Letters and Lies

I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved the main character, despite her flaws. And I enjoyed the plot. But there were a lot of places in the book where things were worded very awkwardly, almost to the point where it was hard to figure out what the author was trying to convey. Overall, I still enjoyed the book, I just didn't love it.

This is a cozy historical fiction set in the west. A young woman goes to meet a man she plans to marry-never having seen him. In the background, is the story of her deceased father's business, her interfering uncle, and her mother who wants to see her settled. Among the mishaps along the way, this woman is determined to have her own way. Perhaps this is a good book for a rainy afternoon-a quick read, interesting, and entertaining. If the reader likes historical fiction, this is a light read that doesn't delve into the historical aspect but is character driven.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive!

Letters and Lies by Colleen L. Donnelly is the third novel of Ms. Donnelly’s that I’ve read, and it won’t be the last. Unforeseeable outcomes spring from minor, apparently harmless decisions. It’s satisfying—and rare—to read an unpredictable story, one that makes the reader think about the consequences of the characters’ actions.

Genteel, jilted spinster businesswoman Louise Archer marches onto a westbound train to reclaim the man who has jilted her. She uses a different name and poses as a widow for what seems like a good reason but almost immediately leads to complications. Getting off at an earlier stop to extricate herself from those, an impulsive act of kindness leads to more lies and further complications.

The characters are believably developed, the writing is excellent, and I never foresee all the plot twists in Ms. Donnelly’s books or how they will turn out. For me, that makes a five-star novel.
Reviewed for NetGalley.

I loved all the descriptions, details, and themes throughout the book. Louise’s heartache bled onto the pages, an intense hurt that I could feel as a reader.

When our heroine boards a train headed west where her ex-fiancé lives, she plans to force open the door that had closed to her after being jilted by the man. Only, when she meets his friend, Everett, on the train, her life begins to spiral out of control as she digs herself deeper into a hole with each lie she tells. What had begun as an innocent alias turned into something far more dangerous such as fraud and possibly even an accomplice in murder.

I absolutely loved the comparison of words to bullets throughout the story. Although Louise doesn’t need to shoot a gun, she has plenty of ammo on the tip of her tongue.

One of my favorite relationships in the story was the platonic one between Louise and Cook. Cook’s bark was as bad as his bite, but Louise never backed down, and although it took time (a lot of it), they came to eventually respect one another. The interactions between Louise and Cook show just how fearless she is and how far she is willing to go to make a good change in someone else’s life, or in this case, lots of people’s lives. Although her motive behind helping Lizzy with her restaurant had been selfish at first, it quickly turned into a desire to do good.

This book held me on the edge of my seat as I wondered what would happen next, what the reactions would be when people learned of her lies, and especially the mystery between her, Everett, Jim, and six powerful, heart-wrenching words: Don’t come. I can’t marry you.

I feel like this book could have been so much better than it was. It felt very long winded in places and very repeative with the continued repeating of the letters between Louise and Jim. The plot was interesting but the wordiness of the book made it lose some its appeal.

This book is set in the times of Western expansion and trains/stagecoaches. It is an interesting story of Louise Archer who is heading west to marry a man she has never met. Right before she leaves, he sends a telegram - Don't come, I can't marry you. 6 words that send her on a journey of self discovery and some hijinx. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

Great story! Letters and Lies was a fascinating story of a girl. Louise, who felt like she needed to lie and make herself into another person as she traveled , and ended up making many friends and getting involved in an entire town's financial problems. There were surprising twists and turns in the story that kept me interested and I couldn't put it down. Excellent story, with a decent ending. The ending kind of surprised me, but I enjoyed reading this book.

A really interesting read. You think the story is going to go one way but ends up heading straight into another direction. I love the setting of the story and there is really good character development. It’s a sweet story of love, betrayal, encouragement, growth and happiness. You walk away feeling happy with the ending and definitely don’t know what is coming! You will enjoy this book if you like historical settings and twists and turns!

Story is about Louise Archer of St. Louis, Missouri. She travelled to Larned Kansas. This was suppose to be just a stop-over that turned into an extended stay. She was suppose to meet her fiance or her "open door" in Crooked Creek. At her stop-over at the train station, she met a few people that eventualy affect her future and happiness.

She had to commit a lie to help a lady named Lizzy. That lie had taken a life and that's where the story took of. In between scenes, phrases from her fiance's letters comes back to memory which she connects to her circumstance.

The story kept my interest, first, how is she gonna get out of the lie unscathe; second, how can she truly hep Lizzy and the other characters, third what happened to her fiance, and lastly, will there be a happy ending for her.
(Spoiler?) There was a happy ending. I enjoyed the turn of events at the end (esp what she did in the end). I recommend this book.

