Synopsis:
Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first women’s fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).
The story of the heart can never be unwritten.
Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.
But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother…only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.
Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.
My Review:
“I never got to fall out of love. I just had to move on.”
Not to worry over the category of ‘Women’s Fiction’ – this book was surprisingly romantic and steamy! This story was also one of my all-time favorite Christina Lauren books. It captures the longing and insecurity of young love as well as the heartbreak and emotion of a great romance novel. ‘Love and Other Words’ checked all the boxes for me as a reader!
“It was bigger than we needed, with more land than we could possibly maintain, and neither Dad nor I would realize at the time that the most important room in the house would be the library he would make for me inside my expansive closet. Nor could Dad have known that my whole world would end up next door, held in the palm of a skinny nerd named Elliot Lewis Petropoulos.”
I have lots to say about this book but it is hard for me to convey the emotion that it inspired. Suffice it to say once I started this story, I could not put it down. Macy and Elliot’s story is gorgeous and tender and sexy and tragic.
This story is completely addicting. I was dying to know how Macy and Elliot’s past and future would play out. Would they end up together after many years apart? They fell so deeply in love as teenagers but would that kind of all-encompassing love last all these years later?
“Have mercy. The only thought I have—bewildering and breathless—is that Elliot has become a man who knows how to use his body. I didn’t notice it yesterday, couldn’t have.”
I must feel a connection between the main protagonists for me to feel invested in a book and Christina Lauren hooked me in right from the start with Macy an Elliot. I am trying to keep this review spoiler-free so I will just say that the alternating timeline works perfectly here. I related to the characters and the gorgeous ending was worth EVERYTHING. The authors managed to write a sexy and sweet romance without being overly sentimental. If you are looking for wonderfully-written, modern romance, this is the book for you. And honestly, I would LOVE a entire book written from Elliot’s point of view!
“Favorite word?” he whispers.
I don’t even hesitate: “You.”
