*~Most Likely to Make me Cry a Lil ~*

I have read 2 Barbara O'Neal books now and both have held me captive with their emotional storytelling.
Mariah and Veronica needed each other in a way they did not know or realize. They both needed this journey and this opportunity to grow and grieve and find family and love again. And I needed to be there with them - I'm so glad I was there with them.
I did find myself wanting more of Rachel's letters. But other than that, I loved this story and can't wait to read another one by Barbara O'Neal.

Thank you to Net Galley, Lake Union Publishing, and Barbara O'Neal for an eARC of this story.

This author writes with such emotion.I am always drawn into her books. Veronica is newly divorced and bitter. She has always prided herself on the loving care she provided for her husband and children. They have been her whole world and now, no more. They will be spending Christmas with their father and his new wife. Veronica arranges to become a companion for a young adult that has a hard time getting around due to a shattered bone in her leg. Mariah has recently lost her mother and her career and needs a companion to assist her as she travels, hoping to find out more about her mother's history. This book has love, romance, devastation, travel. It also shows that determination and forbearance can help a person move on, even when life seems terrible.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the gifted digital ARC. This review has been written honestly without coercion.

Once again, Barbara O’Neal takes readers on a whirlwind journey. This time, the locations are as varied as the characters, with delicious foods, breathtaking beauty, and a complex healing arc for the two main characters.

Veronica is reeling from her surprise divorce and the life complications resulting, while Mariah is hurting—in all the ways. Physically, she’s still recovering from a brutal injury. Mentally, she misses her old life. And emotionally, she’s grieving the unexpected loss of her mother. These two women embark on the unusual journey to finish Mariah’s mother’s last book, one she started before her death. Mariah is not yet able to travel solo, and so hires a travel companion/assistant. A role that arrives at the perfect time for Veronica to get away for the holidays, and dodge spending another Christmas alone, separate from her grown children.

O’Neal’s vivid imagery takes readers on an international journey from the UK to France to Morocco to India. The details are so lifelike, reading almost feels like visiting (minus the jet lag).

In a similar vein, sumptuous food descriptions are sure to make you want to go on an eating tour of similar places, or start cooking up an international storm in your own kitchen. O’Neal deftly shows how food connects—people, places, histories, memories. The healing power of connecting over food, the power of sharing a meal, is a strong theme.

Complex trauma is handled with care, whether that’s of the traumatic event variety or healing from a slow, corrosive erosion of one’s sense of self and identity.

The value of building community is emphasized, as is self-acceptance, culminating in a heartfelt story centered on healing.

Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for a digital ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is now available!

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth showcases all the things that Barbara O’Neal’s beautiful writing is known for–lush descriptions, sumptuous food, flawed characters, and female-centered fiction. This book brings together three wounded people as they follow the last letters of a now deceased famous food writer, working together to unveil the mystery surrounding the last of that writer’s travels and finish this writer’s last book. The story brings them to London, Paris, Morocco, and India as they research Parsi cafes and, through these travels, they not only solve the pieces to the mystery but they forge strong bonds between them and find the strength in themselves to rebuild their lives and start anew.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for the delay in posting, I have had continuing familial health challenges to contend with in the past months.

I was not familiar with this prolific author, but the blurb caught my interest - and this well-written, poignant story did the rest. Two badly hurt women in need of healing, one (Veronica) hired by the other (Mariah) as a companion for travel to various countries, with the goal of finishing a book that Mariah's mother started and never finished. Slowly a friendship blossoms, in spite of their differences, and past traumas are uncovered and healing happens. Some reviewers felt nothing happens in this book, I enjoyed the pace which to my mind reflected the emotional labor involved.

Barbara O’Neal writes another fantastic, emotional tale which ties in grief and travel, as well as trying to find yourself. The three main characters each have their own stories and difficulties, and Rachel’s story is also heartbreaking.
Veronica is a well written divorcee whose husband got his coworker pregnant, and all her children have flown the nest, as she rides to rebuild her life, find a job and come to terms with the loss of her family as it was, she is employed by Mariah to be a ghost-writer for her mothers book which she is writing postmostumusly. They take us to England where we meet Henry, a photographer. Together they are retracing Rachel’s journey to India.
Your heart breaks for Mariah as she recovers from her mother’s death and injury.
This was a fun, foodie, deeply emotional book. It does however leave you wanting more and feels unfinished/underwhelming.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Barbara O'Neal is one of my favorite authors, the emotions she can evoke in the reader always amaze me. But this one, while I finished and liked it, just didn't hit her usual mark.

