The Letters We Left Behind

Small Town Christian Romance

Elsie Taylor has built a quiet life in the charming town of Cedar Hollow—teaching her students, tending to her cozy little classroom, and keeping her heart safely tucked behind well-ordered lesson plans. After all, she’s learned that some goodbyes are too hard to risk repeating.

When a new teacher, Micah Sullivan, joins the staff, his steady kindness and easy smile start to stir something Elsie thought she’d packed away years ago. There’s something about him—something familiar—that draws her in despite her best efforts to stay guarded.

As they navigate the rhythms of small-town life—school events, lakeside afternoons, and moments of unexpected grace—Elsie begins to realize that maybe God isn’t finished writing her story after all.

Because sometimes the people we’re meant to find have been closer than we ever imagined.

A heartwarming, faith-filled romance about second chances, gentle beginnings, and the beauty of being fully known.

It Was Okay

2.7 Stars ⭐️

This book was okay, but felt challenging to get through.

I liked the premise and had high hopes about it but at around 30% I started to lose interest. This is a dual pov and I don't know why we never got an explanation as to why Micah clearly says "definitely not like that" when someone says something about him and Elsie "planning a future together" while they are working on a work project not long after they've met. The author makes it seem like an important scene because of how detailed Elsie's emotions are described since she realized he probably doesn't feel the same attraction towards her that she does towards him. However, later on in the story it says he's been interested in her since he saw her in the first staff meeting which was before their work project, so he must've just been guarding himself when he said he wasn't interested? 🤷🏻‍♀️
There's also two other plot twists that happen that I felt were overdramatized.
There's a scene of a couple sleeping in the same bed even though they're only dating and there is a lot of kissing in this story, mostly short and clean but some were a bit more descriptive than I prefer. The main thing I liked about this book was the faith content, descriptions of nature, and how Micah was there for Elsie when she needed him emotionally.

P.S. The AI narration for this is hard to listen to, the intonations of voice shared the wrong emotion at times which made it feel confusing to listen to.