Love Letters for Other People by Shaylin Gandhi
In a small town in Indiana, two teenagers named Aubrey and Nick fall in love. Nick lives with his alcoholic father, while Aubrey comes from a traditional family. Can their love survive?
Love Letters from Other People is a novel told in dual timelines: the present and 17 years ago. It centers on two protagonists, Aubrey and Nick. Aubrey is a smart girl who loves math, eventually becomes a mathematician and lives in New York City. Nick is a boy who moves to town with his dad, and no one really knows his story. Later on, he becomes a local steelworker, has a beautiful, smart daughter and is the town’s good guy.
17 years ago, Nick began wooing Aubrey through beautifully written love letters.
The Echo of Home and the Weight of Return
Currently, Aubrey is dealing with work drama and has moved back to her hometown to deal with the fallout.
17 years ago, Nick and Aubrey fell in love.
Currently, Aubrey runs into Nick at a grocery store and has an awkward interaction, which reiterates why Aubrey cannot be around Nick.
17 years ago, Nick and Aubrey were sure that they were going to be together forever – they had even made plans to move to New York City after high school together.
Currently, Nick and Aubrey keep running into each other. Aubrey’s friend Megan has coerced her into volunteering on a town committee, while Nick’s daughter is also on said committee. All of a sudden, Nick and Aubrey are also on the same committee, forcing them to spend time together, even though it is uncomfortable.
A Fault Line Beneath Young Love
17 years ago, an event occurred that would change the trajectory of their relationship forever.
Currently, all of this forced time together is forcing them to look at their past relationship and current relationship in different ways… Even though Aubrey is dating someone else and receiving love letters that are eerily similar to the love letters that she used to receive in high school…
“I want you every minute of every day. I want you when I’m dreaming, and when I’m awake, and when I’m so tired I can barely remember my own name. I want you so much that it survives every stupid, desperate thing I hurl at it. Every punch I throw and every letter I write and every shot of tequila I swallow. My whole fucking existence spins on an axis of wanting you.”
When Familiar Tropes Become Something Truer
Like many authors, Shaylin Gandhi has her roots in self-publishing, then transitioned to traditional publishing. She is now the author of two romantasy novels and a novella, and two romance novels, one of which is Love Letters for Other People. According to her website, she started reading adult novels at the age of 10, which established her love for literature. She writes from her home in Golden, Colorado, where she lives with her twin daughters and her husband.
As a fan of rom-coms by authors such as Ali Hazelwood and Abby Jimenez, this romance is different. It has the elements of a traditional romance novel, with classic tropes (small town, single dad, and second chance romance), but it also deals with heavier elements, such as classism. While it certainly is not the first book to do this, Gandhi does this in a way that would have even the most anti-romance reader interested in the plot.
When I read this book, I devoured it. I could not stop reading it. I had to know the ending. There were twists and turns that I did not anticipate.
Gandhi is a skilled writer – so skilled that, at the conclusion of Love Letters for Other People, I needed to read more. I promptly placed her debut romance novel, When We Had Forever, on hold at my local library.
About Shaylin Gandhi:
