This book was just perfect. It felt into my arms at a perfect time: right after I finished Bridgerton on Netflix. So I was still in that Regency Era romance mood.

The story is told through texts, emails, letters and a novel. I was scared that It would be really difficult to understand, since I was listening to audiobook. To my surprise, the narrator did a really good job and I did not feel confused at all.

Synopsis:
This is a story about Josie, who lost her father to cancer. Not being able to find her place and support from her mother she leaves to an estate her father secretly owned. There she finds a stash of really old letters from Elias, which are addressed to... her! Who is this mysterious Elias? And how could he write those letters to her living two centuries ago?
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What I loved about this book:
Like anyone who lost someone, Josie is looking for a comfort and an escape from reality. She is looking for a place, an object that will make her feel close to her passed father. These letters from Elias were what she truly needed. Josie needed a distraction, a shoulder to cry on or a soul who would understand her pain. And to her luck Elias is the perfect person. She falls in love with this ghost from the past.
I believe there is a hidden message in this book: when we are heartbroken, hurt or vulnerable, we need to find something to help us move on. Josie found Elias and his letters. Because, who knows? If she found the letters when her father was still alive, maybe they wouldn’t have any effect on her? Everything has its own time and purpose.

This book kept me guessing and wanted to know the end. It is full of love, mysteries, grief and relationships... it was just a wonderful novel to read.

Free ARC from Netgalley.

Dearest Josephine is three stories interwoven to one. Josephine finds some old letters addressed to "her" (same name), and an old manuscript written by the same boy 200 years ago. And it's like reading about herself! We also gets Elias's story from the letters, and what he imagined could happen in the book he wrote.

I loved the narrator! And it gave off good Victorian age vibes. But, it was a bit too much and hard to follow. Not bad tho, I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed the different ways on which the story was told, through formats such as letters, emails, narrative and even texts, I thought that really stood out to me and appealed as it was not what I was expecting. The narrator did an excellent job with the text, it was beautifully smooth and flowed really well. I did unfortunately feel that there was something missing from the plot for me though, i'm not sure what but this has affected my rating, it just needed a little more depth to it. Many thanks to NetGalley and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review this one.

This book was so cute! It was not exactly for me, but I loved the narrator and story line. This is a book I can easily recommend to my students, and I can't wait to do so. I, of course, LOVE the epistolary form, so this book was a hit! I loved the break up of form and narrative in this book. What a great read!

I was interested in the premise of this book. I am giving it 3 stars. I liked the different ways the author told the story, narrative, letters, texts. emails and a "novel". However, there were 3 story lines and it was a little confusing. Maybe it was because I was listening to it and I may have missed key things at the beginning of the chapter, or when I started and stopped and didn't remember if I was listening to the letters or the novel. I liked the premise of the star-crossed lovers, but I felt it fell flat. I enjoyed the supporting characters and felt the author did a good job with them in the story. I feel that the story lacked a certain something--I wanted more excitement or a bigger plot twist, or something.
I received this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Net Galley.

The highlight of this audiobook was the narration by Nathalie Pownall. She has a beautiful, clear, melodious and engaging voice which made me like this book so much more.

The story has three separate narrative threads: first a modern one told in a series of text messages and email correspondence between Josie de Clare with her best friend Faith, mother and the family who oversees her late father's estate, the second in the form of nearly 200 years old letters written by a Elias Roch to a Josephine de Clare which the modern Josie finds in one of the study rooms of her father's estate home and the third a novel manuscript written by the same Elias Roch. The author's smooth, beautiful and at times poetic writing style prevents any disjointedness in the flow of the story and effortlessly shifts from one narrative to the other which is further highlighted by the smooth, clear and emotive narration by the narrator.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Thomas Nelson and the author Caroline George for the audio ARC of the book. I had a lovely time listening to it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

You get three stories in one with this one. A regency novel. An 1800s story. A present day story. Told from letters, emails, and texts I was confused at first, but it comes together with a fun twist at the end. The contemporary part is humorous at times and oh so British. I miss living in England after reading it, but it also had me remembering so much! Think a clean and maybe less crazy Bridget Jones. The writing is very poetic at times while keeping the wit. The novel is also everything you want in a regency novel. And the narrator on the audiobook is one of my favorites. She brought out the humor so well!
This book is extremely unique and there is nothing like it that I know of, you should read it just for that reason. George creates an entirely new and modern genre with her style.