I have received a free ARC for this book and am voluntarily leaning a review.

"Don't come, I can't marry you." Louise Archer's heart is crushed when she receives a telegram from her intended, a man who she's never met but fell in love with via his letters. Does that stop Louise? No, she boards a train west to Kansas determined to convince Jim to marry her. But her well-laid plans unravel when she meets Everett on the same train. She gives an alias while telling lie after lie. As her lies snowball, she finds herself in a myriad of trouble. Can she sort everything out and escape the noose to find her open door or will she suffer the consequences or her lies?

Letters and Lies is a heart wrenching story about one woman's quest for a happily ever after. Colleen L. Donnelly takes on the classic mail-order bride trope and adds a new element to it. The descriptive narration told from Louise's POV has a poetic quality to it. When she's thinking to herself while doing something mundane, her recollection of one of Jim's letters adds a depth to the plot. I connected with Louise right away and found her spunkiness refreshing. The suspenseful sub-plot had me whipping through the pages. There's plenty of twists and turns I didn't see coming. The ending tugged at my heartstrings. If you're looking for a historical western romance with larger than life characters and a whip-smart romantic at heart heroine, you'll love Letters and Lies. Highly recommend!

Disclaimer: I received a copy from the author in the hopes I'd review it.

My Rating: 5 stars

I wasn’t a fan of little house on the prairie as a series but the literature was another matter. This story rings as true. Louise is intuitive and as far from a damsel in distress as you could find. She thinks on her feet, while observing the niceties of the day. She is firm where needed and not adverse to letting men in power understand she will not be trifled with on any front. I real frontier story of female true grit. Even the spectre of a jilted romance dies nothing to keep her from her future.

Overall, a fair historical fiction story. Louise gets jilted by her mail-order groom, and decides to come and investigate what happened. When she meets up with Everett, sparks fly. I did like this story, and read to the end, but it was skimmable at times. Could have been a bit tighter in the story-line, but otherwise would recommend.

Heat Factor: It’s not ‘hot’, but don’t let it deter you.
Character Chemistry: You hope she’ll fall for the hero but there’s so much else going on it’s not a sole focus.
Plot: Louise Archer gets jilted by her unseen suitor at the last possible moment by telegram and decides to hop on the train as planned anyway so she can convince him to change his mind. But when she lies to a US Marshal and ends up in a dismal little town in desperate need of saving, Louise can’t help but jump right in...
Overall: This is not a steamy, relationship-driven romance but it’s darn good and it sticks with you.

This book is probably not a straight romance, but I read it a month ago and I still think about it (so you should probably give it a go, if you like a good tangle).

Louise gets herself in a huge pickle when she lies to everyone she knows and hops on a train to go convince her fiance to un-jilt her and marry her anyway. They’ve never met--only by correspondence--but she knows they’re meant to be together and she’s not the type to give up. (I don’t think she has the ability to let anything lie, frankly.)

When she tells a fat lie to the US Marshal who helps her on the train, Louise ends up stuck in a dismal town with a disgusting restaurant in need of rescue. But when she discovers the entire town is being preyed on by a banker with no morals, she ends up leading the charge and playing the long game to save her newfound friends and neighbors. All along the way, our handsome US Marshal Everett McCloud is slowly untangling the mystery that is Louise.

Honestly, I could not for the life of me figure out who she was going to fall in love with. She equally flummoxes and antagonizes just about every man she comes into contact with and it’s absolutely delightful. I could not put this book down; in fact, I almost never stay up all night reading, but I did with this one. I started hoping that Everett would come back into town right alongside our heroine but it was quite clear she’d be fine even if she didn’t end up proposed to.

If you have a hankering for a well-told story with more twists and turns than steamy embraces, I highly recommend this one--it’s absolutely charming and you’ll love every second.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

Thanks to the publishers, the author and Netgalley for an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I picked up this novel I was expecting it to be a lovely, predictable romance but it was so much more. This book was more about friendship, being true to oneself and courage than it was about falling in love.

It was apparent from the beginning that the author knew their history and their characters very well. The story jumped off the page - I could hear the train and smell the grease in the restaurant, It wasn’t predictable - even though I tried I could not have guessed how it would all work out, The secondary characters like Lizzie, Cook and Tina really made the story for me and Louise/Penelope is not perfect but was really authentic.

I can’t wait to read more from this author,

Yes - read it!

What an outstanding first time effort! Very different premise for the story. Enjoy the main character and most of the other ones. The ones you love to hate, are really well developed so enjoyable to hate them!

I enjoyed the read. I thought it was a publish date of May 25 2022 so pretty proud to get this read & reviewed before the publish date only to discover it was a 2020 date! So now I am wondering where's the next book!!

I received an ARC from Netgalley to help me prepare for my honest review.