I liked the characters and could appreciate their journeys and hardships and what they were working through. But the cafes and point of the book they were trying to piece together just fell flat and I had trouble caring about it and understanding the urgency and point.

What a great read. Veronica isn't adjusting well to her divorce and is looking for a job. She sees an ad in the paper from Mariah , for a travel companion. Mariah is going to visit places around the world to finish her mother's book on food. The story is informative on foreign cuisine and travel. The women from two generations mesh well and Veronica figures out her ex-husband is not at all the man she thought she knew and mends fences with her adult children. Barbara O'Neal knows how to write a page turner.

This is a poignant story about three people traveling together across Europe and other countries seeking healing from trauma, divorce and sadness. They are not friends in the beginning but grow to understand each other and become friends each bound by their broken lives.
The travel is interesting, the characters different then the authors usual work one in particular difficult to read. The author has a writing style that is descriptive and easy to read. A deeply emotional read focused on healing.
Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and the author. My review opinion is my own.

Enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite book by the author. I never really connected to the characters. Some of the problems would have been solved if Rachel would have talked to Mariah about her time in India. Mariah was a hard person to like. I get that she's suffering PTSD, not quite healed and still grieving the loss of her mom. She just had this spoiled, brattiness about her. The best thing for Veronica was being hired as Mariah's travel companion. Even though the job was more like taking care of a child with the occasional temper tantrum at times. An added bonus was the handsome photographer, Henry. Veronica missed her house more than her ex-husband. Spence must have been having a mid life crisis. A new wife, a baby on the way were now his priorities. Veronica could take him to court for defying the alimony court order. All I can say is he was such a jerk and deserved what ultimately happened to his beloved house. I'm being petty and mean, but he was awful.) Veronica's children were quite the selfish bunch. The boys not so much, but Jenna definitely. They beg their mom not to travel with Mariah over the holidays, even though they will be in Breckinridge with their father. So they basically want their mom sitting alone in her apartment while they are off skiing. Jenna can't even find the time to move stuff out of her mom's tint apartment before everything is thrown out. No wonder Veronica got along easily with Mariah, because she acted so much like her daughter. Mariah helped Veronica with her food issues and to stop worrying so much about her weight. From the start I wanted to know Rachel's story. What was going to be in those letters? Why would the owner throw them out of the café? What happened to Rachel in India all those years ago? Not sure how I feel after learning the truth. It wasn't Rachel's fault at what happened, but it caused her much guilt. Loved reading about London, Paris, Marrakech and India and of course all the food.

I definitely recommend the book. I loved the description of all the places and food. I enjoyed the writing style, story and some of the characters. Henry was my favorite. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This story is about three people that travel together for a month hoping to get a story about Cafe life, mainly Parsi cafe's run by a certain family. London, Paris, Morocco and India.
Mariah Ellsworth, a young woman who was an Olympic Snowboarder until she and her mother were gunned down in a supermarket, leaving Mariah alive but not her mother.
Veronica Barrington recently divorced, and with 3 children who are all grown, and dealing with the lose of her marriage and the home she loved.
Henry Spinuzza, A photographer who Knows Mariah and knew her mother Rachael.

Mariah wants to have a book written tracing her mothers life, through her travels, mainly visiting, Parsi cafés, that her mother had been to in these countries and who had started this idea,before she was killed.

Mariah didn't know much about her mothers life at that time. She wanted her mothers vision realized and to have a better history of her mothers life in her earlier years, whom she missed very much.

Veronica responded to and ad from Mariah, that stated she needed someone as a companion to travel with her all expenses paid, to help her, as her leg had been shattered during the Shooting.
Needing a job she replied and got the job, leaving behind a stressful situation back home.

Henry, a well traveled photographer, was already an in,as he already knew Mariah, her mother and their circumstances and he was to do the photography for the story.

These three people,after overcoming some obstacles, were finally part of a team, who grew to be close friends and help each other through some of the hardships that were to come.

I really enjoy reading this authors books, she always has interesting settings and great Characters. I have read almost all of her books.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy of this book.

Beautifully written, here the author describes things so that you can almost see or taste them yourself! After suffering an unimaginable tragedy, Mariah needs a travel companion to travel with her and help her in her quest to revisit the places her mother wrote about. This was a sweet story and really highlighted how difficult it is to heal after a traumatic event!

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is a heartfelt, beautifully layered novel that sweeps readers across continents on a journey that’s as much about the soul as it is about the sights.

