. I loved it. I highly recommend!

Thank you Atria books for the free ecopy of Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis #jaylammreviews
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After Emmie sends a balloon with a letter into the air, it finds Lucas...and this begins their unbreakable friendship. Now fourteen years later, Emmie is in love with Lucas, and he is about to marry someone else.
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I really thought this was going to be just another cute romance but it was so much more. First, I loved the story of this girl sending a note into the world when she has no where else to turn. I find it so pure and poetic. I loved Emmie, she was the perfect character for a story like this. I found her so charming and funny, but I also wanted to just give her a big hug while she sorted through her feelings.
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I really loved that this was not just about a romantic relationship. It was about Emmie and all the relationships in her life

Emmie Blue is turning 30 and feeling lost. Emmie's hope is that her best friend, Lucas, is going to announce that he is in love with her too. But of course nothing ever happens the way we think it will in life. I do not want to give away anything about this charming tale. I loved Emmie Blue and the cast of characters in her life are wonderful! This was a great tale of letting go of what you think your life should look like and opening up to the other possibilities out there in the universe. I think some people will find Lucas a bit problematic and get annoyed by Emmie's blind love for him. But there is growth for both characters that make up for the flaws.

I was lost in Emmie's world while reading this book and that was a relief from the ongoing pandemic right now. A story of love and hope was just what I needed. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This beautiful love story grabbed me at page one and kept my attention until the very last page. Filled with wonderful, fleshed-out, and complicated characters, humor, and swoony romance, I adored it. For fans of Evie Drake Starts Over and One Day in December.

30 year old Emmie Blue met her best friend Lucas when they were only 16. He received a balloon message she sent and they struck up a friendship. Now after years of pining away for him, he's getting married. I certainly thought I knew where this was going but I was wrong. It took me about halfway through the book to figure it out. Emmie Blue made me sad for her. So much time spent pining away for someone who just didn't feel the same way....

Emmie releases a ballon with a message when she is 14. It is found by Lucas and they become friends. Now 16 years later Emmie is in love with Lucas but he is engaged to someone else. Emmie needs to move on in life but seems to be stuck on Lucas. I wasn’t wild about Lucas, he was a bit manipulative for me. This is a book about friendship and finding yourself. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Sometimes they say you can't see what's right in front of your face but Emmie Blue sees her best friend Lucas and she hopes that his big question on their 30th birthday is what she has been dreaming of. She knows she loves him and has her hopes set on him saying those 3 important words. Sadly her hopes are dashed but she still says yes to his all important question.

Now Emmie must try to figure out what there really is left of her life. She's 30 years old, her best friend is still her best friend but doesn't love her as she loves him, she rents a room from the ever quite Louise and is not working in the career she had dreamed of.

Emmie feels she must restart her life but it all feels so stagnant and some days meaningless. Emmie fails to see is that there is so much more to the background characters of her life and they will help change her story and the trajectory of her life in ways she could never have imagined.

Dear Emmie Blue is the story of a woman who is at a point in her life where it's time to move on, to let go and see the bigger picture of her life and maybe, just maybe find the love and the family she has been longing for, for so long (even though if she had opened her eyes she could have already been living that life).

I absolutely adore a good British rom-com and there were parts of this that reminded me of how I felt when I read Bridget Jones's Diary for the first time and that is a fabulous feeling!!

I can see this being a huge summer hit. I dare say there will be many readers enjoying this one poolside with a drink in hand, cheers!!

**Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC. Voluntarily reviewed.**

This was a delightful book. Emmie thinks that Lucas whom has been her best friend since they were teenagers, is going to propose. Emmie sent a balloon into the sky with a secret and Lucas found it. This started their friendship. Instead of proposing to her like she thought, Lucas asks her to be his best woman when he marries another woman! After this, Emmie must go and find her happiness. I loved Emmie taking charge of her life and the wonderful characters that are Emmie's friends. It was a tad predictable but I still really enjoyed it. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

5 stars! I loved this book so much! Dear Emmie Blue is a heartwarming story about life, love, and friendship. Lia Louis did an outstanding job bringing the characters to life. Dear Emmie Blue tells the story a young woman navigating through the hardships of her life and trying to find happiness. The setting and the characters of the book were written beautifully, I felt like I was fully immersed in the story the entire way through. I especially loved the unexpected connections Emmie finds throughout the book, such as with her landlord. I did not want it to end!

The book started out with a strong storyline about Emmy struggling with her past and dealing with her present. I thought the story sounded romantic and I couldn't wait to read it, but it was so slow and felt incredibly disjointed. I did not feel invested in the story outside of tje cute cd playlists.