Here are some words to describe this book: cute, wholesome, 1800s England, fake-courting, dowries, family drama, familial ties, sweet sisters, happily ever after.

I loved Etta’s strength in discarding social norms and gender roles and being true to herself. I therefore also loved Gerard and his support of Etta and loving her for who she is.

This was a cute read, with language fitting to the era. I felt transported to 1800s England, and could dissociate into this sweet story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (rounded up for GR)

Thank you to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4/5

I enjoyed it very much. Etta is well-written and while I have never written any letters to my crush, I read about my feelings for someone else in a letter to my friend - a letter that my own mother read, so you can only imagine my embarrassment. So I can perfectly well sympathize with Etta regarding her letter to Freddie - if I were in her situation, I would do anything to retrieve the letter - including fake dating his cousin (or a friend).

Gerard was such a good character, he immediately became my book boyfriend. I loved his passion and ambition and I loved his friendship with Etta and Anne. He really thought that he had never had any feelings for Etta, but every time he talked about her and remembered their childhood, it was Etta he spoke of and how much he admired her. Every single time. It took some time for him to finally realize the truth, but when he finally did, he was all in.

The necklace was beautiful but the letter?? At the end?? I'm swooning, it was so cute and amazing, if anyone wrote to me something like that I would agree to marriage as well. He deserves it.

My favourite line: "You are the song of my soul, Etta. I will love you to my last breath. I will love you forever."

I enjoyed the book and I was honored to be able to read it. Thank you, NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for sending me the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I have never read the book or seen the movie that this is a retelling of, but I thought this was such a cute book! It's probably my favorite from Julie Wright to date. Etta is so delightful and Gerard is incredible! I really love how they grow to rely on each other rather than just automatically being in love.

I was given a copy to review, but a good review wasn't expected or asked for. All thoughts are my own.

"Complications arise when Marietta's secret love letters are accidentally found by the wrong man.

1828, the London countryside.

For years, Marietta Stone has harbored a secret infatuation for the handsome Frederick Finch and has poured out her deepest feelings in a series of passionate love letters that she keeps in a locked drawer. But when Marietta's private letters are accidentally delivered to Frederick's house, she must retrieve them immediately before they fall into the wrong hands. If the letters were read by anyone else, the resulting scandal could jeopardize her reputation.

Gerard Hartwell has no time for infatuations, courtship, or even love. He must find a wife with a substantial inheritance if he wishes to save his late father's bankrupt estate. When he accidentally discovers Marietta's love letters at his cousin Frederick's estate, he strikes a bargain with her. If she helps him court her older sister, Anne, he will return the letters and help Marietta win Frederick's heart.

Marietta agrees, and the two quickly pretend to be courting in order to spend time with their individual love interests. Yet, what appeared to be a straightforward bargain becomes complicated when Gerard realizes that the more time he spends with Marietta, the more he wishes he could court her for real. But can he persuade Marietta to give him a chance when her heart might belong to another man?"

Aww.

This book was a lovely read. The characters were relatable and the unfolding of the plot moved at just the right pace. The resolution of the story was satisfying.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this book.

Another charming Proper Romance. Some moments in the story may seem silly, but one must remember that both MCs are very young, and simply lack life experience (though I understand things were different in the Regency era). It was a joy to see this love story develop.

I received a copy of this book from Shadow Mountain Publishing.

This is a well paced and a swoon worthy romance. I flew through this book (which really cheered me up because I'd been in a pretty bad reading slump before this book.) Overall, it’s a 5 stars read for me

★ ★ ★ ★
╰┈➤ ❝ 𝘼 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚? 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡. ❞


.·:*¨༺ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 ༻¨*:·.

𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘯 meets 𝘛𝘰 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘐 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 in this timeless novel. Marietta, Etta to family and close friends, Stone has been infatuated with her 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱’𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 for quite some time. In an attempt to keep her feelings at bay and avoid causing a scandal for her family, she writes her feelings out in letters addressed to the young Mr. Finch. When the letters are accidentally sent to the Finch estate and Etta makes a plan to retrieve them before they’re read, she is stopped by the Finch family’s cousin, Gerard. This childhood friend of hers uses the letters as leverage to have the young woman help him court none other than Anne Stone, Etta’s sister. As their lives become intertwined and the two begin spending more time together, feelings become muddled and plans begin to go amiss. Will Etta get her letters back and avoid a scandal? Will Gerard marry and save the estate his father ruined? Guess you’ll have to read and find out.

