Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Erin Bartels: The Words Between Us


By Kelly Bridgewater

Robin Windsor has spent most of her life under an assumed name, running from her family's ignominious past. She thought she'd finally found sanctuary in her rather unremarkable used bookstore just up the street from the marina in River City, Michigan. But the store is struggling and the past is hot on her heels.

When she receives an eerily familiar book in the mail on the morning of her father's scheduled execution, Robin is thrown back to the long-lost summer she met Peter Flynt, the perfect boy who ruined everything. That book--a first edition Catcher in the Rye--is soon followed by the other books she shared with Peter nearly twenty years ago, with one arriving in the mail each day. But why would Peter be making contact after all these years? And why does she have a sinking feeling that she's about to be exposed all over again?

With evocative prose that recalls the classic novels we love, Erin Bartels pens a story that shows that words--the ones we say, the ones we read, and the ones we write--have more power than we imagine.


From Amazon


My Thoughts:

The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels is timeslip novel with a present timeline and a past timeline. The story centers around books and how important they can become to readers. They might help a little girl out while she is trying to discover who she is, which is exactly what the heroine in Bartes novel does. With the help of Peter and novels,  Robin Windsor finds her way in the world by clinging to her imaginary worlds and her ability to create story with her own words. As an avid reader, I could relate to  Robin as she explores and understands the world through the eyes and minds of a number of readers. I wonder if Bartels actually enjoyed the novels she had Robin relate to. Most of them were required reading for high school, and I couldn't stand majority of them. Nothing to remember later in life. The plot feels like it has been done before, even though I haven't been sure I have read this trope before. This would make a good Hallmark movie or after school specials, if they even run those anymore. The romance is young love and how it did not come to reality. But since it is a contemporary novel, the happily-ever-after moment does occur. Overall, The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels is a delightful Hallmark style feel good movie with a nod to the love of books and the writing process. The romance isn't that big of a story line. Fans of Courtney Walsh and Catherine West might devour this novel.

I received a complimentary copy of The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels from Revell Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars


About the Author:

Erin Bartels
From Amazon
ERIN BARTELS is the author of WE HOPE FOR BETTER THINGS and THE WORDS BETWEEN US. She lives in the beautiful, water-defined state of Michigan where she is never more than a ninety minute drive from one of the Great Lakes or six miles from an inland lake, river, or stream. She grew up in the Bay City area waiting for freighters and sailboats at drawbridges and watching the best 4th of July fireworks displays in the nation. She spent her college and young married years in Grand Rapids feeling decidedly not-Dutch. She currently lives with her husband and son in Lansing, nestled somewhere between angry protesters on the Capitol lawn and couch-burning frat boys at Michigan State University. And yet, she claims it is really quite peaceful.

Erin is represented by Nephele Tempest of The Knight Agency. Find her on Facebook @ErinBartelsAuthor, on Twitter @ErinLBartels, or on Instagram @erinbartelswrites. (Taken from Amazon.)

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