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Seaside Letters by Denise Hunter

By day Sabrina Kincaid and Tucker McCabe are waitress and patron.  By night they are Sweetpea and Harbormaster and share their secrets and aspirations via email.  Sabrina knows who Tucker is, but she doesn’t dare let on,  for she has an unforgivable secret and she fears that if she confesses to being Sweetpea, he will discover the truth.  Sabrina feels that limiting their relationship to email only is better than having no relationship with Tucker at all.

Tucker McCabe knows that Sabrina is Sweetpea, but he can’t tell her he knows for fear she will run away. Instead, Tucker manufactures a way to spend as much time with Sabrina as possible, hoping to teach her that she can trust him with her heart and her secrets.

I loved this story’s message that there is no sin God can’t forgive.  I will quite happily read another of Denise Hunter’s books.  Her writing is suburb.  By page five she had sucked me into Sabrina’s fear and suspense.  I was gripping the book with both hands and holding my breath as I read — unfortunately my suspense didn’t last.

About halfway through the book I became irritated with Sabrina for sparing her own feelings at the expense of those around her, and I was irritated with Tucker for watching her do so and not calling her on it.  I felt the whole scenario was a bit too “woe is me.”  Yes, Sabrina’s parents died young.  Yes, her former fiancé is about to marry her cousin.  Yes, she put herself in an untenable situation.  She has been hurt and clearly has reason to fear trusting again, but she indulges her fear to the extreme of hurting others, and that’s when she lost me.

I am not and never have been a fan of helpless females.  If you don’t need a “take charge” kind of heroine, and you like stories where the white knight swoops in to the rescue, you’ll love this book.  Me, I want to read about women who overcome their own fears and don’t wait for some big strong man to rescue them — and I want to read about men who admire strength in their women.

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I would like to thank Thomas Nelson Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book to review.

I review for Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers

12 Comments

    1. Kay — I try to never ask someone to do something I won’t. I just can’t bring myself to let others suffer in my place. If there has to be pain, I will take it. I can handle my own better than other peoples.

  2. I’m with you on books about strong females sorting it out and working it out for themselves – with strong men who let them! To me that’s the real world.

    Great book review. You do great concise reviews and even when it isn’t for you, you are constructive in your feedback.
    .-= Thumbelina´s last blog ..authorblog’s Sunday Roast =-.

    1. Thumbelina — there was a lot in this book to love and Ms. Hunter is an excellent writer. This just wasn’t the plot for me. She has another book in this series that sounds a bit more like a heroine I’d enjoy getting to know.

  4. The premise of being close via e-mail and uncomfortable in person is a good one. (Believe it or not, SouthPark dealt with that in one episode!) I do prefer to read books that bring good into my mind, so I’m always on the lookout for a decent book.
    This was an excellent review. If I was inclined for a feel-good book and a knight in shining armor, this would possibly be one I might read. However, like you, I’d rather see someone working through her fears than to have her be rescued from herself.
    .-= kcinnova´s last blog ..Confession Time =-.

  5. I like honest reviews.

    The first part sounds really good — each knowing who the other is but not letting the other know. And the message of God’s forgiveness.

    I don’t mind knights-in-shining-armor rescues sometimes — we all need rescuing occasionally — but totally helpless females, no. And sparing self to the point of hurting others, no — unless maybe that was part of the truth or lesson conveyed that, that doing such things does hurt others.

    I’ve never read this author, but I am interested to check her out.
    .-= Barbara H.´s last blog ..Laudable Linkage =-.

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