Letters to Elise: A Peter Townsend Novella

My Blood Approves #4.5

by Amanda Hocking

In My Blood Approves, Peter Townsend fell in love with Alice Bonham, but she wasn't his first love. In a new novella told through his letters, his history is revealed.

Genres: Vampires, Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Ebooks

101 pages, ebook

First published December 20, 2010

About the author

AMANDA HOCKING is the author of over twenty young adult novels, including the New York Times bestselling Trylle Trilogy and Kanin Chronicles. Her love of pop culture and all things paranormal influence her writing. She spends her time in Minnesota, taking care of her menagerie of pets and working on her next book.

Several of her books have made the New York Times Bestsellers list. Her zombie series, The Hollows, has been adapted into a graphic novel by Dynamite. She has published over twenty novels, including The Kanin Chronicles, the Watersong quartet, My Blood Approves series, the Valkyrie duology, and Freeks .
For more info about her and her books, here are some other places to check out and ways to contact her:

Website: www.hockingbooks.com
Amazon Author Page: Amanda Hocking
Patreon: Amanda Hocking
Instagram: @amanda_hocking
BlueSky: AmandaHocking.bsky.social
Threads: @amanda_hocking
YouTube: aehocking
Facebook: Amanda Hocking Fans
Etsy: Hocking Books by Amanda
TikTok: @amanda_hocking
Goodreads: Amanda Hocking
Spotify : Amanda Hocking

Reviews

[Laura's Book Addiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved seeing more of peter and his life before my blood approves series. I didn't like Elise at all in this book and think peter is better off without her also i really enjoyed when peter talks about Mae and jack and alice coming into his life. The ending of this book gives me hope that Amanda will write a 5th my blood aproves book because i need more and still kind of hope that Alice and Peter get together. =)

[Tiffney · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the past I have really enjoyed the authors previous work. I was a little hesitant to read Letters to Elise because it is completely in letter form. It is also the back story of one of the characters that she has already wrote about in the My Blood Approves series. I decided to read it because of my devotion and love of the same character. I am so happy that I did.

The writing was wonderfully beautiful in this book. As a reader we are able to look into Peter's life and get to know him in a way that we weren't able to previously. From letter to letter the story was flowing with ease and you wish that it wouldn't end. You can feel the love that he feels for Elise as well as the romantic that lives in him.

What I have come to notice about Hocking is that every story she writes has its own personal fingerprint. Each series has a different style and it is hard to tell they are written by the same author. Which to me is an amazing feat. Letters to Elise is no different. It has a very different feel to it than the My Blood Approves series and that is what made it work so well. Even though it has a lot of the same characters, it isn't told by the same protagonist. It even had an old feel to it, like it had been written in the time that Peter had grown up in.

I thought that I had loved Peter before but now I wish so much that he has a happy ending.

[Kashish Kaur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow... this audiobook was capable of making me cry, all the time there was such an agony in the words that i could not help it but wish to be Peter happy.. :/

Peter was made for Elise. but he was bound by Alice too. Almost two same names, same love, same bond and same fate for Peter. :(

Earlier, before i listened this book, i admired Jack alot, I thought that Peter is a trouble all the time but i was wrong. Alice was meant to be with Peter but somehow, nature vs. nurture rule engulfed the bound destinies of both Peter & Alice.

I also came across the news about dilemma that Amanda Hocking is facing with writing Swear . but the earlier books in series forced me to choose Letters to Elise: A Peter Townsend Novella as a goodListening(because i can't call it goodread as i listened to the audio version by AudioInc.

anyways, coming back to this love triangle i think, Peter should be with Alice though. i am not saying that i don't like Jack, but what if his bondmate comes into light? it's a practical thought, will he then be able to choose Alice..??

anyways, it's not a part of series, but i still wish that Swear will be out soon and Amanda won't let her fans fall. i love her writings in person. :)) <3

and really this book forced me to sob for Peter :'(

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was AMAZING! I love Peter's character but this book helped me love his character even more! I truly loved this story!

