It all began with just one line. . .
The first letter arrived the day my husband was buried. It was postmarked from the state penitentiary and contained a single
I’ll wait forever if I have to.
It was signed by Dante, a man I didn’t know.
Out of simple curiosity, I wrote back to ask him what exactly he was waiting for. His reply?
You.
I told the mystery man he had the wrong girl. He said he didn’t. I said we’d never met, but he said I was wrong.
We went back and forth, exchanging letters every week that grew increasingly more intimate. Then, one day, the letters stopped. When I found out why, it was already too late.
Dante was at my doorstep.
And nothing on earth could have prepared me for what happened next.
*Trigger Explicit language, graphic sex/power play dynamics, detailed descriptions of death and grief, miscarriage, domestic violence, mental illness
Book Info: 351 pages. Publisher: Tor Bramble. Publication date: 31 Jan 2025
My thoughts:
Warning: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IN PUBLIC.
Having seen lots of people recommending this book online and suffering from acute FOMO I had to download it. Choosing to read it on a recent 2 hour flight to Portugal and sitting next to a complete stranger (a very nice man!), I got comfy and started to read. OMFG.. no-one told me about the very steamy, raunchy and rather frequent sex scenes! 🍆🌶️ 🍆🌶️ 🍆🌶️ 🍆🌶️
I have never in my life been so uncomfortable, literally squirming in my seat and trying to angle my kindle screen as far away from my fellow passenger in case he “accidentally” reads about regular bottom spanking and lots of dirty talk.
Normally I read thrillers that feature the “odd” sex scene – but Pen Pal features really “odd” sex scenes and I’m not a prude, but OMG this was very intense.
The story begins with Kayla, a grieving widow, who receives a mysterious letter from a prison inmate named Dante the day her husband is buried. The letter simply says, “I’ll wait forever if I have to.”
Meanwhile her house is falling apart so she hires a building contractor called Aidan and the attraction between them is instantly electric. Embarking on an emotional and powerful affair, Pen Pal, takes the reader on an unforgettable journey with some absolutely mind-blowing twists which I did NOT see coming.
So, as you may have concluded there is a LOT of sex in the book, however it’s the storyline and characters which stood out for me. I don’t want to give much away as I basically went into this book blind – only with the knowledge lots of people loved it, but I can say this book blew my mind in a good way.
It’s billed as a twisty, dark romance and over 74k readers have reviewed it on Amazon and honestly I absolutely LOVED it. I read it in a day and have recommended it to anyone and everyone ever since.
