Letters to Love - Soraya Lane (Montlake Romance - Nov 2015)

When her sister Lila and brother-in-law Gray are killed in a tragic accident, Bella is named as guardian to her two young nephews. Then she discovers that she’s expected to co-parent with Gray’s best friend, and grief turns to shock. Noah has always driven her crazy, and Bella’s sure the arrogant, handsome Navy SEAL is the last person she wants to share a life with.

Just as it seems they’ll never see eye to eye, letters from Lila start to arrive -- letters she wrote in case they ever ended up in this situation. And so the reluctant couple follows her instructions, spending ever more time together as part of their unexpected, unconventional family.

Forced into an impossible situation, will these letters from the past bring them together? "Life as We Know It" meets "P.S. I Love You" in this heartwarming story of loss, grief, family and love.

Fantastic book that had me laughing and crying all through it. The story opens as Bella's sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident, leaving Bella as guardian to her two nephews. A second shock follows as she learns that Gray's best friend Noah has been named as co-guardian. He is the last person that she wants to share a house and a life with.

Bella and Noah have rubbed each other the wrong way since the moment they met. Bella sees the handsome Navy SEAL as an arrogant, too charming for his own good playboy, and Noah thinks that Bella is rigid and uptight. Though I ended up loving both characters, at the beginning I didn't like either of them very much. Bella is downright bitchy to Noah, and he seems to delight in doing whatever he can to set her off. But as I got to know them my opinion changed.

Noah has a very tough exterior that he has built up over a long time and it only seems to soften around Will and Cooper. I loved the way that he stood up to Bella and insisted on being part of the boys' lives. He knows that his job will make it difficult, but he's determined to do the best he can. His past has caused him to lock his emotions up tight, and avoid commitments of any kind. The only exception is the depth of his friendship with Gray and Lila and his commitment to his brothers in arms.

Bella is independent, and a bit on the controlling side. She has dealt with her sister's death by devoting herself to her nephews - selling her own home, putting her business on hold, and trying to create a routine for the boys. A bad past relationship has caused Bella to have some issues that she will need to overcome.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Noah and Bella. The sparks fly from the start as Bella's insistence on routine runs up against Noah's more laid back methods. But beneath the surface arguments on parenting styles is an attraction that neither can deny and neither is happy about. They maintain their animosity until they start receiving letters written to both by Bella's sister Lila before her death. Because she and Gray were both military, she always knew there was a chance that something could happen. Well aware of Noah and Bella's attitudes toward each other, Lila used these letters to encourage them to get to know each other and gave them guidance on how to do it. I loved her creativity and how well she obviously knew them both.

Over the next few weeks, with Lila's beyond-the-grave guidance, Noah and Bella learned to look past the surface and see the people behind the masks. I loved how Bella began to see that Noah had a big heart and so much love to share, but that he didn't know how to show it. She saw the man whose commitment to his teammates and his country were a huge part of who he was. I loved how Noah saw that Bella's need to plan and keep to routine stemmed from times when she couldn't control her life. Their attraction continued to grow and became something that pulled them together but also pushed them apart. Bella could feel herself beginning to care for Noah, to depend on him and to need him, which scares her to death. She doesn't want to love a man who could be taken from her at any time. Noah is torn by his passion for his work and his desire to be the man that Bella and the boys need. He also has a bone-deep belief that he isn't good enough for a woman like Bella.

Things come to a head when Noah has to go back to work and Bella's fears come boiling back to the surface. I ached for her as she pushed Noah away, afraid to believe in what could be. I hurt for Noah, who was grappling with some hard decisions and wasn't able to share the load with anyone. I loved seeing each of them finally confront their fears and realize what was holding them back. I loved the ending and that it was realistic enough to show that there will still be challenges to overcome.

There were some terrific moments scattered throughout the book. I loved Noah's reaction to having the boys to himself all day, and the respect for Bella that came with it. I adored the realism of Bella's exhaustion from being a working mother, and that sometimes she just wanted to chuck it. There were outpourings of grief from the boys, Bella, and Noah as they all came to terms with their loss that had me in tears also. There were also good times when the grief faded and life was good. There was also an unexpected twist that explained so many actions and reactions. The epilogue was sweet and a wonderful wrapup to their story.

I also loved how important family was in this story. The closeness of Bella and Lila was heartwarming and heartwrenching at the same time. I loved the letters that Lila wrote and the obvious love and respect she had for both Bella and Noah. I also loved how close Bella's family was and the support that was always there, not just for Bella but for Noah also. Learning more about Noah and how he came to be part of Gray's family was another one of those tearjerker episodes. Best of all was seeing Bella, Noah, Will, and Cooper become a brand new family without forgetting the old.