“Love and Other Words” is a heartfelt contemporary romance by best selling authors Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The two worked on the novel together and published the book under the pen name “Christiana Lauren.” With the book following childhood lovers whose stories might not be over just yet, the gut-wrenching truth, and yearning like no other, this story is worth reading!
The story is told through a “then” and “now” perspective, following our main characters Elliot and Macy through their current lives where they are both in their 20’s, finally facing their pasts and what originally tore them apart, and their past lives when they were young teenagers, having a childhood-lovers trope.
In the “then” perspective, a once young Macy is navigating the loss of her mother, her and her father move to a house outside San Francisco. There she meets Elliot, a boy the same age who lives next door. They quickly grow close, bonding over reading in a closet that became a library for them, as well as a safe haven. After some time of ignoring their undeniable feelings for each other, they eventually face them head on.
In their current lives, Macy and Elliot have grown up. Macy is now a nurse in a (somewhat) stable relationship with her new fiance named Sean, who has a young child. She is happy, as happy as she can be. Elliot is, safe to say, stuck in the past. Macy is now facing not only the grief of her mother, but now her father as well. With not having spoken in 11 years, the reason still unknown to the reader, the two have a run-in at a coffee shop. As old feelings come rushing back, Elliot is willing to fight to get back what they once had. But what happened so many years ago that drove them apart is still dangling over their heads.
By the end they are no longer able to keep running from the truth, the reality of what really happened on that night is revealed. After confessing his love for Macy, Elliot was drunk at a party where he was then taken advantage of by a girl he was on and off with. Macy walked in on him and assumed he was cheating and felt utter heartbreak and betrayal. Macy and Elliot hash out the miscommunication they had on that night and how it affected their lives, and can finally heal together, with time.
My only critique of this novel is that during the climax of the book when we find out what happened that night, Elliot was found undressed and passed out next to a girl, insinuating he was assaulted, which is an extremely sensitive topic, and was not further discussed in the book. I believe the seriousness of his assault and the fact he was a victim should have been addressed more and not simply glazed over.
That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and the characters were very likeable. This miscommunication trope can be hard to execute but was extremely well done. I would recommend this rom-com like book to those who enjoy a good dual POV and childhood lovers romance!
