Book Review - Katie Fforde's Love Letters

Love Letters by Katie Fforde
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 18th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 388 Pages
Rating: ★★
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Laura Horsley (yes, the heroine's name is the least romantic most equine name there could be) is being made redundant at the bookstore she loves. Not because the bookstore is logically closing due to the harsh realities of publishing, just because the store's owner Henry wants to retire. This book loving introvert starts throwing caution to the wind and saying things she'd never have said if her life wasn't being uprooted. She's not rude, she just speaks her mind, which brings her to the attention of a literary agent at the store, Eleanora. Eleanora likes to scheme. And she has just the scheme for this little bookworm. How would Laura like to run a literary festival? She'd just have to convince the most recluse author on the planet, Dermot Flynn, to leave his secluded village in the west of Ireland and come to England. Sure, no problem, seeing as he won't even do an event 5 miles from his house... With her new bff Monica, lead singer of a swing and nostalgia band in tow, off they go to Ireland. After much alcohol, Laura decides that it's a great idea to loose her virginity to the author she has worshiped since college in order to secure his appearing at her festival. Problem is, the next day she doesn't remember what happened. This shy little girl now has to get up the courage to ask this literary lion if they slept together.

Even if they didn't, Laura still wishes to, because she realizes, after now meeting the man, she's in love. She tries to deny her feelings by throwing herself into her work on the festival and subsequently her work in a writing course she's helping Dermot with, but all her work having the ring of Dermot doesn't help to distract her much. But while she may be ignoring her feelings for a certain man, she is embracing her dream of becoming an editor. Laura has finally broken into the rarefied book world and she has a bright future ahead, despite how gloomy her parents are about it. Now if she can just ignore Dermot forevermore and mend her broken heart, then life could be peachy.

Part of me wants to know if this was all some big joke. A book about a character aspiring to be an editor should have logically had an editor itself. The grammatical errors, typos and sentences that just plain didn't make sense, ran rampant through this book. Several times I thought, I should put this down, and then didn't. It really doesn't matter that I finished, it feels like a book I've read a hundred times before, only less original. It's riddled with cliches of the genre and peopled by unlikable characters in stupid situations. There's the wallflower, who obviously is virginal, her bff, the extrovert rocker chick and her other bff, the gay boy. Then add in the dollop of Darcy sex appeal with Dermot and wait to get them together. Once together, break them up for a stupid reason and in the climax get them back together with all problems surmounted. Ug. And ironically, I was in the mood for some really good chick lit. This my friends, is not good chick lit. Laura becomes an extrovert through the heavy and liberal application of alcohol. So girls, remember, to get the guy, start drinking whisky by the tumbler full! The two writers Veronica and Anne who show up to the literary festival are the only reason this is two stars. They are star one and star two, the rest of the book is a zero. Plus, I was once more lured in by a cover. There is NOTHING in the book that that cover relates too! Skip it, that's my advice of the day, seeing as it's going straight into my sell pile. I can only be grateful I picked this up used... and now I know why such a new release was at Half Price Books...