Lia Louis' Dear Emmie Blue is a sweet and thought-provoking tale about friendship, first loves, and family. What starts as a sharing of secrets turns into a lifelong friendship and maybe more? This book is a must-read for fans of Evvie Drake Starts Over and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was a great read about friendship, love and finding your self worth. Longing for more.
Emmie Blue sends a balloon into the air. A boy named, Lucas, finds it and they begin a friendship. Fast forward to age 30 and Lucas is getting married. Emmie struggles with it along with trying to locate a father she never knew.

A very different "coming of age" novel that has a happy ever after ending.

Fourteen year old Emmie Blue is the only child of a disinterested single parent, living in the UK. She longs for a family to love and to share her life with. In desperation she sends up a balloon into the sky with her email address and her secret attached. When she gets an email from France from Lucas Moreau, who found the balloon, she is hopeful. Sixteen years later as her 30th birthday approaches her life is shattered when a wedding proposal from Lucas isn't the one she expected. He wants her to be his best woman when he marries Marie in 9 months time. In true Emmie fashion she agrees and puts her whole self into fulfilling the duties of a best man/woman.

Emmie finds her best friend Rosie and her landlady Louise a source of encouragement as they insist she needs to let people in. Finding a father never knew is another Emmie effort that her mother finally shatters.

I liked Emile Blue’s perseverance. She overcame every obstacle life threw at her. She found good friends, a guy who loves her and most importantly a family.

4.5*
This is one of those reads that sneaks up on you and when you least expect it…wraps itself around your heart.❤️

Emmie Blue just turned thirty. A birthday she gladly shares with her dearest friend Lucas. Tonight, she’s wishing on a star, with all her heart that Luke opens his eyes and sees what she believes. That the two of them could have a wonderful future together, far beyond the “friend zone.” Well, all you hopeless romantics…let’s just say things don’t always turn out as we hope.

Emmie Blue is a tragically sad character simply searching for happiness. To be loved. Isn’t that what we all look for in life.💁🏻‍♀️ Poor Emmie has had more than her fair-share of misfortune in her thirty short years.
I absolutely felt for Emmie. Her pain and discomfort were palpable. The author did a masterful job bringing her to life.

For me the book was a slow starter. Until I hit the half way mark, when I found it quite impossible to put down. I wanted so much for Emmie to finally discover her peace and happiness and couldn’t, wouldn’t stop until I saw her journey through to the end! I laughed, I cheered and I cried!

A superbly written story of love and friendship.

Thank you to Milena Brown at Atria books via NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

Absolute PERFECTION as a summer read!

There is love, love lost, misunderstandings, secrets, kisses, a note sent over an ocean while tied to a balloon, weddings, mix tapes, cheating, more secrets, and once again, love.

Dear Emmie Blue should defnitely be on your summer read list my friend!

What a sweet book! The story follows Emmie as she navigates life and grows as a person. Emmie hasn’t had an easy life but her friend Lucas has always been by her side. When Lucas tells her some news, Emmie’s world shifts and she has to figure out how to right it.

I loved these characters and seeing how Emmie slowly let people in. I adored Elliot. Rosie was such a fun character and brought so much humor to the story. Emmie was sweet and strong. This story is a great reminder that you never know what people have been through and to always be kind.

Fans of Marian Keyes and Sophie Kinsella will love Lia Louis' Dear Emmie Blue. This sweet, funny, heartwarming, romantic story was a joy to read! I highly recommend it!! *Special thanks to Netgalley, Lia Louis' and Emily Nestler Books/ Atria books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review*

Publisher's synopsis:
A long time ago, Emmie Blue released a red balloon with a secret message hidden inside - and against all odds, across hundreds of miles of ocean, it was found on a beach in France by a boy called Lucas.

Fourteen years later, on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Emmie hopes that Lucas is finally about to kiss her. She never expected him to announce that he was marrying someone else!

Suddenly Emmie's dreams are shattered and the one person in her life she can rely on is slipping through her fingers. But what if Lucas isn't her forever? What if her love story is only just beginning...

Dear Emmie Blue was a cute uplifting read, especially during this pandemic. A bit predictable but nevertheless enjoyable. A story about love, missed connections, reunion, and self discovery.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Story about a lonely English girl (Emmie) who lets a balloon go when she is 16. Luke finds the balloon across the English Channel in France, where he is also lonely as he has just moved from England. Many years later, they are still friends and Emmie is hoping for a marriage proposal. What she gets instead is news that Luke is marrying someone else and Emmie is devastated.

