Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for the delay in posting, I have had continuing familial health challenges to contend with in the past months.

I was not familiar with this prolific author, but the blurb caught my interest - and this well-written, poignant story did the rest. Two badly hurt women in need of healing, one (Veronica) hired by the other (Mariah) as a companion for travel to various countries, with the goal of finishing a book that Mariah's mother started and never finished. Slowly a friendship blossoms, in spite of their differences, and past traumas are uncovered and healing happens. Some reviewers felt nothing happens in this book, I enjoyed the pace which to my mind reflected the emotional labor involved.

Barbara O’Neal writes another fantastic, emotional tale which ties in grief and travel, as well as trying to find yourself. The three main characters each have their own stories and difficulties, and Rachel’s story is also heartbreaking.
Veronica is a well written divorcee whose husband got his coworker pregnant, and all her children have flown the nest, as she rides to rebuild her life, find a job and come to terms with the loss of her family as it was, she is employed by Mariah to be a ghost-writer for her mothers book which she is writing postmostumusly. They take us to England where we meet Henry, a photographer. Together they are retracing Rachel’s journey to India.
Your heart breaks for Mariah as she recovers from her mother’s death and injury.
This was a fun, foodie, deeply emotional book. It does however leave you wanting more and feels unfinished/underwhelming.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Barbara O'Neal is one of my favorite authors, the emotions she can evoke in the reader always amaze me. But this one, while I finished and liked it, just didn't hit her usual mark.

I liked the characters and could appreciate their journeys and hardships and what they were working through. But the cafes and point of the book they were trying to piece together just fell flat and I had trouble caring about it and understanding the urgency and point.

What a great read. Veronica isn't adjusting well to her divorce and is looking for a job. She sees an ad in the paper from Mariah , for a travel companion. Mariah is going to visit places around the world to finish her mother's book on food. The story is informative on foreign cuisine and travel. The women from two generations mesh well and Veronica figures out her ex-husband is not at all the man she thought she knew and mends fences with her adult children. Barbara O'Neal knows how to write a page turner.

This is a poignant story about three people traveling together across Europe and other countries seeking healing from trauma, divorce and sadness. They are not friends in the beginning but grow to understand each other and become friends each bound by their broken lives.
The travel is interesting, the characters different then the authors usual work one in particular difficult to read. The author has a writing style that is descriptive and easy to read. A deeply emotional read focused on healing.
Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and the author. My review opinion is my own.

Enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite book by the author. I never really connected to the characters. Some of the problems would have been solved if Rachel would have talked to Mariah about her time in India. Mariah was a hard person to like. I get that she's suffering PTSD, not quite healed and still grieving the loss of her mom. She just had this spoiled, brattiness about her. The best thing for Veronica was being hired as Mariah's travel companion. Even though the job was more like taking care of a child with the occasional temper tantrum at times. An added bonus was the handsome photographer, Henry. Veronica missed her house more than her ex-husband. Spence must have been having a mid life crisis. A new wife, a baby on the way were now his priorities. Veronica could take him to court for defying the alimony court order. All I can say is he was such a jerk and deserved what ultimately happened to his beloved house. I'm being petty and mean, but he was awful.) Veronica's children were quite the selfish bunch. The boys not so much, but Jenna definitely. They beg their mom not to travel with Mariah over the holidays, even though they will be in Breckinridge with their father. So they basically want their mom sitting alone in her apartment while they are off skiing. Jenna can't even find the time to move stuff out of her mom's tint apartment before everything is thrown out. No wonder Veronica got along easily with Mariah, because she acted so much like her daughter. Mariah helped Veronica with her food issues and to stop worrying so much about her weight. From the start I wanted to know Rachel's story. What was going to be in those letters? Why would the owner throw them out of the café? What happened to Rachel in India all those years ago? Not sure how I feel after learning the truth. It wasn't Rachel's fault at what happened, but it caused her much guilt. Loved reading about London, Paris, Marrakech and India and of course all the food.

