Book Review: Whispers of Yesterday by Auburn Hartley

Reviewed by Amy Brozio-Andrews

A thoughtful romance that explores the highs and lows of opening your heart to love again, set in a ritzy Florida seaside 50s-and-up community

Sarah Lipman is new to Beach Sands Luxury Resort. And while she is apprehensive about striking out on her own after being widowed and then living with her daughter’s family for many years, she is immediately smitten with resident Rainer Gutenberg, who has been asked to show her around the community.

Sarah thinks maybe the change of scenery will be good for her (wink, wink), and the pair click right away. Their tentative steps toward romance are sweet and charming, and you’re rooting for them to get together before you know it. However, unresolved issues in Rainer’s past and unexpected obstacles in Sarah’s present make the road to happiness in Whispers of Yesterday a rocky one.

Hartley does a great job of slowly building the romantic tension between Sarah and Rainer and also ratcheting up their respective family dramas at the same time. While the physical attraction is clear from the beginning, both of them are facing family matters that could be deal-breakers for the love birds, enhancing the will-they-or-won’t-they question. It’s only by opening themselves up to love again, truly and completely, with their loved ones and each other, that Sarah and Rainer might make it as a couple.

Auburn Hartley spends equal time on both Sarah’s and Rainer’s stories, telling them in alternating chapters and letting us get to know them well. She is highly respectful of Sarah and Rainer having already lived full lives with spouses they loved and lost while also recognizing that they are adults who still deserve happiness.

It’s clear that Hartley has an affection and appreciation for the foundations of the romance genre and its readers, rewarding them with a few steamy love scenes, too. The novel is tightly plotted with laser-sharp focus on Sarah and Rainer and a strong message about the role of family in our lives, whether we’re parents, siblings, or children.

While it’s likely that readers will have differing reactions to the family matters these characters experience, the overall emotional toll caused by heartache, regardless of the source, is likely to be painfully familiar. At the same time, it allows readers to experience the characters’ emotional anguish and makes the utterly delightful epilogue even sweeter.

Whispers of Yesterday is a gently romantic story of two adults who have raised their families, lost their first spouses, and feel hopeful that life can still be enjoyable. Rainer and Sarah are surrounded by a thoughtful cast of characters who bring out the best in them, which makes this book being part of a series even more enticing. This is the heartwarming tale that kicks off the series of standalones and leaves you wanting to read more about this endearing community.

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