Dear Emmie Blue took me on a ride I didn't know I wanted. It was both refreshing and heartbreaking all wrapped up with a neat little bow.

When first diving into this novel I did not expect the plot to go in the direction that it did - but I will say I was very pleasantly surprised. Emmie Blue's relationships were already well established but there were chapters of flashbacks that really helped me understand the context of them better.

(I very much adored the plot twist at the very end, by the way.)

**Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.**

I don't think I should have to force myself to read up to 75% of a book before it starts becoming good, and it seems many of the reviews for this book ask readers to trudge along hoping to get satisfaction out of this story.

A lot of the scenarios in the book didn't make sense to me, or how Emmie thought the way she did. Yes, she matures and eventually finds her own happiness, but the journey, in my opinion, was lackluster.

Maybe I'm just not feeling coming-of-age romance stories right now, but I had to DNF at around 60%.

Dear Emmie Blue chronicles ups & downs in the life of a woman named Emmie. Her best guy friend Lucas, with whom she is secretly in love, tells her he is marrying someone. As the story progresses, she does her best to keep herself together while seeing him plan for the nuptials. Also we get a look at hilarious conversations with her work besties, a glimpse into her relationship with her mom (who happens to be toxic towards Emmie) and flashbacks from a traumatic, humiliating experience while she was growing up. The storyline flips between past and present at times, highlighting the development of her friendship with Lucas. Throughout the story, Emmie goes through a lot of personal development and she develops unexpected friendships with her landlady as well as Lucas’ brother Eliot.

This book made me laugh out loud and sometimes almost brought me to tears, happy and sad. The characters were very relatable and easy for me to become attached to. I highly recommend reading this if you love a good contemporary fiction novel! Can’t wait to see more novels from Lia Louis! I was given an e-galley from Net Galley & Atria/Emily Bestler Books in exchange for an honest review.

A change for the usual thriller type books I read, and a pleasant and awesome change it was! Sometimes a little simplistic and expensive expected, as the book continues, the reader continues to be drawn in, and eventually not want the book to end! This was a real and solid book about love and relationships, and to me, that real ness made it even better!

I received Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis as an ARC from NetGalley. I loved this book! When Emmie was 16 she released a balloon into the air that contained a note with her name, contact email address, and a secret that no one knew. The balloon is found on a beach in France by 16 year old Lucas Moreau. Lucas emails Emmie and they develop a friendship which turns into best friends. Emmie doesn't know who her father is and her mother is very distant so Emmie feels alone in the world. Lucas has the type of family that Emmie always longed for. She & Lucas share the same birthday and celebrate together every year. Then Lucas tells Emmie that he is engaged and she is devastated because she always thought they were destined to be together. The story goes back and forth between present time and Emmie & Lucas's life together since they were 16 so it's like a combo young adult novel and rom com. This book had a great cast of characters who help Emmie figure out exactly what she is meant to do. I would love to read more by this author.

Cute, quick read! I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a cute read. It went by very fast. I loved the ending!

When Emmie Blue is sixteen, something terrible happens to her. She writes her secret down on a balloon and releases it, where it is eventually found by a teenage boy named Lucas. They become pen pals, and then best friends. Years later, Emmie is still friends with Lucas, and totally in love with him. The only problem? He's engaged to someone else. Meanwhile, Emmie is single, broke, estranged from her flaky mother, and the best woman for Lucas's wedding. Not to mention, Lucas's older brother Eliot has suddenly returned from Canada and is giving Emmie strange new feelings.

Dear Emmie Blue is a book about a woman putting herself back together after a tragedy and figuring out what she really wants out of life. Along the way, she finds friendship, love, and purpose. I got swept up in this charming, and heartwarming story, and walked away glad that I had read it.

Dear Emmie Blue was a perfect romantic delight, that offers an escape from this crazy time. Emmie and Lucas meet despite being an ocean apart and embark on a special friendship. But when Lucas is ready to get married to Marie, is Emmie ready to confess her love? Or is something else on the horizon?

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel!

Dear Emmie Blue is a delight. Readers will take a jaunt through all of their feels. It's a story of true friendship, love, and self-acceptance.
Lia Louis weaves a gorgeous narrative with thoughtfully well-developed characters. Angst, elation, hope, loneliness, and forgiveness are all experienced through the eyes of Emmie Blue (not Emmaline).

With her debut book, Lia Louis will capture your heart and ensure herself a spot on your bookshelf for years to come.