Love, Sam by Linda Rettstatt

Trish Garrity has to find a way to go on after the tragic loss of Samantha Preston, her partner of six years. Facing death, Sam writes twelve letters—one to be opened on the first of each of the twelve months following her death—intended to help Trish become more self-accepting and to guide her through grief.

Sam's plans for Trish, including a pre-paid trip to Arizona to visit a native Hopi friend of Sam's, push Trish to not only come to terms with Sam's death, but to come to terms with herself and to embrace the future.

Trish is suffering with the a deep sense of loss after Sam dies and she refuses to let go and move on with her life. Her character is exactly how I would feel after the loss of a loved one. With Sam's letters to Trish, she's forced to start living, even if to just say that she did the things Sam wanted her to do. Sam's character knew what a hard time Trish would have and in a last selfless act, wrote 12 letters. One letter for each month, in hopes that Trish would move on knowing that Sam would always be with her. Trish's character is taken on a whirlwind of self discovery. With believable characters and very real emotions, I actually found myself crying and smiling simultaneously. I was absolutely absorbed in the book and was flipping the pages just as fast as I could. With a very emotional beginning, this is a book that explores every emotion there is. There is nothing I can say that will do justice to this book. The reader will feel love, anger, loss, peace, and betrayal just to name a few. Dealing with death is always a draining experience and Love, Sam gives the reader a small glimpse into a world filled with the process of grieving.

Linda Rettstatt has done an exceptional job in bringing forth the emotions evoked in Love, Sam. I enjoyed the twist in the book. You sure won't see it coming and it gives you that Aha moment where everything makes sense. I love the writing style in this book, in particular, Ms. Rettstatt had me looking forward to reading the letters each month from Sam. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Rettsatt's work. If you are looking for a deeply emotional read that will let you escape for a while, then Love, Sam is the book for you. When you finish reading this book, it will leave you grateful for the people you have in your life. Amazing book!