I'm glad it gave me an insight to Peter's life before he was turned and how he met Ezra. I enjoyed reading about his feelings toward Ezra & Mae because of the brother/sister bond they shared and how Peter struggled once Elise had died.

The letters that shocked me the most, was were Peter describes his feelings towards Jack - so full of love and happiness, like a father/son relationship instead of a brother relationship. But I couldn't help feeling incredibly sad towards Peter, as I feel he has done a lot to give Jack the happiness he believes he deserves by letting Alice go. In the series Jack has treated Peter so bad that I can't help dislike Jack that little bit more.

After reading the last entry to Peter's letters, it has left me excited about what is next to come in the fifth and final book.

As i've said before, I really hope Alice see what's right in front of her eyes and pick Peter instead of Jack as they are truly meant to be.

[Paula Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella tells the backstory of Peter and his first love, Elise. In the My Blood Approves sequels, the reader only knows Peter from Alice's point of view, and Alice is not an objective view. The reader cannot really understand why Peter treats Alice the way he does, but this backstory completes the picture for a fuller understanding of one of the books' main characters, Peter. We find out how Peter comes a vampire and understand more about the relationship between Ezra and Peter. In this act of turning Peter, we also understand the depth of Ezra's compassion for human suffering. Peter and Elise's story is a love story with a tragic ending. The reader can feel the depth of Peter's loss and understand that his decision to stay alive and not join her in death is because of his love for Ezra. Recommended for grades 9+. Those readers who are following the My Blood Approves story of Alice, Peter, and Jack will love this story because it is the only way they can really know Peter and why he behaves the way he does. Jack does not even know his full story.

[K Chandwani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Letters to Elise was a beautifuly written novel! IT gave me great insight into Peters life and brought me to the time periods in which he wrote each letter. I cried when elise died and I feel as if Peter is a beutiful, hardworking, determined, selfless man. His compassion for Alice really shows and it also explains why he acted the way he was in the my blood approves. I deeply wish that Alice and Peter get together because I think that Peter would really care for Alice and from what I read it tells that he really loves her. For Jack I think he needs to learn to act more mature. Everytime I read about him it felt as if he were a child, a teenage boy who hasnt much of a though in his head. He is overly dramatic and I think Alice and him do not go well together but its not up to Us its up to Amanda Hocking! I can not wait untill the next book of the my blood approves series comes out and am hoping that Peter and Alice will end up together and Jack will find a new love in a spin off series. :)

[Sue Tint · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the My Blood Approves series, so I was looking forward to reading more, especially about mysterious Peter. However, this installment fell a bit flat to me. I found the mechanism to tell Peter's story and his life with Elise in the form of letters to her - both while she was alive and after she was dead - to be a little awkward. Once I was able to get around that, it was an enjoyable read. However, I felt that some of the mushy, gooey eyed love letters were not very believable coming from a man. It was so obviously written by a woman, who wishes she could have a man saying those things to her (and I admit, it would be nice to hear even a fraction of what Peter wrote to Elise), but it was a bit too much. However, I look forward to the next installment in My Blood Approves.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book especially since I didn't read any of the others. Peter is a vampire and he tells his story through letters over a period of 150 years.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

In some ways I enjoyed reading this but in others I hated it. It was an easy read I finished it in just a few hours. What I liked about it was that you go a little more information about Peter & Ezra (even alittle about Jack & Mae) and you go to know why the are the way they are. What I didn't like about it was that the time from was suppose to be in the 1800s but I didn't feel like it was written during that time. But i quickly goty over that :) Also I have always been routing for Alice & Peter and this book only made it worse. Its not that I dont like Jack I just think that when it comes down to it Peter loves her more. Jack acts more like a child and is jealous & selfish when it comes to her where Peter is selfless and continues to do what he can for them even though it hurts him. And this book just makes it that much worse. You see even more the sacrifices he makes for everyone and I truely hope that there will be another book and that Alice and Peter will at least try and be together. Overall unless Peter will have a spin off or winds up with Alice I wish this book wasn't written but if they will wind up together or a new series will be created about Peter than I will be happy. Also I truely do think that another might be in the making and that he will be hunting with Alice so I am hoping I am right :)