I definitely recommend the book. I loved the description of all the places and food. I enjoyed the writing style, story and some of the characters. Henry was my favorite. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This story is about three people that travel together for a month hoping to get a story about Cafe life, mainly Parsi cafe's run by a certain family. London, Paris, Morocco and India.
Mariah Ellsworth, a young woman who was an Olympic Snowboarder until she and her mother were gunned down in a supermarket, leaving Mariah alive but not her mother.
Veronica Barrington recently divorced, and with 3 children who are all grown, and dealing with the lose of her marriage and the home she loved.
Henry Spinuzza, A photographer who Knows Mariah and knew her mother Rachael.

Mariah wants to have a book written tracing her mothers life, through her travels, mainly visiting, Parsi cafés, that her mother had been to in these countries and who had started this idea,before she was killed.

Mariah didn't know much about her mothers life at that time. She wanted her mothers vision realized and to have a better history of her mothers life in her earlier years, whom she missed very much.

Veronica responded to and ad from Mariah, that stated she needed someone as a companion to travel with her all expenses paid, to help her, as her leg had been shattered during the Shooting.
Needing a job she replied and got the job, leaving behind a stressful situation back home.

Henry, a well traveled photographer, was already an in,as he already knew Mariah, her mother and their circumstances and he was to do the photography for the story.

These three people,after overcoming some obstacles, were finally part of a team, who grew to be close friends and help each other through some of the hardships that were to come.

I really enjoy reading this authors books, she always has interesting settings and great Characters. I have read almost all of her books.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy of this book.

Beautifully written, here the author describes things so that you can almost see or taste them yourself! After suffering an unimaginable tragedy, Mariah needs a travel companion to travel with her and help her in her quest to revisit the places her mother wrote about. This was a sweet story and really highlighted how difficult it is to heal after a traumatic event!

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is a heartfelt, beautifully layered novel that sweeps readers across continents on a journey that’s as much about the soul as it is about the sights.

When recently divorced Veronica Barrington answers an ad to become a travel companion for Mariah Ellsworth, neither woman expects the trip to be life-changing. As they follow in the footsteps of Mariah’s late mother's last unfinished project, an acclaimed food writer, through the cafés of London, Paris, Morocco, and India, the story comes alive into a rich tapestry of friendship, healing, and self-discovery.

What makes this novel beautiful is the descriptive imagery on the journey through the continents placing you there in these beautiful places. You can almost smell the spices in the air, the different cultures and traditions blended with their own personal emotional transition. Their journey inspired by the letters left behind by Mariah’s mother add a layer of mystery, leading both women—and the reader—toward revelations about love, forgiveness, and the courage to start over.

While Veronica and Mariah’s evolving relationship is the heart of this book, a gentle companion to their journey, Henry, a former war photographer whose quiet pain mirrors their own, brought a special element to the healing of their journey. The connection with Mariah’s mother along with the unexpected friendship that blossomed between himself and Veronica allowed their shared journey to embrace unexpected friendships and the courage to step into the unfamiliar.

This was an overall beautiful book that will take the reader through an visual, emotional and uplifting experience around some of the most beautiful places in the world. A shared journey through trauma evolved into an inspired renewed journey to start a new chapter full of strength, hope and forgiveness of the past.

This is the story of two women, both needing to heal, who set out on an adventure across the globe.
Veronica leaves behind an ex-husband and 3 adult children and Mariah is trying to deal with the aftermath of being shot in a mass shooting.
A novel about new friendship, food, travel and finding the strength and courage to move on.
A captivating read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I hadn’t read one of Barbara O’Neal’s novels in a few years. Thanks to Kaye Wilkinson Barley for mentioning that The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth was coming out, and that she loved it. I’ve been a fan of O’Neal’s for over fifteen years.

Veronica Barrington is at a crucial turning point in her life. Her husband wanted a divorce, and left her for a younger woman, a typical cliche in life. However, he also took the house Veronica loved, and she went a little crazy over that. Now, she’s stuck in a little apartment, and her grown children won’t be home for Christmas. When she chances upon an ad for a companion to go to Europe for six weeks, and the woman must speak French, she grabs at the opportunity.

Veronica isn’t exactly what Mariah Ellsworth was expecting. Mariah is only twenty-five, and thought she’d travel with someone her own age, not someone twice her age. But, Mariah’s aunt was forced to drop out of the trip, and the young woman needs help. She’s recovering from emotional and physical trauma, including the loss of her mother, Rachel.

