Love & Other Words

The story of the heart can never be unwritten.

Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious, if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.

But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother…only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.

Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco, devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.

• Love & Other Words by Christina Lauren
• Published: Gallery Books on April 10, 2018
• Genre: Romance, contemporary, family life
• Pages: 432
• Dates/Time Read: 10.31.25 – 11.3.25 (7 hours 5 minutes)
• Format: Paperback
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• ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• 🌶🌶🌶

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I first discovered Christina Lauren last year, when a random stranger from one of my book lover groups on Facebook bought The Unhoneymooners for me. I devoured that book and fell in love with them, and have since read several more of their books. After October, I was in dire need of a palate cleanser, and I knew that Christina Lauren would get the job done, and they did not disappoint!!! Fun fact…Christina Lauren is actually two authors. Two best friends, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. Ya see what they did there? lol

As much of a fan as I am of their books, I have yet to read every single one of them, but I will say that Love & Other Words is a little different from the other books that I have read by them so far. Most of the ones I have read are very Rom-Comy, which I love. It’s kind of the reason I fell in love with their books in the first place. Love & Other Words is a romance with a sucker punch to the gut! Ugh, ladies! Wtf!!! I wasn’t expecting to already be tearing up by page 2 of the book, damn! You should have had a trigger warning on this book, because I was NOT expecting that! haha

Macy has lost her mother at a very pivotal time in her life, right as she’s entering her early teen years. Knowing that her death was imminent, Macy’s mother has left a list of “instructions” and advice to Macy’s father to help guide him through these upcoming turbulent waters. One of these instructions leads Macy to meet Elliot, the MMC in this book. Elliot becomes the first love of Macy’s life, helping to tear down the walls that she has built around her heart after the loss of her mother, until one night…that love is shattered, and Macy’s life is never the same again. She breaks all ties without a single word to Elliot, and until their accidental run-in 11 years later, she never looks back.

I loved how the book unfolded, with the dual timelines of then and now. We begin the book by getting to see a small part of Macy’s life before her mother passed away. We see the love that her parents had for each other, which influences Macy’s belief in what love looks like and what kind of love she dreams of finding.

It never occurred to me that love could be anything other than all-consuming. Even as a child, I knew I never wanted anything less.

Together with Macy, we discover a young Elliot, tucked away in the closet of her new home, casually reading a book. I know it sounds a bit strange, but trust me, it makes more sense when you read it! lol And together with Macy, we bump into this same Elliot, all grown up, 11 years later, post devastating break-up. But we don’t know what he did! We just know that he did something absolutely awful 11 years ago. Something so awful, it led to Macy cutting him off, going no contact, without any explanation. Even he seems a bit clueless as to why she did what she did in the way that she did it. So what did he do?

Well, that’s the beauty of the dual timeline, my friends!! The story unfolds for us, one clue at a time, as we see the relationship between Macy and Elliot begin with a beautiful friendship and blossom into a beautiful first romance. While also getting to see the struggles that adult Macy and Elliot go through as they try to find answers to their own questions from 11 years ago, they try to come to terms with their past and heal their hearts. It was a slow burn, as I think it should be anytime you are reading a book about teenage romance. I get a bit concerned if characters are teenagers and fall into insta-love with each other and begin having sex, because let’s be real. That doesn’t really happen, does it? At least…it shouldn’t, right? lol

The slow burn is worth it, though, because teenage Macy and Elliot I absolutely adored. Adult Macy and Elliot…were frustrating as all hell!! lol But isn’t that so relatable? Adults just don’t listen! They have their walls up. They’re guarded. They don’t know how to open up if they’ve been hurt. So many times, things could be so easily resolved if one of them would just open up and explain what they’re thinking or feeling!!!

Love & Other Words is a beautiful story about first love, first heartbreak, loss, grief, and forgiveness. You will fall in love with Elliot. You will weep with Macy. Have tissues handy, because that ending…where you finally learn the details of what broke Macy and Elliot apart…damn you, Christina Lauren!!! 😭 Definitely one of my favorite reads of 2025.