3.5 stars

I would like to thank netgalley and Thomas Nelson for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting premise, but a little confusing. There's no real recognition of the privilege of the characters.

This book has problems. Once again, I loved the premise: a young woman grieving her father's death moves to a manor she has inherited where she finds in a desk a stack of 200-year-old love letters written to someone with her exact name. Sounds fun and timey-wimey!

It's not, really.

There are three separate narratives here and none of them communicate with each other. Correspondence between Josie and her friends/family via text and e-mail, the super old letters to "Dearest Josephine," and the fictional novel written by the letter writer. It's a device that's being used to poor effect because each plot feels incomplete. The e-mails and texts between Josie and everyone else are mostly about the letters. The letters are to someone who essentially doesn't exist. The novel is a fiction that has no bearing on reality.

There's no resolution either. Since there are no stakes and no inter-communication between each narratives, nothing really happens and we're not really given the time to love each of the characters. I like Oliver though, he's good stuff.

Tiny bone I'm going to pick: the turducken was not invented until 1970. It would not have appeared at a dinner table in 1821.

The narrator of this audiobook is Nathalie Pownall, and she struggles a bit with accent consistency. It's not obnoxious but it is periodically confusing. I would definitely be willing to listen to her read a book again.

I received a copy of this audiobook for free from NetGalley and Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

Name: Dearest Josephine
Author: Caroline George
Genre: Fiction, Romance
Rating: 3.5/5
Review:
Dearest Josephine is a wonderful story which is full of emotions and hope.
When Josie Declair moves to an old manor in North after her father's death, she finds a stack of old letters, each addressed to Josephine Declair. Elias letters are like solace and hope for Josie.
Seperated by 200 years, Josie and Elias find solace and love in each other. The lines between fiction and reality blurs when Caroline George pulls out an amazing story, which sweep our hearts off the floor.
The writing style is rave, while the plot is surprising and unique. The story is told from Josie's Point of View, while the story is divided into three parts, Josie's, Elias Letters and his Novel. The narrator was nice, but she could have done a better job, her voice did not express the Josie's feelings as it did! It is a book which will be enjoyed and loved by readers who enjoy reading parallel timel lovestory/parallel dimension love/parallel universe lovestory.

Dearest Josephine by Caroline George
Narrated by: Nathalie Pownall
Publication Date: February 2, 2021
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Description from NetGalley...
“Love arrives at the most unexpected time . . . 

1821: Elias Roch has ghastly luck with women. He met Josephine De Clare once and penned dozens of letters hoping to find her again.

2021: Josie De Clare has questionable taste in boyfriends. The last one nearly ruined her friendship with her best friend.

Now, in the wake of her father's death, Josie finds Elias's letters. Suddenly she's falling in love with a guy who lived two hundred years ago. And star-crossed doesn't even begin to cover it . . . “
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Thank you to @NetGalley @thomasnelson for the ALC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts...
Let me straighten it out for you now so you will not get confused: this is a ya book that had three different POVs: the present, the past and “the novel.” The book was partly written through letters, emails and text messages. The narrator was great except for the “American” accent. I just told myself that since one of the characters was an American who studied in the UK, she soaked up some of the British accent. The story itself I really liked and enjoyed. It was really good to listen to, the romance was lovely and the theme was so interesting. I do think reading the book would be better because of some of the e-mail details. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this and I’m even fine with the fact the story didn’t end the way I wanted it to. 😁

Dearest reader of novels,

You will be delighted by this cross-century romance told by letter, email, instant messenger, chapters from a lost manuscript and some narrative to fill in the spaces. I love how the old and new ways of communications are woven together.