Henry Spinuzza was a friend of Rachel’s, and the only father figure in Mariah’s life. He’s a former war photographer who has his own issues. But, he’s meeting the travelers in London to help with Rachel’s last project.

Rachel Ellsworth was an author who left notes about Parsi cafes in London, Paris, Marrakech, and India. Mariah doesn’t know why her mother was fascinated by them, but she hopes to follow her mother’s trail, with a few letters to guide her. Maybe she can write a final book in honor of her mother.

These unlikely travel companions delve into a world of unfamiliar food and beauty as they search for answers that will transform their future.

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is a story of regret and love. Each person has to learn to let go, and find the courage to reconstruct their lives. As always, O’Neal uses exquisite food to carry readers into a sensory exploration of the world and life. The book, and the characters, are captivating.

Okay, so I checked Goodreads, and my views about this book seem like an unpopular opinion.
I wanted to read Barbara O’Neal, and the premise of the book seemed promising. But there are several things that I either disliked or couldn't connect with.

Mariah, in her twenties with some sort of mobility issues, needs to hire someone to travel with her as a helper, and a research assistant for her late mother's incomplete manuscript about various cafes of London, Morocco, India and Paris. Veronica, 50, on the other hand, is recently divorced with minimal alimony and desperately needs a job. Thus, they both come together for this project.

I was hoping for some interesting events and writing that creates beautiful imagery of the places.
It started well. The writing was a bit straightforward but engaging, however I began to lose interest after the 10th chapter. Why? Because nothing interesting or significant happened. They both are going about the same things — eating, going here and there, thinking about their past, and so on.
Now, the characters: Mariah lives in a mansion, alone (no helper mentioned, even though she has some mobility problem. That's why she hires Veronica). I wondered who maintains the 12-room mansion. She senses some otherworldly sensation in the house (without any further details or backstory or something like that). Also, during the travels, she shows erratic behaviour, unnecessarily, which includes abuses.
On the other hand, Veronica’s ex-husband is expecting a baby from his second wife, and yet he comes to her and initiates sex and guess what? Veronica gives in. I mean seriously!?
Basically none of the protagonists seemed likeable to me.

Even though I am an impatient reader, I could have tried to finish the book if the prose was beautiful or perhaps because of the places they were supposed to visit, but you see, there are 59 chapters, and, sadly, I stopped caring after the 15th chapter.

Thank you for the copy. Sorry, it didn't work for me.

I have become a fairly recent fan of contemporary author Barbara O'Neal, and her newest release, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth, may just be my favorite O'Neal book to date. The book introduces the reader to Veronica Barrington, a newly divorced fiftyish woman, deeply hurt by a surprise divorce after a twenty plus year marriage,and at a pivotal crossroad in her life. Mariah Ellsworth, 26, is a former Olympian snowboarder who was severely injured in a tragic and random shooting; her mother, Rachel, a victim of the shooter, died at the scene of the crime. Both Veronica and Mariah are searching for the answer to the question: where can I possibly go from here? Mariah knows she wants to visit London, Paris and India to pursue her mother's plan for a book about cafes around the world., and that she will need a companion to assist her. Veronica knows that she doesn't want to spend Christmas alone so when she saw the job posting she immediately applied. Mariah didn't expect a woman her mother's age, and Veronica was taken back by Mariah's youth and limitations. There wasn't an instant connection, however as time was critical, after working out travel plans and compensation, the women agreed to travel together . When they arrived in London Henry Spinuzza, a wartime photographer joined them to fulfill Rachel's wish to have him as the book' s photographer. I have shared the framework of this captivating and emotional book, I could not do it justice by sharing more. The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is a novel about resilience, grief, endings and new beginnings, family, choices, love and so much more. There are a few references to suicide ideation and violence that some readers may find uncomfortable. My only criticism is that the author seemed to wrap the book up very quickly- perhaps I just wanted it to go on and on.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Barbara O'Neal for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book: my review reflects my candid opinion. 4.5 stars.

