The Words We Lost (Fog Harbor #1) by Nicole Deese
As a senior acquisitions editor for Fog Harbor Books in San Francisco, Ingrid Erikson has rejected many a manuscript for lack of defined conflict and dramatic irony--two elements her current life possesses in spades. In the months following the death of her childhood best friend and international bestselling author Cecelia Campbell, Ingrid has not only lost her ability to escape into fiction due to a rare trauma response, but she's also desperate to find the closure she's convinced will come with Cecelia's missing final manuscript.
After Ingrid jeopardizes her career, she fears her future will remain irrevocably broken. But then Joel Campbell--the man who shattered her belief in happily-ever-afters--offers her a sealed envelope from his late cousin, Cecelia, asking Joel and to put their differences aside and retrieve a mysterious package in their coastal Washington hometown.
Honoring Cecelia's last request will challenge their convictions and test their loyalties, but through it all, will Ingrid and Joel be brave enough to uncover a twice-in-a-lifetime love?
Review: Ingrid Erikson is an editor for Fog Harbor Books but in the months since her childhood best friend's death, her job is in jeopardy because her grief has impaired her ability to process what she is reading, a rare trauma response to her grief. To further complicate things, her best friend was bestselling author Ceceilia Campbell and the final manuscript and conclusion to her best-selling series has been missing since her death. Then Joel Campbell, Cecilia's cousin and also Ingrid's first love, shows up with a letter from Cecelia, explaining that her final wish was that she and Joel resolve their differences and that she left them a package in her coastal hometown in Washington state.
I was initially very reeled in by this book. It was so interesting that Ingrid worked in publishing and in fact was responsible for helping her late friend get her books published. It was also a cool twist that her late friend was a bestselling author and that Ingrid had dated her cousin Joel. I also liked that before her death Cecilia wrote a memoir so in alternating chapters the reader gets a story within a story as Joel and Ingrid read the memoir, which is also their story of how they came to know one another. The coastal vibes of the flashbacks and their time in Washington state was also a fun addition.
However, my enjoyment of this was marred by the audiobook narration. It felt stilted and fake, and every character sounded the same. This hampered my ability to buy into the story, to distinguish or connect to the characters, and just my enjoyment overall. Unlike most of the time when listening to the audio, I just did not feel immersed or drawn into this world. I had a hard time staying focused listening. I waited a long time to listen to this at the library and would have switched to reading a physical copy if that had been an immediate option, because I have heard glowing review of this book.
Stars: 3
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