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was extremely underwhelming.. Peter was a sexy and mysterious character to me in all previous My Blood Approves books.. but then I read this and being inside his head made me realize he's not mysterious or interesting at all. What a huge disappointment. He's kind of a sissy. He spends years pining for his long lost love but doesn't even seriously consider avenging her death until 150 years later? Ridiculous..

Despite the story, the writing was kind of terrible as well.. I love Amanda Hocking's voice in her books normally but who describes details like these in a letter to someone? "she said, stifling a yawn" or "I brushed back a hair from her forehead and kissed her gently." It's a letter to your brother! You don't need that much detail. It was just a little stupid in that sense.. Not to mention telling your brother exactly how your honeymoon is going. That's just a bit weird. Just a bit!

Anyway, I would gladly read My Blood Approves again, but I will never read this one again.. In fact, I'm trying to rip the memory out of my head so I can go back to thinking Peter is the sexy, mysterious, tortured soul who is way too cool to write anything remotely resembling anything in this novella.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I liked this better than anything else I've read in the MBA series so far, and no, it's not because I think Peter and Alice are true loves who are meant to be together.

One of the things that has irked me throughout the MBA series so far is that there's this "connection" between Peter and Alice, but we, the readers, don't really get to know Peter at all, and I don't think Alice gets to really know Peter at all either because they never spend time together - they just "feel" their connection. With this novella, at least the readers get to know Peter a little better, even if Alice doesn't.

The Peter we see in this novella doesn't at all seem like the same Peter that Alice gets to see. Maybe if she got to know *this* Peter I would understand why Peter vs. Jack is even an issue, but as far as I can tell, she *doesn't* get to know this side of Peter, or at least hasn't so far, and that's why I don't understand all the people who see her with Peter instead of Jack.

A quick read told through letter format.

Note: This book has the usual typos and mistakes that I've come to sort of expect in a Hocking book, but I still enjoyed the story.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, i love Peter awww he is so filled with emotion on the inside which is definately not what you find on the outside, the way he loved Elise, the depths of that love and what he would do for her was just astounding. It was heartbreaking when he lost her and the way he struggled to come to terms with it and eventually it took Jack to help heal him. At least now you can understand how hes stepped back in My Blood approves, he thinks he isnt capable of giving his heart to another or hurting jack but thats not to say he doesnt still feel for Alice hes just putting Jack 1st. I think i love him more now than i did before, such a hidden depths kind of man and no offence Jack but he deserves Alice !

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure what to say about this...I will say this,I liked Peter in the MBA series, sometimes even more than Jack, but I don't like him as well after reading this. Maybe some things are better left to our imaginations. I would maybe have liked this better if it had just been a short story instead of trying to cram all of it into letters. For me the content didn't translate well in letter form. When you write a letter, the person you are writing to knows what you are writing about. You don't need to describe scenes in detail to someone who was actually there when they happened. That's why I think this would have been much better as a short story. I think that the Peter fans will most likely want to read this, but will they still like him as well after they ready it?

[Carie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably better than much of the companion series. I really liked getting more insight into Peter and events from the past before the series began. There are the usual editing problems, which are annoying. But, my biggest problem was probably just that much of it didn’t read like letters--not when conversations were related in excruciating detail and other things that no one would record like that in a letter or journal. The idea of letters as the format seems like a good one, but it just didn’t seem to fit very well with what was written; however, the content of the “letters” was fascinating! I’ve grown to really like Peter over the course of this series and these ”letters” reinforced that. I wish there was a way for him to have some real happiness in the future.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This Novella is from Peter's POV. I've read some other Amanda Hocking books and I really liked those, but this was a little hard for me to get through and I didn't feel any connection with it at all. It was sad to read about Peter's longing and sadness due to the death of his beloved Elise. I did however, like that it showed the brotherhood between Ezra and Peter and how they relied on each other for their existance and will to carry on.

