Book Review – Dear Stranger

A beautiful love letter to the most troublesome of holidays…

Soft-hearted Reese Ahearn is single for Valentine’s Day. Again. But that’s not going to stop her from spreading the holiday’s sentiment on the streets of Melbourne with short, sweet, anonymous love letters, left for strangers to find.

The last thing she expects, however, is a reply…

Y’all, Dear Stranger has to be one of the sweetest little stories I’ve read in ages.  It’s not very long, Amazon has it listed at 27 pages, and the perfect lunchtime read.  It’s supposed to be a Valentine’s Day read but I think now is the perfect time – the sun is shining and happiness should abound – plus you can pick it up at Amazon for only 99 cents.

Reese is kind and caring, cheerful and fun.  She goes out of her way to brighten people’s day by leaving little notes for strangers to find.  I would never have thought of it, but it is so sweet and when she explains it makes so much sense.  Alone on Valentine’s Day she goes about leaving her notes, feeling sad about how alone she herself is, hoping to make someone else happy.

Ian sees Reese in a coffee shop and, when she leaves it on her table, is the recipient of one of her anonymous notes.  Having been attracted to her immediately, those feelings deepen once he reads her letter.  Intrigued, he spends the day trying to find a way to give back to the stranger a letter of her own and hopefully get to know her better.

I usually complain about novellas, especially ones this short, because I always feel like I’m cheated.  And even though we don’t get the “and then…” of their story, I actually think that the ending was absolutely perfect.  This is the story about two people who are alone and looking for someone else.  It’s about their feelings and motivations.  And it’s about what happens when fate delivers them into each other’s path.  I don’t need to know what happens next because I know it is going to be wonderful.  I finished Dear Stranger with a smile on my face and one in my heart, which makes it the perfect romance in my mind.