Love Letters for Other People

De: Shaylin Gandhi

Narrado por: Carly Robins

“Beautifully written with a twist you won’t see coming.”
—HELEN HARDT, #1 New York Times bestselling author on When We Had Forever

An emotionally gripping page-turner about heartbreak, old secrets, and second chances—with an unexpected Cyrano twist. For fans of Lucy Score and Mia Sheridan.

When mathematician Aubrey MacLean’s career implodes, she has no choice but to return to her rural Indiana hometown, at least temporarily. But small towns have long memories, and so does she, especially when it comes to Nick Thacker, the boy who broke her heart.

Nick’s life is routine: long shifts at the steel mill, plus a side business writing love letters for other people. It’s enough to numb his regrets—until his first love returns, stirring up a past he thought he’d buried.

Aubrey is focused on rebuilding her career, until she falls for a man whose love letters feel achingly familiar. But as their connection deepens, so does her sense that she’s been here before. The similarities must be a coincidence, right? Because if not, Aubrey may have to choose between the life she’s built and the love she left behind…

Perfect for fans of:

• Small town romance
• Second chances
• Single dad
• Tortured hero
• Love letter mix-ups

A Emotional & Hopeful Story about Second Chances

Love Letters for Other People by Shaylin Gandhi is a story of second chances for Aubrey and Nick. They were each other’s first loves. Nick used letters to share how he felt for Aubrey, who sees the world through numbers. Even after heartbreak and 17 years apart, those memories of first love never faded. Aubrey returns to her hometown to rebuild her career. She simultaneously reunites with Nick and meets someone new. Nick has been working in the town steel mill and set up a side business writing love letters to help earn extra money for his family. When Nick sees Aubrey again, the memories and feelings of the past reawaken.

Aubrey receives letters from the new man she has been seeing, but she senses the voice of language is familiar. She’s heard this voice before. Aubrey remembers the love she once had for Nick and if there’s possibility for them to be together again.

I thought this novel was well paced and flowed between present day and the flashbacks of 17 years prior. The memories to the past helped us understand Aubrey and Nick’s love for each other as well as the secrets that are learned later in the novel.

I like how Gandhi weaves mathematical terminology seamlessly to share Aubrey’s perspective. And for Nick, the enduring power of language. There is a reflective chapter in the book about numbers and language I enjoyed in this book. At first, it appears words and numbers are opposites. But in their own ways, they’re trying to tell us something - to help us explain something. Either with logic or emotion, words and numbers are languages. They both have power. Both Nick and Aubrey feel that they can each express themselves. I liked how they both shared their respective passions for words and numbers and why they marvel at it. It was a way for them to share a part of themselves with the other and we can see the foundation of their relationship beginning.

The parallels with Cyrano de Bergerac in a modern day setting were also really interesting to connect to the themes of the novel. Just as Cyrano has his insecurities in the play, Nick has his own insecurities and fears about feeling that he is deserving and worthy of love. I enjoyed seeing how Nick’s character grew and evolved over the course of the story. He realized that while letters are a way for him to process emotion and communicate, he (and through the encouragement of his friend and his daughter) must also take action to fight for the life he wants and the love he wants.

I enjoy epistolary novels. They’re one of my favorite books. Letters can advance the exposition of the story and even provide twists along the way. It’s one of the things that drew me to this book.

“Never underestimate the power of a well-written letter.” I first heard this quote in Persuasion and then again in the movie adaptation of The Jane Austen Book Club and found this to be a thought provoking statement.

Letters have a way to help articulate feelings that can feel hard to express verbally. There’s something powerful about a hand-written letter for the sender and the recipient.

The sender takes time to write a letter. There’s intention with the words and feelings we’re trying to say. For the recipient, there’s the excitement and anticipation when receiving a letter. We’re eager to know what the sender’s message is.

The message of a letter can be something we carry with us. Nick has always remembered Aubrey’s letter, just as Aubrey was moved by Nick’s letters. Passages from the letters appear throughout the novel. The messages of the letters meet the moment for each of the protagonists on their own journeys.

Carly Robins delivers a great performance, showcasing the characters’ emotions and journeys in the past and present. Her narration also captures the power of the letters that Nick and Aubrey write to each other.