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is another great story by Barbara O’Neal.The plot involves Veronica and the travel companion she finds named Mariah.Mariah is grieving the loss of her mother and recovering from an injury that ended her Olympic career.The women take the reader along as they experience the cafes in Paris by following the letters of Mariah’s mother Rachel who was a food writer.Together the women seek healing while following the letters. that were written by Rachel.You. Will greatly enjoy this book of travel.healing and relationships!Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC.

4.5 stars

'The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth' is an emotionally rich, beautifully written, and deeply human story that I absolutely inhaled over the course of 6 hours.

It is a wonderful story that is brimming with evocative detail and immersive prose that transports you across continents and kitchens. I could easily picture the bustling Parsi cafés, fragrant spices, and gently shifting landscapes.

I found the characters to be flawed but truly human, each dealing with their own versions of grief, anger and regret and working through them to slowly find connection with each other and purpose in their own lives. Their emotional journeys felt truly genuine with actions, thoughts and feelings that annoyed me whilst also making me feel for them.

I found the pacing and structure were ideal for the story that needed to be told and was neither overstretched nor rushed. Resulting in a book that at just under 400 pages felt just right, telling the story it needed and never overstaying its welcome.

This was my second Barbara O'Neal novel and again was a book that worked really well for me. She specialises in powerful, family-centred stories with the right amount of heartbreak and hope and I'll definitely be reading more from her back catalogue.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a digital review copy of "The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing | Lake Union Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the new novel by Barbara O'Neal. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Veronica is recently divorced and struggling with both a purpose and money woes when she answers a listing for a travel companion. It's from Mariah, a young skier adjusting to an injury that ended her Olympic career. Mariah is also grieving the loss of her mother, Rachel, a famous food writer. Mariah plans to trace the steps of her mom's final, unfinished project as a way to help her heal. The two are accompanied by a former war photographer, Henry, a father figure to Mariah. The trio follow Rachel's last letters to solve a mystery and hopefully heal in the process.

This is a beautifully-written story with travel and food descriptions that will totally immerse you into the trio's trip through London, Paris, Morocco, and India. While both women had some characteristics that drove me crazy (Veronica is totally obsessed with how many calories she's eating and Mariah is not always kind), I loved the healing journey they all took as they forged new lives out of trauma. There's also a theme of mother/daughter relationships throughout. Plus, the mystery of the letters unfolds slowly to keep you turning the pages. Great read!

Strong Travel/ Foodie / Found Family Drama Shoots Itself In The Foot. This is one of those books where everyone is flawed - and it tells a remarkable story *because* of this, not in spite of it. So if you're a reader where at least one character has to be some level of perfect for you to enjoy the book.... I tell you here and now you're not going to like this one. So save O'Neal yet another 2 star or lower review because you've been warned right here, right now that this isn't your kind of tale.

For the rest of us flawed humans, this is actually a remarkable tale of picking yourself back up - and finding some fortuitous help along the way to help you do that. And yes, those people are going to be flawed too, and you may actually get a chance to help them even as they help you... hey! isn't that how friendships and families are *supposed* to work? Have so many of us been so damaged by modern life that we've forgotten this? Or is it the idealized world of booklandia that is just too perfect? Regardless, O'Neal ignores the perfection of people in pursuit of the perfection of story, and she does a truly remarkable job here. One of her books, The Art Of Inheriting Secrets, was the first Advance Review Copy review I posted on my then brand new blog when I started it all the way back in July 2018, and it has been a true pleasure reading her most every year since. Of those I've read in that time, this is easily in the upper half in terms of depth of emotion evoked and pure joy of reading.

As a foodie and travel romp, this story also works quite well. While we don't get the steaks or *ahem* Rocky Mountain oysters *ahem* of Colorado, once the story starts traveling beyond the US, we wind up in a few different countries and a few different cafes within each, and the food honestly sounds phenomenal. I hope O'Neal had recipes for these fictional dishes, because I absolutely want my wife to try to make some of them for me. No, I'm not joking about this at all. That is how lovely and visceral O'Neal makes these scenes. Also the traveling itself, at times making deliberate choices within the story to slow down and not just jet-set all over the place, to take the time and really embrace the place you're in (or, more accurately, where we find the characters in that scene... warts and all.

