The Secrets of Love Story Bridge by Phaedra Patrick

**We picked up an ARC of this at ALA Midwinter. We’d like to thank Phaedra and Park Row for the opportunity to read and review in advance. This book comes out on April 28th and you can get it here or at your local indie bookstore. Please use the indie bookstore they’re hurting right now.**

Reviewed by Ginny!

What I drank prior: beer. I finally decided to drink all of the non ipa beer in our fridge.

Goodreads Overview:

A single father gets an unexpected second chance at love in the heartwarming new novel from the author of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper

It’s summer in the city and passions are soaring along with the temperature—for everyone but Mitchell Fisher, who hates all things romance. He relishes his job cutting off the padlocks that couples fasten to the famous “love story” bridge. Only his young daughter, Poppy, knows that behind his prickly veneer, Mitchell still grieves the loss of her mother.

Then one hot day, everything changes when Mitchell courageously rescues a woman who falls from the bridge into the river. He’s surprised to feel an unexpected connection to her, but she disappears before he can ask her name. Desperate to find out her identity, Mitchell is shocked to learn she’s been missing for almost a year. He teams up with her spirited sister, Liza, on a quest to find her again. However, she’s left only one clue behind—a message on the padlock she hung on the bridge.

Brimming with Phaedra Patrick’s signature charm and a sparkling cast of characters, The Secrets of Love Story Bridge follows one man’s journey to unlock his heart and discover new beginnings in the unlikeliest places.

Drunk Overview: I wasnt sure what to expect of this book but it ended up being an oddly sweet mystery solving the disappearance of a missing person. Mitchell jumps off a bridge to save a woman who fell of the bridge. It turns out the woman he saved might be the sister of his daughters piano teacher. They go searching to see what information they can find and he starts ti recover from the death of his wife.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: like I said this book wasnt what I expected. I think I expected more of a romance but this book focused more on the mystery even though there was a little bit of romance.

Characters: Mitchell, the main character, writes to his dead wife. A character choice that made sense and furthered the plot at times. Yhe daughter suffered from “I want to have a child in the book syndrome” where she is constantly at a friends and doesnt seem to have all that much bearing on the plot other than “oh I need to go t ok pick up my daughter.” It made sense for the book for therr to be a kid but she ultimately didnt have much of an impact on the story. I liked the side cast of characters: the best friend and his fiance felt fairly well built even though knowledge of them was minimal. I really enjoyed Mitchells growth. Grief is weird anf affects people dofferently but his grief process, and what finally kickstarted his recovery all made a loy of sense to me. The drama between him and his daughters teacher felt like it flowed really well.

Plot: like I said, bot what I was expecting. I dont usually gonfor mysteries but I did enjoy it. I thought the excuse for Mitchell not having to work was a little flimsy and I didnt quite understand his job, but the plot felt like it had a good flow to it. Its important in mysteries to have foreshadowing ajd information given in proper amounta ay proper times and I think this book dod that

Writing Style: I continue to be bad about writing style. This booj utilized letters (as in written letters) fairly well. Which is important. But otherwise seemed pretty straightforward.

World building: i really did feel like I undetstoodnwhere they live. Its a pretty small place which makes people easier to find. Including missing tools… Its not a world I felt the need to know more about, but it felt complete.

What to pair it with: brown ale. Something homey but not necessarily going to have a lasting impression.

Rating: 3.5/5 Shots

– Ginny