1820: Elias Roch is in love with Josephine de Clare. He fell fast and hard for her at a masked party (it was rather endearing that he wore a bag on his head to a masquerade party.) The issue is that she's engaged to another. Despite this engagement, Elias can't help his feelings. He writes her love letters even after everything falls apart and crumbles. (A juicy scandal occurs - you must read!)

2020: Josie de Clare's father has just passed. Her mission is to finish the restorations on his project house/mansion left to her in his will in Northern England. During her revamp of the estate, Josie finds Elias's love letters. Josie sees herself in Josephine and finds herself falling in love with a man from 200 years in the past. She finds herself, a lost friendship and a romance all in this old mansion.

What I loved most about the audiobook: The narrator was amazing. There were actual pings when emails and instant messages came through. While listening to the audiobook, it did get a little annoying that the to and from emails were read each and every time that Claire and Faith emailed back and forth; however, it was still charming to have mixed media meshed together and have sound effects built in!

3.5 stars

Dearest Josephine,

I predicted the ending pretty early on but I feel like it was all a big tease. I really don't like when stories are told through email, text message (media) format. It's just not my cup of tea. I think maybe that is why I'm not in love with this book. I think the plot line was fantastic but I just wish I know what the main cahracter was think and feeling. Not what they write about in their email summary of it.

I want to thank NetGalley and the book's publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book before release. I just wish I could say I liked it more than I did.

Sincerely, The Reader

Dearest Josephine by Caroline George has been a delight to listen too. The narrator does an amazing job of bringing the characters to life with her voice. The main story takes place in present day but there is a secondary story that somewhat correlates with the modern day Josephine. Josey is a young woman who’s dad has just past away. She has no idea what she wants to do but she’s determined to finish fixing up an estate that belong to her dad and was his last project. She had a friend named Faith that she communicated through via email and text. Upon starting the renovation she finds letters for another Josephine written by Elias. The amazing part is that the Josephine that Elias is writing to is exactly like the modern day Josephine down to her name. The story progresses with modern day Josephine falling in love with Elias who lived centuries prior. Will Josephine ever meet her Elias, will the ending of his novel give her clues to what happened to him. Such an interesting love story . Love the modern twist.

I liked it. I wanted to love it. It seems right up my alley: Time crossed lovers. How amazing to come live in an old house and find letters from someone from another time that is addressed to you, and are written as if the author knows everything about you. I totally fell for this plot, but the dialogue back and forth was not very riveting, and it kind of lost me halfway through to where I just skimmed the rest of the book. I loved and hated the format of present-day email and letters from the past. I did think some parts were magical. This, like so many books, has so much promise, but the execution just falls short for me. I wanted it to be a book that I just could not put down, but alas, I was just ready to finish it after a while. I am happy to see my opinion is the minority as many absolutely loved this book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC for an honest review.

I loved this book! The narrator has an engaging voice. I was entranced by the narrative format of the two sets of letters being sent back and forth and the “book inside a book” premise. I don’t remember reading anything like it before and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending is not exactly what I expected; but it was everything that I needed. I fell in love with all the characters and especially identified with Josephine, the main character, who suffers from fictiophilia for Elias. I can’t wait to find this book in hardback!

2.5 stars
I wish I could like this book more. It was very promising and it started in a very intriguing way but then it dragged for a long while and only started picking up its pace again right before the end.
The characters sounded very obnoxious (I can’t tell if this was the way they were written or if it was the narrator or something else) and they didn’t get much better by the end (although there was an improvement). The end itself that I keep talking about, however, was pretty good and redeemed the dragging part of the story for the most part. But the characters and the inaccuracies of some scenes set in the past lowered the final rating.
I’d say this is a book better enjoyed in the written format because listening to an epistolary novel on audiobook took a while to get used to.

