Blog Tour Review & Excerpt: The Secrets of Love Story Bridge by Phaedra Patrick

 

 THE SECRETS OF LOVE STORY BRIDGE
Author: Phaedra Patrick
ISBN: 9780778309789
Publication Date: April 28, 2020
Publisher: Park Row Books

 Book Summary:

Fredrik Backman meets The Cactus in THE SECRETS OF LOVE STORY BRIDGE (Park Row Books; April 28, 2020; $25.99 US/$32.50 CAN), in which a cynical single father has a surprise encounter on the famous love lock bridge, sparking a journey of self-discovery that may lead him to a second chance at love.

Single father Mitchell Fisher hates all things romance. He enjoys his job removing padlocks fastened to the famous "love lock" bridges of Upchester city. Only his young daughter, Poppy, knows that behind his disciplined veneer, Mitchell grieves the loss of her mother, Anita.

One fateful day, working on the bridge, Mitchell courageously rescues a woman who falls into the river. He’s surprised to feel a connection to her, but the woman disappears before he learns her name. To Mitchell’s shock, a video of the rescue goes viral, hailing him as "The Hero on the Bridge." He’s soon notified by the mysterious woman’s sister, Liza, that she has been missing for over a year. However, the only clue to where the woman could have gone is the engraved padlock she left on the bridge.

Mitchell finds himself swept up in Liza’s quest to find her lost sister. Along the way, with help from a sparkling cast of characters, Mitchell’s heart gradually unlocks, and he discovers new beginnings can be found in the unlikeliest places... 

 Buy Links:

Harlequin

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s

Except

The Lilac Envelope

The night before

As he did often, over the past three years, Mitchell Fisher wrote a letter he would never send.

He sat up in bed at midnight and kicked off his sheets. Even though all the internal doors in his apartment were open, the sticky July heat still felt like a shroud clinging to his body. His nine-year-old daughter Poppy thrashed restlessly in her sleep, in the bedroom opposite.

Mitchell turned on his bedside lamp, squinting against the yellow light, and took out a pad of Basildon Bond notepaper from underneath his bed. He always used a fountain pen to write—old-fashioned he supposed, but he was a man who valued things that were well-constructed and long-lasting.

Mitchell tapped the pen against his bottom lip. He knew what he wanted to say, but by the time his words of sorrow and regret travelled from his brain to his fingertips, they were only fragments of what he longed to express.

As he started to write, the sound of the metal nib scratching against paper helped him block out the city street noise that hummed below his apartment.

Dearest Anita

Another letter from me. Everything here is fine, ticking along. Poppy is doing well. The school holidays start soon and I thought she’d be more excited. It’s probably because you’re not here to enjoy them with us.

I’ve taken two weeks off work to spend with her, and have a full itinerary planned for us—badminton, tennis, library visits, cooking, walking, the park, swimming, museums, cooking, a tour of the city bridges, and more. It will keep us busy. Keep our minds off you.

You’ll be amazed how much she’s grown, must be almost your height by now. I tell her how proud I am of her, but it always means more coming from you. 
  Mitchell paused, resting his hand against the pad of paper. He had to tell her how he felt.  
Every time I look at our daughter, I think of you. I wish I could hold you again, and tell you I’m truly sorry.

Yours, always

Mitchell x  
He read his words, always dissatisfied with them, never able to convey the magnitude of grief and guilt he felt. After folding the piece of paper once, he sealed it into a crisp, cream envelope, then squeezed it into the almost-full drawer of his nightstand, amongst all the other letters he’d written. His eyes fell upon the slim lilac envelope he kept on top, the one addressed to him from Anita, that he’d not yet been able to bring himself to open.

Taking that envelope out, he held it under his nose and inhaled. There was still a slight scent of her on the paper, he thought, of violet soap. His finger followed the angle of the gummed flap and then stopped. He closed his eyes and willed himself to open the letter, but his fingernails dented crescents into the paper.

Once more, he placed it back into his drawer.

Mitchell lay down and hugged himself, imagining Anita’s arms were wrapped around him. But, when he closed his eyes, the words from all the letters weighed down upon him like a bulldozer. As he turned and tried to sleep, he pulled the pillow over his head to force them away. 

 

What I thought about
THE SECRETS OF LOVE STORY BRIDGE

This is my first book from this author, and I was totally hooked with the book description.  I love stories that deal with finding yourself and learning to overcome the big obstacles that life throws at you, and The Secrets of Love Story Bridge seemed to be the kind of story I was looking for in a world that is full of pandemic stress.

Michell lost his wife Anita and is grieving for her.  Mitch deals with his grief by sticking to a rigid schedule and protecting his heart by closing himself off emotionally.  He spends his days cutting love locks from bridges to protect their structural integrity. What a job to have -- to face these love offerings everyday -- as he griefs for his wife. When he tries to save a woman from jumping off the bridge after placing a lock there, his life changes because of his actions to save her.  There's a mystery here when it is revealed the woman who jumped off the bridge has been missing for some time. 

Mitch is joined on his journey by his nine year daughter Poppy, who provides much relief with her young humor. It's Poppy's music teacher Liza who brings more clues to the mysterious bridge jumper mystery. I liked that there was this mystery to help Mitch move on from his grief.

I loved the tone of this story. It's on the feel-good side considering the subject matter, and Mitch does learn quite a bit through his emotional journey.  There's a really lovely part of this story that has to do with letter writing that I absolutely loved because the power of putting your words down on paper is so important in this electronic world.  

Overall, I really enjoyed this story.  It's emotional, has great characters and relationships between them and shows the lovely progression of Mitch's jouney out of grieving, and it was his journey that was the best part of the story.  I wouldn't call this a page-turner, but I was engaged and needed to know how it was all going to turn out for the characters.

An ARC was provided by the publisher. This is my honest review.

 

Author Bio

 

Phaedra Patrick is the author of The Library of Lost and Found, Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone and The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, which has been published in over twenty countries around the world. She studied art and marketing, and has worked as a stained-glass artist, film festival organizer and communications manager. An award-winning short story writer, she now writes full-time. She lives in Saddleworth, UK, with her husband and son.

 Social Links:
Author Website

Twitter: @PhaedraPatrick

Instagram: @PhaedraPatrick

Facebook: @PhaedraPatrick

Goodreads