Very Sincerely Yours
Grade : C+

Very Sincerely Yours is a contemporary romance about a young woman finding herself after the demise of her long term relationship, and the local childrens’ TV presenter she falls for.

Teddy has spent the last few years of her life with Richard, a fussy doctor who likes about five meals and has no eye for interior design. Teddy found satisfaction in taking care of Richard- cooking for him, cleaning the house, and generally being his supportive girlfriend. All of that goes completely out the window when Richard unceremoniously dumps Teddy and asks her to move out. Dazed, she moves in with her two best friends, and they rapidly reveal several harsh realities: firstly, Richard was a dick; secondly, Teddy has no life of her own; and finally, Teddy needs to devote  some time to figuring out what she wants.

Teddy is a little surprised to find that everyone in her life hated her partner, and she begins to evaluate what kind of life she really wants. That’s when Teddy emails Everett, the star of a local childrens’ program. Everett is kind of a local celebrity, and his show is one of the ways Teddy lets herself relax. He is also unfairly cute, as many mom forums have been only too quick to point out. Teddy never imagined that he would respond to her, but they strike up a correspondence and get to know each other through email. Still, Teddy is emphatic that they will not meet in real life, despite their growing friendship. She knows Everett would find her disappointing in person, but what if Everett does want more?

Everett hasn’t had a lot of luck in the relationship department. He’s been focused on his work as a children’s entertainer for years, ever since the little videos he made online became a viable job. Everett made the decision to stay local when his little sister Gretel was born, wanting to be present for her childhood. While Everett is close to his family, his coworkers, and one or two other friends, he is too focused on his career. He frequently bails on social situations because he feels the need to work, or gets caught up with new ideas and misses planned events. Still, when he gets an email from an irreverent, funny woman he starts to feel like spending time away from his office.

This book was enjoyable to read, and I even laughed out loud a few times. The dialogue is snappy, and the emails between the two leads are fun and engaging. But while I liked the reading experience, the author set up a lot and then failed to deliver. I liked Everett’s dynamic with his family, but after about two thirds of the book that just gets dropped for no apparent reason. It was one of the things that made Everett interesting, and without that grounding he feels pretty bland.

There’s a really great conflict set up with Teddy’s family, which looked like it was going to get resolved in full, but then it mostly gets hand-waved away after Teddy talks to her sister about it. Teddy’s friends are pretty flat, and while they are written as quirky and supportive, there isn’t a lot of substance to them. Everett’s central conflict is resolved with a grand gesture that isn’t going to surprise any experienced romance reader, and it didn’t work for me. Teddy’s issues aren’t really resolved at all; her character journey is supposed to be one of self-discovery, but she doesn’t come to any conclusions about what she wants to do professionally or even her ambitions personally, so it all falls pretty flat.

Very Sincerely Yours is a decent read, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the author’s previous books. The characters had spark, but the book was missing a lot of essential components.

Buy it at: Amazon, Audible, or your local independent retailer

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Reviewed by Rachel Finston
Grade : C+

Sensuality: Kisses

Review Date : June 17, 2021

Publication Date: 06/2021

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