Book Review: Love Lettering

From Goodreads: Meg Mackworth’s hand-lettering skill has made her famous as the Planner of Park Slope, designing beautiful custom journals for New York City’s elite. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss. Like the time she sat across from Reid Sutherland and his gorgeous fiancée, and knew their upcoming marriage was doomed to fail. Weaving a secret word into their wedding program was a little unprofessional, but she was sure no one else would spot it. She hadn’t counted on sharp-eyed, pattern-obsessed Reid.

A year later, Reid has tracked Meg down to find out—before he leaves New York for good—how she knew that his meticulously planned future was about to implode. But with a looming deadline, a fractured friendship, and a bad case of creative block, Meg doesn’t have time for Reid’s questions—unless he can help her find her missing inspiration. As they gradually open up to each other about their lives, work, and regrets, both try to ignore the fact that their unlikely connection is growing deeper. But the signs are there—irresistible, indisputable, urging Meg to heed the messages Reid is sending her, before it’s too late.

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On the surface, Meg Mackworth and I are pretty similar- she works in planners, I am a Planner Addict Person. She handletters for a living and I am a graphic designer who specializes in layout work. Like her, I also see things in text, typefaces, and fonts. It’s a weird habit that I thought only happened in my brain, so to see this thing described in a book was surprising. I mean, it’s not as fully-formed as Meg’s is, but I have moments when I see things graphicly. I see things in a certain style or font weight. And I certainly pre-judge people on what I think their fonts of choice would be. These similarities alone would have been enough to draw me into Meg’s world and this book overall, but here’s where I get a bit deeper. More personal.

I’m also very much like Meg in that I’m a hide-r. An avoid-er. Someone who will just walk away, literally and metaphorically, if things get too tense or too confrontational. I will shut down, leave the situation, work out whatever is wrong within my own head and then return (sometimes) and take the weight of the situation on my own to make sure that the other person(s) don’t feel bad anymore. It’s my default setting, but also something I’ve tried to change over the years. Reading Meg’s journey to trust herself and her relationships enough to stay and fight, even if it was messy, was like taking and releasing a deep, comforting breath. She had to face everyone from her employers and co-worker to her best friend who had been pulling away from her to Reid, her possible boyfriend, and of course herself, who she had been hiding from the most. I could feel myself getting lighter and lighter as she stayed and faced each person, no matter how painful it was to read. While the romance was lovely and had the perfect amount of angst, I will carry Meg in my heart forever. 

Also, there’s an actual LOVE LETTER. You didn’t think I would leave it on such a somber note, did you? 

Y’all, above everything that I love about romance – enemies to lovers, forbidden relationships, forced proximity – basically anything that tortures our main characters for pages and pages until they FINALLY come together, above all of that, my absolute most favorite thing is a letter declaring oneself. Y’ALLLLLLLL….THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR. I blame Jane Austen. Nothing is as perfect as Captain Wentworth and his panicked love letter to Anne Elliot. 

And this book delivers a love letter like nobody’s business. It’s long and desperate and full of that this is the only way and perhaps my final way of trying to reach you plea of love and please forgive me that I will fall for every minute of every day. SWOONSH INDEED.

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