But I did mention that for all the praise I've heaped on this book - deservedly - it shot itself in the foot too, right? Well, to discuss that part absolutely goes into spoiler territory, and since the various places I post these reviews don't always have good spoiler tags, let's play it this way, shall we?

And now… the spoilers. DO NOT READ BELOW HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Giving.
People.
Who.
Don’t.
Want.
To.
Be.
Spoiled.
Time.
To.
Leave.

Ok, at this point I’ve given everyone’s eyes a chance to leave before you read what I say next, so HERE COME THE SPOILERS.

The blatant mistake O'Neal makes is that she allows her utter disdain for one particular type of tool to come through the page of the text here as much as her love of food and travel does. She didn't need to use a mass shooting to achieve the character dynamics she has here, *many* other things would have worked just as well or perhaps even better. Not even that 'perhaps', as using this particular vehicle and using it the particular way O'Neal does will actively turn people off across the political spectrum for a variety of reasons, and many particularly pro-gun people will likely want to defenestrate the book from the highest available window. (But don't. Read the book anyway, because it *is* a particularly strong tale even with this - it could simply have been *so much more* without it.)

Also, she kills a dog. Come on. That is a *complete* throwaway that was 100% an unforced error, and *nobody* likes killing dogs - at least nobody that most of society wants anything to do with. Again, there were other ways to achieve the same results as far as characterizations. You didn't have to kill the dog.

Yet neither of these are truly objective criticisms - there are many who don't like guns and will share O'Neal's disdain for them, who will thus praise her for using them the way she did, and like I mentioned, *some* absolute idiots don't mind killing dogs. But is that *really* a crowd you want to *market into*???? Still, because they weren't even approaching objective criticism, I couldn't really allow myself to deduct one or even multiple stars for it - yet it *did* need to be mentioned in this review, if deep within a spoiler coded section.

And.
Now.
We.
Come.
Back.
Out.
Of.
The.
Spoilers.

Ultimately, this was a fun, if deep and emotional as well, book that did a lot of things right... and then shot itself in the foot. Maybe even both feet.

But you, oh reader of my review, give it a read yourself, then let us know your own thoughts wherever you are reading mine. I'd love to see what you think, even if it is just a few words. Reviews don't need to be long - really only about as many words as the first sentence of this paragraph - and can truly just be "I did (not, if applicable) like this book because (insert a reason here)." You only need 24 words to be accepted everywhere I currently know of, and I just gave you 6 of them (or 7 if you didn't like it). *Anyone* can come up with an additional 18 words. Particularly if you've just finished reading a near 400 page book. :)

Very much recommended.

Some books don’t just tell a story, they carry you with them. The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth isn’t just a novel. It’s a passport, a diary, and a mirror, folded into one.

It’s about grief, but not the loud kind. It’s about the quiet ache that sneaks into the in-between moments. It’s about love but not the romanticized, glossy version. Love here is layered, worn down, rebuilt. And most of all, it’s about rediscovery, not of some big secret, but of yourself.

Veronica and Mariah don’t just go on a journey across continents, they go through something much more difficult: the unpacking of emotional luggage that doesn’t fit neatly into overhead compartments. One is running from a marriage that left her hollow. The other is limping through the wreckage of a dream that once defined her. Both are chasing a woman’s voice, Rachel’s, whose final letters become less like breadcrumbs and more like lifelines.

And as they sip chai in a corner of Mumbai, or follow the smoky scent of spice in a Parsi café, there’s this quiet pulse in the background, a question that follows them everywhere: What do we owe to the people we’ve lost? And what, if anything, do we owe to ourselves?

O’Neal’s writing is as immersive as the journey itself. It’s a warm breeze in Morocco, a drizzle in Paris, the hum of grief in a hotel room far from home. Her characters aren’t here to entertain. They’re here to unravel. And as they do, you’ll feel it. Because you’ve either been them, or you will be.

There’s no twist to wait for. No shocking finale. The reward is in the becoming. In the small, human moments. In the way we survive things we thought would break us, and how sometimes it takes someone else’s unfinished story to begin writing our own.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, lost, tired, or on the edge of your next chapter, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth might be the letter you didn’t know you were waiting for.

The story begins, as so many of this author’s stories do, with two women of different generations at separate but equally tumultuous crossroads in their lives, going on an unexpected journey together that takes them through dark places towards the light of understanding, healing and hope.

Veronica Barrington’s dream of a perfect life was shattered not long after the pandemic ended and things were supposed to be back to “normal”. The husband she had loved, adored and most of all supported, dove deep into his midlife crisis, married a younger woman and started a new family. All the while expecting Veronica to continue to back him up and support him, while still catering to his every whim. Including the occasional booty call.

It’s not a surprise that she breaks – although it is a bit of a surprise that she throws bricks through the windows of the house they used to share when she does. She’s still paying for that breakage in more ways than one.

But Spence-the-ex expects Veronica to give him a pass on spousal support because his new family and old house situation is more expensive than he thought. She needs a job.

Which is where Mariah Ellsworth – and her late mother Rachel – come into the picture. Mariah’s life was shattered into actual, literal pieces when a crazed gunman opened fire in a grocery store, killing Mariah’s mother Rachel and pulverizing the bones in one of Mariah’s legs. Doctors were able to save the leg, but Mariah’s career as an Olympic snowboarder and all the life plans that went with that career are gone.

And the lack of hope and especially purpose are eating Mariah alive. She’s clinging to the idea of taking Rachel’s last and very loose set of notes for her next foodie-and-travel bestseller and finishing the project herself. That project is the knot in Mariah’s rope and she’s clinging to it with everything she has left.

Even though she’s not at all sure what her mother intended OR, and more importantly, how she’ll manage the six-week long globetrotting trip from her home in Denver to London, Paris, Marrakech and finally India on her mother’s quest to explore the Parsi cafe culture and cuisine that spans those four cities.

Mariah needs a companion for her trip – for more than the physical and more than she’s willing to acknowledge. Veronica needs a job. Mariah needs to grieve her mother AND figure out what the focus of the rest of her life is going to be. Veronica needs to get away from home for the holidays as the family traditions she once held so dear and supported with so much time and energy no longer include her. And she, too, needs to figure out the focus for her own life. In her early 50s, Veronica has plenty of life left to live – a life that can’t revolve around her adult children, no matter how much she loves them – and vice versa.

So they set out, together, on the adventure of a lifetime. Or, the adventure of the lifetime they each have yet to figure out.

Escape Rating A-: This turned out to be a single-sitting read for me. Which is exactly what I was expecting as I’ve read several of the author’s books and they all hit a kind of sweet spot that just works. My personal favorites, until now, have been This Place of Wonder and Write My Name Across the Sky and this book has just been added to that list.

The elements of the story are deceptively simple, a young woman and a woman in midlife, each forced to start over, each grieving a past that is irrevocably gone, tied together not by birth family but by necessity, forging a relationship out of that necessity, solving whatever dark knot is holding each of them to the past and eventually winning forward into a brighter present AND future.

In other words, these are stories about the stages of life – even if those lives get to travel through some beautiful and fascinating places along their way. Still, the dilemmas faced by Veronica and Mariah are easy to identify with and that’s part of the charm of the story.

As are the people and places they meet along the way. (And I admit that I got especially caught up in this particular story because the first cafe they visit, Dishoom in London, is a very real place I visited this time last year and had one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in my whole life.)

At the same time, the quest holds the story together, Not just the deep dive into Rachel Ellsworth’s past that made this particular journey so necessary and so poignant, but also the memories of her own past that it sparks in Veronica, and the knowledge that comes to Mariah about the events that shaped the mother she loved.

In the end, this was absolutely the right book at the right time for me – and I didn’t even recognize THAT until I was deeply into the story. I identified hard with Veronica, but Mariah’s situation of broken plans, lost dreams and derailed life expectations hit equally hard – as did her unwillingness to confront her own demons until they nearly overwhelmed her.

If you’re a reader who enjoyed stories of relationships of all types, mixed with a bit of heartbreak and sad fluff but ultimately heartwarming-ness that let you leave the story with a smile on your face, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is a gem.

This is my first O’Neal book, I enjoyed it but definitely didn’t love it. I found some parts to be very slow moving.