Audiobook Review of "The Writing Desk" by Rachel Hauck

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Dress comes a new captivating novel of secrets, romance, and two women bound together across time by a shared dream.

Tenley Roth’s first book was a runaway bestseller. Now that her second book is due, she’s locked in fear. Can she repeat her earlier success or is she a fraud who has run out of inspiration?

With pressure mounting from her publisher, Tenley is weighted with writer’s block. But when her estranged mother calls asking Tenley to help her through chemotherapy, she packs up for Florida where she meets handsome furniture designer Jonas Sullivan and discovers the story her heart’s been missing.

A century earlier, another woman wrote at the same desk with hopes and fears of her own. Born during the Gilded Age, Birdie Shehorn is the daughter of the old money Knickerbockers. Under the strict control of her mother, her every move is decided ahead of time, even whom she’ll marry. But Birdie has dreams she doesn’t know how to realize. She wants to tell stories, write novels, make an impact on the world. When she discovers her mother has taken extreme measures to manipulate her future, she must choose between submission and security or forging a brand new way all on her own.

Tenley and Birdie are from two very different worlds, but fate has bound them together in a way time cannot erase.

Will Be on OWG's Best of 2017

I listened to this audiobook as a download from Audible.com.

The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck will be on my 2018 Best of the Year list! Rachel's new novel and my own were on the Romantic Times Book Reviews Top Picks for July 2017  -- what an honor for me, and now that I've read her book I'm pretty blown away that My Heart Belongs on Mackinac Island: Maude's Mooring had that opportunity. Rachel's talent shines in every bit of this novel.  I loved it!

Be prepared for Tenley Roth's spiritual arc to be a little different. Tenley isn't a believer. Jonas is a devout young man and talented craftsman. Their sparks are wonderful.  And Birdie (whom I thought was Bertie because of the narrator's pronunciation) is darling. I was rooting for both her and Tenley all along.

There are wonderful twists and turns in this story. You'll be holding your breath in parts and sighing in relief in others!

The narrator made occasional errors in pronunciation. She also used a Southern accent for this New Yorker heroine but if you can overlook that, you're golden.

What a wonderful listen! There are two time slip stories -- a golden age and a contemporary, both connected by a writing desk. At first I wondered if I could listen to the story because of the author aspect of the story, I was worried I'd feel like author intrusion but I was able to get past that because there was so much more story involved that pulled me in.

I like the look of this writing desk at the left! If you could pick a writing desk, what would yours look like?  Mine is a glass and aluminum picnic table with outdoor chair and that works fine for me!