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For Lila, Forever |
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Winter Renshaw |
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April 25th 2019 |
| The words “For Lila, forever” adorned the front of the envelope in blue ink, the handwriting all too familiar. But it didn’t matter what it said. I didn’t have the heart to open it.
We couldn’t be together. Not after everything … Leaving Rose Crossing, Maine was one of the most painful moments of my life—or at least it was until the day I came face-to-face with Thayer Ainsworth again. After a decade of searching, he’s found me, and he wants to know why I quit my housemaid job and left his family’s island estate without so much as a goodbye. But I’m bound by a devastating secret much bigger than the two of us, and telling him the truth has consequences. Looking into the eyes of the only man I’ve ever loved, I tell him the only thing I’m allowed to: never contact me again. And when he’s gone, I sit down and finally open his letter. Only it isn’t a letter at all. And it changes everything. |
| More and more I am coming to the conclusion that Winter Renshaw is one of these authors that is able to change her writing style like a chameleon giving her a huge range of possible ways to work with a plot. The fact itself is amazing actually – but when you find yourself reviewing one of her books because you had the amazing chance to get a review copy – well than that fact leads to the same range of ratings and just now when I finished reading “For Lila, Forever” I came to the conclusion that this was not my book.
For one – I somehow understood the timeline of the blurb differently than it actually happened in the book when it came to the “non letter” – in the blurb it sounded like a reason for something to get started when in reality it happened at the end as a final thing to make something solid … Then there was the “secret” that was well – how should I phrase it – well – I kind of knew it before I even started really getting into the story. The now and then writing style was strange when the prologue already told you too much – especially when the whole prologue was repeated again – it was like a double chapter somehow… Then in the “now” time – I completely lost the “connection” between the characters. It was all about what happened in the past and the influence of the secrets … but in the grand total it felt like two old friends reconnecting and not like lovers reconnecting. Some parts also felt stiff and disjointed, hurried even – I read several other books by this author so this feeling was new to me, it was – and I mean that in a respectful way – like this was more a good draft in need of polishing and not story wise fully finished book. I loved the devotion of the male character – a rare trait – and I loved the female lead in the “then” chapters – the supporting characters were more confusing then helpful especially in the “now” chapters. The whole plot idea had this “civil war – plantation – south” feeling to me – half of the time I was expecting to read about a women in a crinoline coming down a grand staircase – don’t ask me why because the plot was nowhere near that. So in total – I liked the plot idea and the setting – just the development did not work out for me in this book. I might be the odd one out there and I will never hesitate to pick up the next book from this author so if you think the plot is one for you I would never try to stop you from reading this one.
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