.·:*¨༺ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 ༻¨*:·.

⋆ ★ Childhood friends to lovers
⋆ ★ Fake dating
⋆ ★ Slow burn
⋆ ★ She falls first, he falls harder
⋆ ★ Matchmaker gone wrong
⋆ ★ All grown up

.·:*¨༺ 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 ༻¨*:·.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.
I truly enjoyed this book and all it had to offer. It was a shorter, easy read that held my attention throughout. The blooming love story between Etta and Gerard was so cute and portrayed perfectly. The author did a fabulous job including the cutest sibling relationship and the realities of society mothers who choose favorites among their children. The whole novel was adorable and wholesome, touching on the importance of understanding one’s own value despite the opinions of others. I really loved this message, as well as several others that were subtly hidden throughout the novel.

I will say that this novel did not possess the most perfect writing style, but the point came across just fine. The characters do talk out loud to themselves a lot, which I found a bit odd, but I was able to get used to it. I highly recommend having knowledge of 1800s society and vocabulary before reading this book or you may find yourself confused and having to do some Googling .


.·:*¨༺ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 ༻¨*:·.

“𝙐𝙣𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.“

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚.”

“𝙀𝙩𝙩𝙖, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩.”

“𝘼 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚.”

A delightful Regency romance!

Etta wrote a few love letters to her unrequited crush Freddie but they were never meant to be seen by anyone else. When the letters are accidentally sent, Etta panics and in her bungled attempt to retrieve them, ends up making a deal with Freddie's cousin and her childhood friend Gerard.

Gerard must marry a woman with a large dowry to save his crumbling estate and so impulsively strikes a bargain with Etta: he will recommend her to Freddie and she will help him spend time with her sister Anne to explore the possibility of a courtship.

As they both try to keep their end of the deal, things get complicated, and finding a HEA for everyone involved may prove an impossible feat.

What to expect:
Regency romance
Dual POV
Fake courting
Love triangle twist
"To All the Boys I Loved Before" vibes
Childhood friends
A family feud
Intelligent heroine
The love letters
Gerard's gift
Sweet romance
Miscommunications

While reading this book I kept thinking of the famous Sir Walter Scott quote: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave..." Gerard and Etta definitely make a mess of things but what fun it is to see them try to untangle it all! There were some very sweet moments as well as some surprises on the way but it was a delightful journey and this is my favorite Regency romance from Julie Wright.

I received a complimentary copy but a positive review was not required.

“Whether she was his or not, she deserved this beautiful thing to remind her of her own perfect, exquisite beauty, both body and soul.”

I read this book so fast I only have a few “in the moment” thoughts

* I’m loving all of Gerard’s memories of Etta and himself as children!
* All the planning and conspiring 😅
* Men are so dense sometimes

This was such a sweet book! Etta and Gerard are perfect together! They were both silly at times but I loved their authentic connection and friendship. And of course the happy ending was fabulous 😁💜

There were definitely some things that felt rushed or not really ever explained.. but overall I really enjoyed the book!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a charming tale of three letters confessing love of the childhood sweetheart of the writer, Etta, never to be seen by others, and mistakenly mailed. Luckily she retrieves two of the three before her reputation is ruined, but ones remains out of reach and she makes a bargain with the cousin of her love, Gerard, to try to help him court her sister if he helps her have a chance with the cousin. Things continue to get complicated as she starts to fall for Gerard instead, and Gerard realizes that Etta is much more than a childhood friend! Loved seeing the happy resolution of this dilemma. Thanks to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing, I received a free ARC copy. These thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley & Shadow Mountain Publishing
#aninconvenientletter #netgalley

There was just a bit too much miscommunication and denial of feelings in this story for my personal taste. It took Gerard and Etta such a long time to realize that they loved each other! There were also too many side conflicts going on. A lot of the storyline was characters fighting. I did love the way the story ended but it was too little too late.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t put this down.

