Publisher: Gallery
Released: December 14, 2010
Source: Purchased from Amazon

Abigail Donovan has a lot of stuff she should be doing. Namely writing her next novel. A bestselling author who is still recovering from a near Pulitzer Prize win and the heady success that follows Oprah’s stamp of approval, she is stuck at Chapter Five and losing confidence daily. But when her publicist signs her up for a Twitter account, she’s intrigued. What’s all the fuss?

Taken under the wing of one of her Twitter followers, “MarkBaynard” – a quick witted, quick-typing professor on sabbatical – Abby finds it easy to put words out into the world 140 characters at a time. And once she gets a handle on tweets, retweets, direct messages, hashtags, and trends, she starts to feel unblocked in writing and in life. After all, why should she be spending hours in her apartment staring at her TweetDeck and fretting about her stalled career when Mark is out there traveling the world and living? Or is he?

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Abby Donovan is a down-on-her-luck author with a severe case of writer’s block. The pressure of repeating the success of her debut novel is simply overwhelming. She’s almost certain the author she once was – an Oprah Book Club pick and Pulitzer Prize nominee – is gone forever. Lonely and defeated, Abby finds hope and inspiration in an unlikely place. Twitter. There she meets Mark Baynard, a charming and funny professor on sabbatical who spends his time traveling around Europe.

Abby and Mark form an instant connection, and they engage in an online love affair over a few months. Mark becomes the muse Abby needs to write again. But when she discovers that Mark has not been entirely truthful with her, Abby feels like yet another person in her life has betrayed her. Can she accept his reason for the deception and find forgiveness in her heart when she realizes just how important Mark has become to her?

I am a longtime fan of Teresa Medeiros’ historical romances, and when I heard about this book I was curious to see her take on a contemporary love story. Goodnight Tweetheart exceeded my expectations! With such a whimsical cover I did not expect the emotional depth of this story. I think I read the last third of the book with a lump in my throat! My heart went out to both characters, two lost and lonely individuals who find each other by chance on Twitter. Most of the story is cleverly told through the “tweets” between Mark and Abby. The story begins with Mark helping Abby, a “Twitter virgin,” figure out the ins and outs of tweeting. Their messages are full of fun pop culture references to Lost, Glee and many others.

Abby soon finds a kindred soul in Mark, and she begins sharing the scary parts of her life, like her unstable writing career and losing her father. Mark opens up about dark parts of his past as well. Abby and Mark were such multi-dimentional and compelling characters who were so well suited for each other. A little geeky. Somewhat flawed. Quite a bit lonely. I loved them both! As the story progresses, we learn that Mark is not all that that he seems. I admit that I was begging Abby to forgive him! Goonight Tweetheart is an engrossing story complete with an emotional ending.

Goodnight Tweetheart is a witty and touching modern day love story. I highly recommend it to fans of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. Be prepared to laugh and love with Mark and Abby, but be sure to have the tissues ready too.

My Rating: 4½ Stars