When recently divorced Veronica Barrington answers an ad to become a travel companion for Mariah Ellsworth, neither woman expects the trip to be life-changing. As they follow in the footsteps of Mariah’s late mother's last unfinished project, an acclaimed food writer, through the cafés of London, Paris, Morocco, and India, the story comes alive into a rich tapestry of friendship, healing, and self-discovery.

What makes this novel beautiful is the descriptive imagery on the journey through the continents placing you there in these beautiful places. You can almost smell the spices in the air, the different cultures and traditions blended with their own personal emotional transition. Their journey inspired by the letters left behind by Mariah’s mother add a layer of mystery, leading both women—and the reader—toward revelations about love, forgiveness, and the courage to start over.

While Veronica and Mariah’s evolving relationship is the heart of this book, a gentle companion to their journey, Henry, a former war photographer whose quiet pain mirrors their own, brought a special element to the healing of their journey. The connection with Mariah’s mother along with the unexpected friendship that blossomed between himself and Veronica allowed their shared journey to embrace unexpected friendships and the courage to step into the unfamiliar.

This was an overall beautiful book that will take the reader through an visual, emotional and uplifting experience around some of the most beautiful places in the world. A shared journey through trauma evolved into an inspired renewed journey to start a new chapter full of strength, hope and forgiveness of the past.

This is the story of two women, both needing to heal, who set out on an adventure across the globe.
Veronica leaves behind an ex-husband and 3 adult children and Mariah is trying to deal with the aftermath of being shot in a mass shooting.
A novel about new friendship, food, travel and finding the strength and courage to move on.
A captivating read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I hadn’t read one of Barbara O’Neal’s novels in a few years. Thanks to Kaye Wilkinson Barley for mentioning that The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth was coming out, and that she loved it. I’ve been a fan of O’Neal’s for over fifteen years.

Veronica Barrington is at a crucial turning point in her life. Her husband wanted a divorce, and left her for a younger woman, a typical cliche in life. However, he also took the house Veronica loved, and she went a little crazy over that. Now, she’s stuck in a little apartment, and her grown children won’t be home for Christmas. When she chances upon an ad for a companion to go to Europe for six weeks, and the woman must speak French, she grabs at the opportunity.

Veronica isn’t exactly what Mariah Ellsworth was expecting. Mariah is only twenty-five, and thought she’d travel with someone her own age, not someone twice her age. But, Mariah’s aunt was forced to drop out of the trip, and the young woman needs help. She’s recovering from emotional and physical trauma, including the loss of her mother, Rachel.

Henry Spinuzza was a friend of Rachel’s, and the only father figure in Mariah’s life. He’s a former war photographer who has his own issues. But, he’s meeting the travelers in London to help with Rachel’s last project.

Rachel Ellsworth was an author who left notes about Parsi cafes in London, Paris, Marrakech, and India. Mariah doesn’t know why her mother was fascinated by them, but she hopes to follow her mother’s trail, with a few letters to guide her. Maybe she can write a final book in honor of her mother.

These unlikely travel companions delve into a world of unfamiliar food and beauty as they search for answers that will transform their future.

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is a story of regret and love. Each person has to learn to let go, and find the courage to reconstruct their lives. As always, O’Neal uses exquisite food to carry readers into a sensory exploration of the world and life. The book, and the characters, are captivating.

Okay, so I checked Goodreads, and my views about this book seem like an unpopular opinion.
I wanted to read Barbara O’Neal, and the premise of the book seemed promising. But there are several things that I either disliked or couldn't connect with.

Mariah, in her twenties with some sort of mobility issues, needs to hire someone to travel with her as a helper, and a research assistant for her late mother's incomplete manuscript about various cafes of London, Morocco, India and Paris. Veronica, 50, on the other hand, is recently divorced with minimal alimony and desperately needs a job. Thus, they both come together for this project.

I was hoping for some interesting events and writing that creates beautiful imagery of the places.
It started well. The writing was a bit straightforward but engaging, however I began to lose interest after the 10th chapter. Why? Because nothing interesting or significant happened. They both are going about the same things — eating, going here and there, thinking about their past, and so on.
Now, the characters: Mariah lives in a mansion, alone (no helper mentioned, even though she has some mobility problem. That's why she hires Veronica). I wondered who maintains the 12-room mansion. She senses some otherworldly sensation in the house (without any further details or backstory or something like that). Also, during the travels, she shows erratic behaviour, unnecessarily, which includes abuses.
On the other hand, Veronica’s ex-husband is expecting a baby from his second wife, and yet he comes to her and initiates sex and guess what? Veronica gives in. I mean seriously!?
Basically none of the protagonists seemed likeable to me.

