Dirty Letters

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1. DIRTY LETTERS by Vi Keeland

SYNOPSIS

I’d never forgotten him—a man I’d yet to meet. Griffin Quinn was my childhood pen pal, the British boy who couldn’t have been more different from me. Over the years, through hundreds of letters, we became best friends, sharing our deepest, darkest secrets and forming a connection I never thought could break. Until one day it did. Then, out of the blue, a new letter arrived. A scathing one—one with eight years of pent-up anger. I had no choice but to finally come clean as to why I stopped writing. Griffin forgave me, and somehow we were able to rekindle our childhood connection. Only now we were adults, and that connection had grown to a spark. Our letters quickly went from fun to flirty to downright dirty, revealing our wildest fantasies. So it only made sense that we would take our relationship to the next level and see each other in person. Only Griff didn’t want to meet. He asked that I trust him and said it was for the best. But I wanted more—more Griff, in the flesh—so I took a big chance and went looking for him. People have done crazier things for love. But what I found could change everything.

BOOK REVIEW

The premise of Dirty Letters was kind of similar to that of PUNK 57 by Penelope Douglas, the young penpals become close friends despite the distance between them and the unknown, their words turn into playful and witty exchanges and then transition to all kinds of dirty (as in sexy dirty, as the title of the book suggests) back and forth. Naturally, you anxiously await the main characters’ first face-to-face encounter, but something happens and the exchanges stop but the connection is never lost (as it turns out). Many years pass, and the two reunite, rewind, and try to move forward together, this time around.

OKAY! Needless to say, the mutual attraction was obviously there and the chemistry between Luca and Griffin was on point. What I want to focus on in this review is the problem of anxiety and its role in the relationship between the hero and the heroine who led two completely opposite and oftentimes contradicting lives (the issue was more profound for Luca than for Griffin due to her concerns about big crowds and unfamiliar environments) but continuously made efforts conducive to the harmonious character development of the two as one in entity and love/family contributions.

It’s not possible to manage someone with extreme anxiety. You can support them and love them, but you’re going to need lots of patience if you’re in this for the long haul. When someone cuts open a leg, the doctor stitches it up—but it still takes a long time for it to fully heal. Even after months pass, there’s a scar. And long after that scar fades, if you hit that skin where the wound was, it will break open easier than other areas. Anxiety is no different.

SPOILER! Luca’s survivor guilt as well as her fears and anxiety, which carry a significant amount of weight in the storyline, were very well illustrated and presented authentically, I believe. She was lost and scared, overwhelmed but still hopeful to heal and finally find happiness and peace within herself. Despite her hope, she was also quite realistic (as in non-delusional) about the future of the potential serious relationship between her and Griffin. The thing I respected and liked the most about Luca was that despite her being scared she was not afraid to live. And she was more than willing to do her best, working hand in hand with Griffin and Luca’s trusted Doc (OMG his fascination with birds was so cute) who both made sure that she was protected and at ease, to embark on the brand new life by Griffin’s loving side.

Overall, Dirty Letters was a quick and entertaining read, with dirty talk and lots of steam.