A review by conniejoy529
Letters At Christmas by Amber Lin

4.0

This was a very sweet short romance. Sidony Harbeck had been in love with her brothers best friend for years. When Hale left to find his fortune at sea, he promised to come back for her in a year, and to write to her as often as he could. Three years later, Sidony had not received even one letter, but she had grown up quite a bit. Determined to show Hale that she did not spend the last three years pining for him, she decides to pretend that what they had before had not been real love. Hale knows that he was wrong for never sending Sidony letters while he was at sea, but he had his reasons. Now he needs to break through her barriers to convince her that their feelings haven't changed, only grown stronger. Knowing Sidony could never back down from a challenge, he wagers that he can convince her to marry him by Christmas, in just three short days.
This is a short novella, but it is packed with emotion and romance. We see both Sidony and Hale grow into different, more mature and open people. I love that is was not simply an easy reunion, and both characters realized that even though the years apart were painful they both needed them, not only for themselves, but for each other. My absolute favorite part is when

Sidony learns that Hale had been writing all along but couldn't or wouldn't send her the letters to protect both of them

. Overall it was very touching, had a very heartwarming HEA, but also had some very steamy love scenes so it was a winner all around.