Even though I am an impatient reader, I could have tried to finish the book if the prose was beautiful or perhaps because of the places they were supposed to visit, but you see, there are 59 chapters, and, sadly, I stopped caring after the 15th chapter.

Thank you for the copy. Sorry, it didn't work for me.

I have become a fairly recent fan of contemporary author Barbara O'Neal, and her newest release, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth, may just be my favorite O'Neal book to date. The book introduces the reader to Veronica Barrington, a newly divorced fiftyish woman, deeply hurt by a surprise divorce after a twenty plus year marriage,and at a pivotal crossroad in her life. Mariah Ellsworth, 26, is a former Olympian snowboarder who was severely injured in a tragic and random shooting; her mother, Rachel, a victim of the shooter, died at the scene of the crime. Both Veronica and Mariah are searching for the answer to the question: where can I possibly go from here? Mariah knows she wants to visit London, Paris and India to pursue her mother's plan for a book about cafes around the world., and that she will need a companion to assist her. Veronica knows that she doesn't want to spend Christmas alone so when she saw the job posting she immediately applied. Mariah didn't expect a woman her mother's age, and Veronica was taken back by Mariah's youth and limitations. There wasn't an instant connection, however as time was critical, after working out travel plans and compensation, the women agreed to travel together . When they arrived in London Henry Spinuzza, a wartime photographer joined them to fulfill Rachel's wish to have him as the book' s photographer. I have shared the framework of this captivating and emotional book, I could not do it justice by sharing more. The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is a novel about resilience, grief, endings and new beginnings, family, choices, love and so much more. There are a few references to suicide ideation and violence that some readers may find uncomfortable. My only criticism is that the author seemed to wrap the book up very quickly- perhaps I just wanted it to go on and on.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Barbara O'Neal for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book: my review reflects my candid opinion. 4.5 stars.

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is another great story by Barbara O’Neal.The plot involves Veronica and the travel companion she finds named Mariah.Mariah is grieving the loss of her mother and recovering from an injury that ended her Olympic career.The women take the reader along as they experience the cafes in Paris by following the letters of Mariah’s mother Rachel who was a food writer.Together the women seek healing while following the letters. that were written by Rachel.You. Will greatly enjoy this book of travel.healing and relationships!Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC.

4.5 stars

'The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth' is an emotionally rich, beautifully written, and deeply human story that I absolutely inhaled over the course of 6 hours.

It is a wonderful story that is brimming with evocative detail and immersive prose that transports you across continents and kitchens. I could easily picture the bustling Parsi cafés, fragrant spices, and gently shifting landscapes.

I found the characters to be flawed but truly human, each dealing with their own versions of grief, anger and regret and working through them to slowly find connection with each other and purpose in their own lives. Their emotional journeys felt truly genuine with actions, thoughts and feelings that annoyed me whilst also making me feel for them.

I found the pacing and structure were ideal for the story that needed to be told and was neither overstretched nor rushed. Resulting in a book that at just under 400 pages felt just right, telling the story it needed and never overstaying its welcome.

This was my second Barbara O'Neal novel and again was a book that worked really well for me. She specialises in powerful, family-centred stories with the right amount of heartbreak and hope and I'll definitely be reading more from her back catalogue.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a digital review copy of "The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing | Lake Union Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the new novel by Barbara O'Neal. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Veronica is recently divorced and struggling with both a purpose and money woes when she answers a listing for a travel companion. It's from Mariah, a young skier adjusting to an injury that ended her Olympic career. Mariah is also grieving the loss of her mother, Rachel, a famous food writer. Mariah plans to trace the steps of her mom's final, unfinished project as a way to help her heal. The two are accompanied by a former war photographer, Henry, a father figure to Mariah. The trio follow Rachel's last letters to solve a mystery and hopefully heal in the process.

This is a beautifully-written story with travel and food descriptions that will totally immerse you into the trio's trip through London, Paris, Morocco, and India. While both women had some characteristics that drove me crazy (Veronica is totally obsessed with how many calories she's eating and Mariah is not always kind), I loved the healing journey they all took as they forged new lives out of trauma. There's also a theme of mother/daughter relationships throughout. Plus, the mystery of the letters unfolds slowly to keep you turning the pages. Great read!