Spoilers!


20 stars for Etta. I just loved her. Unusual (for the time) and smart and strong and just wonderful.

Gerard was okay. I didn’t love the premise - I agreed with his mother’s admonishments at the end. But then, I guess, we wouldn’t have a story. I liked what he appreciated in Etta ( and Anne tbh), and the way he was a friend to her. I liked that valued his cousin despite Frederick’s clear faults and their personality differences. I just didn’t find him to be compelling the way Etta was. That’s okay, just would have preferred to spend less time in his head.

I received an ARC, so I’m hoping the number of typos and inconsistencies will be cleared up. (Things like Frederick saying, “but truly? A stone girl?” Like he was surprised when it had been his explicit recommendation and they discussed it at length. )

Marietta’s unrequited love has been poured out into letters she never intends to send. But when those letters are accidentally sent, she must do everything in her power to intercept them before they are read. When she sneaks into the house to retrieve the letters, she is met with Gerard Hartwell, a stranger who is visiting and manages to discover her letters. They strike a bargain that she will help him court her sister if he keeps the letters secret.

What follows is a predictable, but still adorable story of enemies to lovers trope. I truly enjoyed this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Etta has had a crush on Freddie for years. She pens her feelings for him in letters she never intends to send. Unfortunately they are mistakenly sent. She tries to intercept the love letters but is foiled by Freddie’s cousin Gerard. He has problems of his own. They come to an agreement that he will not give the letter to his cousin if Etta will help him to win her sister’s heart.

This was a fun story reminiscent of “To All The Boys I Loved Before” in a historical setting. It had some unexpected twists and turns that kept things interesting. I did enjoy this book.

This was such a sweet story. It has been a whole since I've not wanted to put a book down. Etta and Gerard's love story felt so authentic. Personally I did not love the moment of Etta's mom having a heart to heart with her at the end. It felt very sudden and out of character. Aside from that, I loved this story. I would love to hear what becomes of Frieddie and if he gains the confidence to just be himself with a lady or go after a lady that doesn't put up with his shenanigans.

An Inconvenient Letter by Julie Wright is an example of the best type of romance, in my opinion. I loved that the main characters in this story had ample time to get to know one another and had a true connection and compatibility. Their interactions were a joy to read. Both Gerard and Etta were also extremely likable with excellent character, yet I also loved that both characters were flawed and made mistakes. This made them relatable. But they owned up to their mistakes and made things right.

The love story was satisfying and enjoyable without being overly cheesy or dramatic. The love letter was one of my favorite parts.

Beyond the strength of the plot, the writing itself was quite strong. As I began reading I relaxed into the story right away, feeling in excellent hands with the skilled writing. Julie Wright is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors after reading this book and A Captain for Caroline Gray which is also one of my favorite romance books.

I highly recommend An Inconvenient Letter, and I don’t give 5 stars often. I’m grateful to NetGalley for giving me a free ARC of the book, which I am reviewing voluntarily.

Oh, this is a fun read. How can you not love childhood friends who meet again under difficult circumstances and instead of realizing each other's value construe a plot to help in courting others?
Etta and Gerard spent time together in their youth, his cousins were her neighbors. And while he only saw her as the pesky little girl, things change as he remembers her kindness.
She, on the other hand, always thought she was in love with his cousin. As their scheme or blackmail comes into play, a different light begins to shine, and what really matters comes to the surface.

I enjoyed these characters and the struggles the fought. I wanted to take Etta's mom out and teach her a few things, but some mother's never see the value of their children.

This is a sweet, clean, enjoyable read.

An Inconvenient Letter is, as the name implies, about an inconvenient letter and a young woman who sent it... by accident. It's a classic tale of thinking you know what you want but then finding out it wasn't really what you wanted. I liked the story well enough. I did feel the premise was a bit weak. I didn't see why it took so long for the hero to realize he could solve his problems by marrying the heroine rather than her sister -- but beyond that the characters were enjoyable and the story worked out as you would hope.

An easy historical read. I liked An Inconvenient Letter, by Julie Wright. It is an enjoyable historical fiction romance. I’m going to look for more by this author