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Review: Seaside Letters - Nantucket Series #3

Seaside Letters book cover on blue background

I've enjoyed getting to share and re-read some of my favourite books these past weeks, especially as I'm being introduced to a lot of new authors. Going back and forth has been quite fun, and I have to admit that it's made me more cognizant of the similarities and differences in Christian fiction between then and now. One of my favourite books from the aughts is Seaside Letters by Denise Hunter, which has a gorgeous cover (that pink!) and an even dreamier premise.

Book Synopsis

No matter where you are or how long until we can be together, I'll keep searching for you. —Tucker

Sabrina never intended to fall in love with Tucker McCabe, the man she serves coffee to every morning at a Nantucket café—especially since he's unwittingly tied to a past she deeply regrets. A past that is so riddled with mistakes, it has separated her from God. But she's fallen hard and isn't sure how long she can hide her feelings.

When Tucker learns Sabrina is the research assistant for a local mystery writer, he asks Sabrina to help him with a little sleuthing of his own . . . locating an elusive woman he's fallen for online.

If Sabrina accepts the job, she'll spend her evenings in close proximity to a man who can never be hers. If she turns him down, he'll hire someone else—and that would be a disaster. Because if someone else sifts through all those letters and finds out the truth, Tucker will discover her secret . . . that the person he's trying to find is her.

Source: Amazon

Book Thoughts

If I had to pick a book that could sum up how I feel about all of Denise Hunter’s books, I would choose Seaside Letters as the reason why I continue to read her books, almost fifteen years after coming across the Nantucket series. This book is eminently re-readable in that no matter how often I've read it, I feel all the emotions I did when I first encountered it. Sabrina and Tucker are one of those couples where their story is achingly painful yet so beautifully redemptive that it lingers in your mind. The amount of yearning that is written in this book captures the heart of romance, making the journey both riveting and satisfying.

Whenever I pick up this book, I am blown away at how the multiple timelines and epistolary content all line up with each other. With this book being written around the advent of more frequent digital communications, it is both a step into the past and a reflection of our present times where online correspondence often plays a role in building relationships. I won't give too much of the story away, other than to say that there is something deeply spiritual about the pursuit that takes place between Tucker and Sabrina; it is well worth the ride they go on! This book does not shy away from difficult content—showing how God can work in any situation—which is one of the reasons why it continues to stand out for me.

Book Summary

  • Format of book: 📖
  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Recommendation: 👍

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