Nineteen Letters by Jodi Perry November Book of the Month

I'm a sucker for a good romance novel but most of them are just light-hearted reads, stories to pass the time, there aren't many that really tug at my heart strings, but my choice for November book of the month, Nineteen Letters by Jodi Perry managed to pull at all of my emotions.

Nineteen. There’s something about that number; it not only brought us together, bonding us forever, it also played a hand in tearing us apart.

The nineteenth of January 1996. I’ll never forget it. It was the day we met. I was seven and she was six. It was the day she moved in next door, and the day I developed my first crush on a girl.

Exactly nineteen years later, all my dreams came true when she became my wife. She was the love of my life. My soul mate. My everything. The reason I looked forward to waking up every morning.

Then tragedy struck. Nineteen days after we married, she was in an accident that would change our lives forever. When she woke from her coma, she had no memory of me, of us, of the love we shared.

I was crushed. She was my air, and without her I couldn’t breathe.

The sparkle that once glistened her eyes when she looked at me was gone. To her, now, I was a stranger. I had not only lost my wife, I had lost my best friend.

But I refused to let this tragedy be the end of us. That’s when I started to write her letters, stories of our life. Of when we met. About the happier times, and everything we had experienced together.

What we had was far too beautiful to be forgotten.

This novel begins just after Braxton and Jemma return from their honeymoon, exactly 19 days after they got married. It's apparent from reading the blurb and of course the title of the book that the number nineteen holds great significance in their lives.

Tragedy strikes at the beginning of the story when Jem is involved in a car accident, thankfully she survives (already breathing a sigh of relief) but unfortunately she's been left without her memories and this means that she doesn't even recognise her husband, my heart immediately breaking for them.

Told from dual points of view, what Jodi Perry manages to do throughout this story is give us as the reader a real insight into both Brax and Jem's lives, not just how their relationship formed but their own lives before they even met. What this does is create an amazing connection between the characters and the reader.

Getting  details from the two main characters, not only from the present but the past as well, as the reader we are given a real insight into their lives and this allows for the imagination to really paint a picture, to become immersed in their journey of re-discovery.

The saying says that love conquers all and this is proven in Nineteen Letters. Braxton's love is undeniable and he manages to portray this through the letters he writes to his wife. Each letter giving Jem back a piece of history, a small bit of their past, showing her all the reasons why they came to be.

I love that their relationship wasn't an instant love, it was slow building which made it even more meaningful and the moments Brax is remembering aren't all epic events, they are simple yet joyful. Brax quite simply adores his wife and with good reason.

Starting as friends, soon becoming best friends and later with love blooming, it is so refreshing to see a relationship without some of the perils that we see in so many novels these days, no silly love triangles or cheating partners, it was realistic however that made some moments all the more heart-wrenching.

This is a novel that has what I like to call 'the feels'. It leaves you oh so emotional and with one mighty book hangover and I can tell you, that is a really good thing! Nineteen Letters is beautifully written and although sad at times, there was a sense of healing and I was left thoroughly satisfied by the end.

Any people who crave romance will be drawn to this novel. Yes it made me cry but it wasn't all sad tears, I cried because it was so heart-felt. This is a stand-alone story and I was pleased to see an epilogue at the end and honestly it was by far the best part of the book, a must read!