It was just an okay read for me and glad it was just a Novella. I don't think I could have read on if it were any longer.

[texxie-PRUFreads.blogspot.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the "My Blood Approves" novella featuring "Peter". First, let me say, in this series, Jack, Peter's "brother" is my favorite. However, I absolutely LOVED this novella. The reader gets to know Peter a bit better, know what's in his head, heart and soul. I'm not ashamed to say I broke out in tears a couple of times as well. So...have your kleenex ready. :)

[Felisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to a book that gave another story about a character I love from the the "My Blood Approves" series, and this just wasn't it. It was interesting to read parts of it, but I felt over all the story lines were underdeveloped. Maybe my expectations were skewed from from I should have had, but this book didn't grant the same "satisfaction" I got from reading the series.

[Zainab Syeda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way Peter loves. There was more of his love communicated than his sadness of loss. I did always wanted Alice to choose Peter, dammit. The choice of words here are so wow.

I have at least 47 highlights, through this book. I love Peter and Elise and even with the very little I’ve seen of them, truly rooting for them.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Peter!

[Melly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aww I love Peter! My heart breaks for him. It was interesting to see a different side to both Peter and Ezra. I enjoyed reading about Mae, Jack, and Alice too.

[Nana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter étant un personnage que j'apprécie énormément, j'ai plus qu'adoré être dans sa tête et suivre ce qu'il a pu vivre dès sa transformation en tant que vampire. Son histoire avec Elise m'a vraiment beaucoup touché, il l'aimait tellement que ça me bouleversait presque. Il l'aime toujours d'ailleurs. Vraiment chapeau à l'autrice qui a su si bien décrire ses émotions, ses sentiments pour Elise... C'était tellement magnifique et profond. Le seul petit point négatif que je peux relever c'est lors des derniers chapitres où Alice entre en jeu, j'aurais teeeellement adoré que Peter écrive plus sur elle, mais bon ça aurait été parler d'elle à Elise et je peux comprendre pourquoi il ne la fait que brièvement. Il a la grosse impression de la trahir alors ça aurait été complexe pour lui de coucher sur papier, comme il l'a fait à mainte reprise avec Elise, les sentiments qu'il éprouve pour une autre femme, et ce même lien qu'il ressent aussi avec elle...

J'aimerais tellement tellement qu'on ait tout un tome du pdv de Peter, je veux encore être dans sa tête, j'ai vraiment apprécié lire son histoire, et suivre ses pensées et émotions vis-à-vis d'Alice aurait été une merveille...

[Darianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este último libro es narrada desde la perspectiva de Peter donde cuenta cómo fue su vida como ser humano y también como es su vida de vampiro y de quien lo convirtió.
También narra de cómo Peter conoció a Elise su primer amor y de cómo la perdió antes de conocer Alice y a los demás, antes de que se desarrollaran todos los acontecimientos que originan y dan comienzo a la saga "Lazos De Sangre"

[Jassicca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short novella was a great way for me to understand Peter better. Although it was a bit weird reading it in a letter format, it served its purpose well, and I think it gave me an idea on what we'll encounter in the last book, Swear. - "someone will answer for what they did".

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mmmh, I'm not really sure what to think about it. It's good, and explained many things, but it was really weird.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un personnage que j'apprécie beaucoup !

[kendell perdue · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good

I went back and read it because in was reading the last book in the series and it was even better this time

[Zsofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Peter...

[Allie rademacher · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't bad for a novella

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

So full of errors I can't believe Amanda Hocking even read it through after writing it.

[Samantha Colohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, give context to Peters life