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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Thirty-five year old Valentina Baker’s husband has just left her. Abandonment is a subject she knows all too well as her adored mother Eloise left her and her father in California one day and returned to London where she was originally from. Having never seen or heard from her mother since she was twelve, Valentina is saddened to learn that her mother has died and shocked when she is told that she has inherited a building in Primrose Hill, complete with two apartments and the area's beloved bookstore. Valentina, a librarian and bookstagrammer, heads to London to sort out her inheritance and her feelings about her mother. It is the perfect getaway as she mends her broken heart.
Author Sarah Jio has a true talent for creating heartfelt stories. With Love from London captured my heart. In present day, we see Valentina adapting to life in London and finding her way among an endearing group of friends and neighbors of her mother, who are only too happy to embrace their departed friend’s daughter. And in flashbacks, Eloise’s story is told. From her days as an enchanting, young single woman from the East End of London to her “second act” as a bookstore owner. Valentina discovers that Eloise left behind a scavenger hunt which is to lead her to a better understanding of her mother and her true history.
There are many books that take place in bookstores and serve as settings for healing, friendship and love. Sign me up any day for one that works as well as With Love from London. Get ready to swoon, to weep and dream about a trip to London.
Many thanks to Ballantine Books, Random House, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this lovely book in advance of its February 8, 2022 release. Just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
Author Sarah Jio has a true talent for creating heartfelt stories. With Love from London captured my heart. In present day, we see Valentina adapting to life in London and finding her way among an endearing group of friends and neighbors of her mother, who are only too happy to embrace their departed friend’s daughter. And in flashbacks, Eloise’s story is told. From her days as an enchanting, young single woman from the East End of London to her “second act” as a bookstore owner. Valentina discovers that Eloise left behind a scavenger hunt which is to lead her to a better understanding of her mother and her true history.
There are many books that take place in bookstores and serve as settings for healing, friendship and love. Sign me up any day for one that works as well as With Love from London. Get ready to swoon, to weep and dream about a trip to London.
Many thanks to Ballantine Books, Random House, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this lovely book in advance of its February 8, 2022 release. Just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
I really like Sarah Jio’s books (I’ve read all of them!) but this book was my least favorite. Aside from the things others have mentioned — how did Eloise never look Valentina up in the years after leaving CA? how did Frank’s character turn so quickly? — the one thing that was never, ever addressed was Valentina’s relationship with her father. It’s not glossed over—it’s just never mentioned at all. How was she not livid when she found out about all he did to her mother, and to her? I get that he was dead by this point, but Valentina was laser focused on her mother and we never got any backstory about her relationship with her father at all, which would have (maybe) shed light on his character, which felt less like a well-rounded person and more like a convenient plot device (someone needed to play the villain).
“The human heart has an incredible capacity to heal.”
With Love From London is a contemporary romance with two narrators, Valentina and Eloise, a daughter and her mother. When Eloise passed away, she left her bookstore and house in London to her daughter Valentina who she hasn’t seen in almost 20 years.
Eloise takes us to a journey in the past and helps us through her stories to figure out what happened to separate her from her daughter all those years ago, as Valentina also searches for answers in the present through clues and letters her mom has left behind.
Sweet but a bit slow-paced for my taste with characters that wasn’t as easy to connect to.
With Love From London is a contemporary romance with two narrators, Valentina and Eloise, a daughter and her mother. When Eloise passed away, she left her bookstore and house in London to her daughter Valentina who she hasn’t seen in almost 20 years.
Eloise takes us to a journey in the past and helps us through her stories to figure out what happened to separate her from her daughter all those years ago, as Valentina also searches for answers in the present through clues and letters her mom has left behind.
Sweet but a bit slow-paced for my taste with characters that wasn’t as easy to connect to.
Book-instagramer (Val) inherits book shop from family. Loved this one. Such a good writing style and read like a page turner. Was sucked in from the start
Heartbreaking and life affirming all at once. It is a dual time line story, but it is very clear that we switch time lines and how long time jumps. A story of a mother and daughter separated by an ocean, and each not knowing their letters to each other were not getting to delivered. A story about it never being too late to forgive, mend a broken heart, or find true love. I needed the tissue box at the end of this one, but it is still a satisfying ending.
Valentina, freshly divorced from her cheating husband, inherits a bookstore in London from her estranged mother, who she hasn't seen or heard from since she left 20 years ago when Val was 12. The story is told between the perspectives of Valentina in present time, and Eloise, the mother, starting in 1968 and leading up to present time. Along the way both women experience love and loss and then love again.
I liked the basic premise with the bookstore in London, but the entire plot revolved around too many unlikely and unbelievable coincidences that I couldn't stay in the story. Another thing that bothered me were the characters. Why is every person smashingly beautiful? The men are either selfish, controlling jerks or the perfect soulmate. Eloise is presented as a saint, but I didn't particularly care for her character. Val believed for 20 years that her mother just abandoned her without a word, but all her memories are of what a perfect mother she was. It was too much of a disconnect for me. After the internet was invented, and especially facebook, if you really wanted to find and reach out to someone, you could.
I liked the basic premise with the bookstore in London, but the entire plot revolved around too many unlikely and unbelievable coincidences that I couldn't stay in the story. Another thing that bothered me were the characters. Why is every person smashingly beautiful? The men are either selfish, controlling jerks or the perfect soulmate. Eloise is presented as a saint, but I didn't particularly care for her character. Val believed for 20 years that her mother just abandoned her without a word, but all her memories are of what a perfect mother she was. It was too much of a disconnect for me. After the internet was invented, and especially facebook, if you really wanted to find and reach out to someone, you could.
Author Sarah Jio drew me in immediately when she mentioned how Maeve Binchy’s meant so much to her as a reader in the 90s in her author’s note. With Love From London evoked so many of the same feelings in me when I read a Binchy novel - joy, sadness, heartbreak, and hope. It was a beautiful novel and I could not put it down until I was 100% done.
With Love from London follows two stories in a dual POV and timeframe. In 2013, you meet Valentina, who lives in Seattle and is nearly divorced and found out she’s the sole heir of her mother’s estate in London. Her mother, Eloise, abandoned her at age 12. Eloise’s story, starting in 1968, is the second POV. Valentina heads to London to see to the estate, which includes a neighborhood bookstore in the cozy area of Primrose Hill.
Thank you to Random House Publishing - Ballantine Group, Sarah Jio, and NetGalley for an early review copy of this book. Review is being left voluntarily; all opinions are my own.
With Love from London follows two stories in a dual POV and timeframe. In 2013, you meet Valentina, who lives in Seattle and is nearly divorced and found out she’s the sole heir of her mother’s estate in London. Her mother, Eloise, abandoned her at age 12. Eloise’s story, starting in 1968, is the second POV. Valentina heads to London to see to the estate, which includes a neighborhood bookstore in the cozy area of Primrose Hill.
Thank you to Random House Publishing - Ballantine Group, Sarah Jio, and NetGalley for an early review copy of this book. Review is being left voluntarily; all opinions are my own.
Libby audio. A sweet story. I love that it was about books/the role books played. I’m sad for the mother-daughter pair though and so angry at the dad. A-hole.
A wonderful story about love - finding love in yourself and in others (and not just romantic love!)