Reviewed by Sid

TITLE: Letters to a War Zone

AUTHOR: Lucy Felthouse

PUBLISHER: Totally Bound

BLURB: When lonely insurance broker, Bailey, gets himself a new hobby, he ends up exchanging letters with a war zone. But he’s not expecting what happens next…

Bailey Hodgkiss is lonely and dissatisfied with his boring life as an insurance broker. In an attempt to shake things up a little, he signs up to a website to write to serving soldiers. He’s put in touch with Corporal Nick Rock, and over the course of a couple of letters, the two of them strike up a friendship. They begin to divulge things that they perhaps wouldn’t have said in person, including their preference for men.

Nick encourages Bailey to add more interests to his life. As a result, Bailey picks up his forgotten hobby, photography, and quickly decides to team it up with his other preferred interest, travel.

Booking a holiday to Rome is his biggest gesture towards a more exciting existence, and he eagerly looks forward to the trip. That is, until Nick says he’s coming home on leave, and it looks as though their respective trips will prevent them from meeting in person. Is there enough of a spark between them to push them to meet, or will their relationship remain on paper only?

REVIEW:

As soon as I began to read this creation by Lucy Felthouse, I thought it held a promise of a great read! Bailey had me dreaming and wondering about what it’s going to be like ahead. I was eager to see if it had a happy ending but was also afraid because a part of me thought this was going to end up sad. However, what the end of this book actually delivered, left me having mixed feelings.

Bailey Hodgkiss signs up for a program that lets people volunteer to write letters to the men serving in the army outside UK borders. Not sure of what to write, he decides to just go with the flow and pour his heart out. The reply to his letter comes a while later with a cheerful tone to it, that gives off the man – Corporal Nick Rock – as a nice human being. Over the couple of letters, they share a lot with each other, exchange snaps and get each other’s email IDs for a faster communication. To Bailey’s satisfaction, Nick is back for vacation and expresses an interest to meet up. Finding the man in flesh at his apartment, Bailey knows he wouldn’t be able to hold off on his growing crush for the army man. But is that what Nick wants too?

The interaction between the two men over the letters is really charming. Although, it feels silly when Bailey asks Nick if he is gay in the second letter itself (eyeroll), it didn’t weird me out. Instead, I found myself chuckling at his silliness. He has hots for men in uniform and the ones wearing dog tags … who wouldn’t right? So when Nick arrives in his uniform, he cannot hold back the flirting!

What felt wrong in this book was the pace. Like I said, I didn’t mind Bailey wanting to know which way Nick swung so quickly, but asking a man he hardly knew to accompany him for a vacation? It was a bit too much. I am not saying it is not bound to happen in real life but in this book, the way they come to the decision didn’t flow well. I always like my characters when they make sensible decisions and not rushed ones, later ending up in a mess. Thankfully Bailey doesn’t and we do get a happy-for-now ending. To be honest, though, it wasn’t the ending I expected from the book. I hoped to get a glance at their vacation time but we don’t get that.

Letters … makes for an instant, cheerful reading. You’ll adore Bailey and lust after the army man Nick, I am sure of it. 😉

RATING:

BUY LINKS: Totally Bound