With Love, Louisa (2021)

About the Book

Book: With Love, Louisa

Series: Larkhall Letters #3

Author: Ashtyn Newbold

Release Date: July 14, 2021

Genre: Historical Romance

An innocent letter is only dangerous when it falls into the wrong hands.

Louisa Rosemeyer is a lady with no money, no parents, and, regrettably, no husband. Left with no place to go, she writes a letter to her aunt, Mrs. Irwin, asking for an invitation to live with her. Ever cautious and optimistic, Louisa hopes the trip will bring the new beginning she has been searching for.

After being forced out of his childhood home, Jack Warwick lets Mrs. Irwin’s house, happy to be away from his family and their many squabbles. Haunted by his past, he drowns his loneliness in drink, and with it, his better judgment. When a letter arrives at his new house, addressed to the previous occupant, Mrs. Irwin, from her niece, Jack writes an incoherent reply, inviting the young lady to come stay…an event which his drinking causes him to forget.

When the chaos surrounding Louisa’s untimely arrival at Jack’s house causes a scandal, there is only one way to mend her reputation: Marriage. As Jack’s feelings for Louisa grow, he realizes there is only one way to mend himself: To be loved by Louisa. Devastated to be married to a near stranger, and a scoundrel at that, Louisa closes off her heart. She has always planned to marry for love. But she quickly learns that love has plans of its own.

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My Thoughts

There is so much to love about With Love, Louisa by Ashtyn Newbold. Each novel in the Larkhall Letters series just keeps getting better and better. In this installment, we get Louisa’s story. Louisa is Alice’s sister, the heroine from book 1, and Bridgette’s best friend and companion, the heroine from book 2. At the start of this story, Louisa is in a predicament. Her sister is newly married and expecting her first child. She is also living on a fixed income and doesn’t have the room to take in Louisa. Bridgette is also newly married and has moved away from Larkhall. This leaves Louisa alone at Larkhall with Matthew, Larkhall’s bachelor owner. While Matthew is like Louisa’s brother in many ways, he isn’t biologically related. As innocent as their relationship is, Society will never accept Louisa’s living in Matthew’s home as anything appropriate as long as she is just Matthew’s sister’s best friend. So, Louisa decides to write to a distant relative in the hopes that this woman has room for her in her home. Louisa receives a letter back from whom she believes is her relative granting her permission to come live with her. Louisa is off on a new adventure. Along the way she encounters Jack Warwick and her life changes in an instant.

As I stated above, there is a lot to love about this book. The plot is excellent. Again, I felt compelled to read this story well into the night. I was highly engaged right from the beginning and hated to have to put it down. The characters are all excellently crafted. I feel like both Louisa and Jack are highly relatable and very endearing characters. What I appreciate the most, though, is the discussion about forgiveness. Jack is a man who lives with bone-crushing and soul-sucking guilt and shame. When he was a teenager an accident occurred on his family’s estate and he has completely and totally blamed himself ever since. Jack has even gone so far as to separate himself from his family entirely, and he drinks and gambles to dull the pain. In a nutshell, at the start of this story, Jack has basically hit rock bottom. Then he meets Louisa and his life changes in an instant too. After a super quick wedding, Jack finds himself married to a woman he does not deserve. Louisa is too good for him and he doesn’t know what to do, how to think, what to tell her, etc. Slowly, he comes to really love Louisa, but the guilt and the shame he carries refuses to abate. He takes two good steps forward in becoming the man he thinks Louisa deserves only to take ten steps back once he allows his guilt and shame to get the better of him. Everything comes to a head, and he finally confides in his wife. She asks him the BEST question, “Have you asked for forgiveness?” I love this question. We humans get so caught up in the idea of being too bad for forgiveness that we often forget that sometimes all it takes to achieve forgiveness is to ask for it. How many of our hurt relationships could be fixed if all we did was open our mouths, admit our feelings and failings, and ask for forgiveness?

With Love, Louisa is a highly engaging, unforgettable love story. I am so glad I took the time to read this book. If you are in the mood for an excellent Regency Romance then I highly recommend With Love, Louisa by Ashtyn Newbold.

I purchased a copy of this novel in eBook form from Amazon.com on July 23, 2021, in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.