This book was so great! I had so much fun listening to the audio book version of Dearest Josephine by Caroline George. Apparently it is a young adult book, but the lessons in it are for people of any age. The narrator did a fantastic job and I look forward to hearting more books read by her. The story itself is about Josephine and Elias, two people who lived two hundred years apart but find hope in each other. Josephine's father recently passed and she inherited an old house that he was planning to restore. Elias lived in the house two hundred years before and penned dozens of letters to a girl named Josephine that he had only met once. The story is told through letters written by Elias to Josephine, through emails between current day Josephine and her best friend Faith, and a novel that Elias was writing during his lifetime. It deals with living with the pain of loss, with finding love, and with loving yourself, even when you are broken. The book will be out at the beginning of February, and if you see it, you should definitely pick it up! Looking forward to finding more by Caroline George.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this story. I am grateful for the lessons and the smiles.
#DearestJosephine #Bookstagram #all_the_pages

I love the concept behind this book & was so excited to listen to a copy. I adored the characters & the flow between current day Josephine & the 200 year old letters. The audio was also very well done & easy to follow. I would definitely recommend this to everyone especially to those who are big fans of YA reads,

Imagine inheriting a manor home and discovering two-hundred-year-old love letters addressed to you. Would you assume it was fate leading you to the stranger’s words or something more?

Josie De Clare has had the worst year of her life. After losing her father, she is unsure what she is to do with her life. Feeling hollow, Josie ventures to Atteberry in Northern England to explore the estate her father left her in his will. Searching for ways to feel close to him again, Josie is surprised to find a stack of love letters in the study’s desk draw. Even more shocking, the letters are dated two hundred years prior, yet her name is attached, and all the details seem to make Josie think they are about her.

Elias Roch believes he has met the love of his life. Josephine De Clare captured his heart from the moment he laid eyes on her, but soon after their introduction, she disappears, and he is unable to find her. Determined to be reunited, he begins to write love letters to her in hopes that she will one day read them. Born a bastard, Elias struggles to understand his new role as lord of the estate; however, as fantasies of Josephine De Clare control his mind, the rest of the world seems to fade away. Nothing will be right until they are together, or that is at least what Elias believes.

Jumping from narration to letters, letters to emails, emails to texts, and texts to an unpublished manuscript, Dearest Josephine was initially a bit confusing to piece together.

In the 21st Century, Josie must try to unravel the meaning of the letters and manuscript that have pulled her into their storyline. Could she really be the Josephine this Elias Roch writes about?

Meanwhile, in the 19th century, Elias Roch must decide whether he will live within the dream of ‘what ifs’ or find peace in the present. Time separates the two lovers, but is it true love? How can one know for sure by just reading words on a page?

Dearest Josephine was a clean romance that took us through the ages. Filled with mystery, love, friendship, grief, healing, and literature, it was a delight to read. I loved how Caroline George made it feel as though we were reading everything through Josie’s eyes, experiencing the agonizing time it takes to get through books when friends are messaging you and life calls for our attention. Grief has a way of swallowing people into its abyss in different ways, and this novel depicted the many forms of mourning we take on.

While I found Josie’s infatuation with Elias a little much, I can understand the desire to feel connected to a person whose words seem to bring so much truth and honesty about who you are. It was entertaining to listen to Josie and her friends, Faith and Oliver, as they read through Elias’ letters and novel. Going between the three worlds made it feel like a soap opera. The drama, passion, mystery, and self-discovery made Dearest Josephine relatable. The characters were real, and the things they went through spoke to my heart. I think we all long to have friends like Faith and Oliver; through their love for Josie, they never let her feel alone and always told her the truth, even when she was too blind to see it.

For an introduction to Caroline George, I was impressed with how she managed to fit three narratives into one, creating a seamless work that will entertain and leave readers wanting more. This is a great novel for teens, especially those searching for a heart-throb to drool over without needing to close your eyes on explicit scenes. I will say that the narrator was fantastic with her Northern accent, though her American could do with a bit of work. Nevertheless, she was wonderful to listen to and pulled me into the story with each word!

Positive content: 4⭐️
Language: 1⭐️
Sexual content: 1⭐️
Violence: 1⭐️
Age: 15+

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a pre-release copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are entirely my own!*