(From Goodreads) A reclusive bookstore owner hoped she’d permanently buried her family’s sensational past with a new name. But when the novels she once shared with an old crush begin appearing in the mail, it’s clear her true identity is about to be revealed, threatening the new life she has painstakingly built.

Right from the start, I found our main character Robin so relatable. Running a bookstore (except for some of the logistics) sounds like a dream job, and I am absolutely the kind of person who has to be dragged into being social on most occasions. I definitely understood her appreciation and value of books throughout the story.

Speaking of books, if they, as a whole, could be a character, they certainly were in this story. From serving as an introduction between our main characters to becoming the way they communicate in the past and the present, novels played a central role and hit all of the right nostalgia notes for this reader. It definitely had the nostalgia element of reading some of the mentioned books for the first time.

For the plot, while I’m not normally a fan of switching between timelines, I love the effect it can have when properly done. Bartels perfectly pairs the story of Peter and Robin’s relationship in the past with Robin’s current storyline—while continuing to build my interesting in learning what happened to make that relationship fall apart.

Altogether, “The Words Between Us” was a sweet story, complete with the right mix of highs and lows and a perfectly satisfying conclusion. I was so absorbed in Robin’s journey that I barely put the book down during the two days that it took me to read it.

To be honest, the only things I can possibly say about this book that I would potentially change are incredibly minor. It would have been nice to see more depth from some of the other characters throughout the story, but I think that a great deal of that is due to the story being from Robin’s perspective, which I feel was a key element of the book. Along with the ending feeling just slightly abrupt and wanting to see more progress in Robin’s journey of faith, these are the only things I would have liked to see more of.

• Books about books
• Character-driven narratives
• Emotional stories
• Low-key mysteries

I received this book as part of the Revell Reads program in order to write a review. The statements of the review are entirely my own, honest opinion of the book.