Finding You by Lena Hendrix

Narrated by Stephen Dexter and Charlotte North

1st in a series of related standalones.

I just finished Finding You by Lena Hendrix. And when I just sat down to add it to my Goodreads, I found out that the 2021 book was her debut. It absolutely did NOT seem like a debut novel to me. Though it wasn’t a 5-star knockout for me, I’m now very curious about how her newer books are because she can only improve from her first.

Lincoln was a Marine for 8 years. Throughout those years he received letters from a woman in his small hometown named Joanna. No last name. Those letters got him through the hardest of times and he carried them everywhere, but he never wrote back. When he returned home he was obsessed with finding his Joanna.

Jo is a “tomboy” (is that term still used?). She is an outdoor guide and a fisherwoman and she knows that’s her calling in life. Although she’s beautiful, she knows she’s not like other women and doesn’t think men see her as womanly. Her best friend happens to be Finn, Lincoln’s younger brother. When Lincoln meets her, he just knows she must be the one, the Joanna who wrote to him. He felt the connection immediately. But he thought his brother was in love with her and he was an honorable man.

“But you are my Joanna, aren’t you?”

The extreme lack of communication between Lincoln and Jo and Finn started to drive me crazy, and if he told Joanna why he kept running so extremely hot and cold, all of the nonsense would have been over (but then we would need some other conflict). I understood Lincoln’s obsession with Joanna; he basically fell in love with her through her letters. But he never wrote back and is very quiet and broody. She barely got to know him at all before she was in love.

One minute he couldn’t live without her, and the next he pushed her away. But he never told her why! They had some really great sex and lots of it, so they certainly had that connection down, but communication was non-existent. They were both afraid to talk to each other.

I really loved Jo. She was so confident and competent in a very male-dominated field but had so much insecurity in her personal life that I found it very lovable and realistic. I wanted to be her friend, she needed a group of girlfriends. Luckily she had her sister Honey, and her best friend Finn, and I loved them both.

Likes:

I loved Joanna’s strong and competent outdoor skills mixed with her vulnerable insecure side.
Lincoln’s PTSD and how it affected him.
How he was in love with her from just the letters.
He tried so hard to be honorable.
Great sex scenes. Though they were vanilla, there was a lot and they weren’t as cringy as many I read.
I liked the town and the setup for more books.
Kept my interest the whole time.
You’d never know it was a debut.
Therapy-positive.

Dislikes:

The miscommunication/lack of communication just got annoying and ridiculous after a while.
I can see why he loved her after 8 years of letters, but she barely knew him. I would have liked to see them get to know each other more outside the bedroom.

The Narration:

Stephen Dexter and Charlotte North were both perfect for the parts and absolutely made the book even better.

The Down & Dirty:

If Finding You is Lena Hendrix’s debut book, I am excited to read more from her. I loved all the characters, the emotions and sexy times were balanced just right, but the miscommunication went on a little too long.