Six Degrees of Separation - September 2023

Six Degrees of Separation is hosted by Kate at booksaremyfavoriteandbest. A book is selected each month as the starting point for us to link to six other books. I go a bit rouge by selecting my own book from the previous months’ Five Star Friday, but still maintain the spirit of the meme.

This Month's Book

Love, Holly by Emily Stone
Published by Dell on September 26, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

Goodreads

A young woman tries to heal a rift in her elderly pen pal’s family in time for Christmas, all while falling in love—and maybe even reuniting with her own family—in this dazzling romance from the author of Always, in December and One Last Gift

Sometimes it takes a stranger to bring you back to yourself.

Ever since a car accident tore her family apart, Holly has been part of a lonely-hearts holiday letter–writing club. Each December, she writes to a stranger who is also spending Christmas alone, and receives a letter from another lonely person in return.

Usually, the letters go unanswered. That’s the point—the letters are anonymous, and the senders write whatever is in their heart. But this year, the letter Holly receives is different; not only is the letter full of a grief she knows all too well, but its writer, Emma, mentions a place that Holly has visited. When she realizes that she might actually be able to find the letter’s author, Holly becomes determined to reunite Emma with the estranged grandson, Jack, with whom Emma is desperate to reconnect.

When Holly finally tracks him down, she remembers that she’s met Jack once before . . . and the connection was electric. The spark between the two of them is still there—until a misunderstanding risks their burgeoning romance and his strained relationship with Emma, too. But Holly is determined; if she can fix Emma’s family, she might also be able to fix her own. Though as it turns out, Holly might have less time to put things right than she thought.

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Love, Holly was such an emotional and touching story. Emily Stone always knows how to tug at my heartstrings, and that made Love, Holly one of my favorite reads from last month. 

1. One of the things I LOVED about Love, Holly was the anonymous "Dear Stranger" letter which brought Emma into her life. This made me think of the letter library from Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley. 
2. I adored the letter library, but I also reveled in the bookshop setting. Recently, I was seeking out bookshop books and found The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs. This was a very special bookshop which Natalie was fighting to save. 
3. There is nothing that warms my heart more than when the community rallies to save a beloved place like when lifelong friends worked together to save their childhood summer camp in The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodson Harvey. 
4. Saving lakefront property was also the goal in Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen. The lake community and magical touches made this special for me, and I especially appreciated Kate's healing journey. 
5. Like Kate, Jess had lost someone important to her and was grieving the loss of her mother in The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle. It was wonderful to see her find so much strength and support from the "museum people" as she also realized and reached for her dream. 
6. Ella was also a bit lost and looking for a new direction when she stumbled upon a quite little seaside town in Escape to Starshine Cove by Debbie Johnson. There, she met wonderful people who embraced her as one of their own and helped her see a new future for herself. 

Have you read any of these books?
Let us know in the comments!