Love Letters is the third book in the Rose Harbor series by popular American author, Debbie Macomber. As Jo Marie prepares Rose Harbor Inn for her weekend guests, she finds herself once again intrigued by her cranky handyman, Mark Taylor. A gifted carpenter, Mark is going to build Jo Marie a gazebo, but she doesn’t know anything about his past and can’t help wondering, can’t help asking.

Maggie and Roy Porter have been treated to a weekend getaway by his parents, but Jo Marie notices the tension between them immediately. She hopes the Inn will work its healing magic on them, but she has no idea of the magnitude of what has passed between them. Perhaps Roy’s old love letter can heal such deep wounds, but there is yet another shock in store for this couple.

Ellie Reynolds has come to Cedar Cove, against her mother’s wishes, to meet a man she knows only from online and telephone contact. She’s half in love with Tom already, but her mother is mistrustful of any man after Ellie’s father abandoned them. But Tom seems to be everything Ellie has ever wanted. They click from their first contact. But can the budding romance survive the surprise that Tom has in store for Ellie?

Jo Marie is still negotiating her own grief for the loss of her husband, Paul, and when cleaning, tidying, prying into Mark’s life and baking fails to provide sufficient distraction, Rover, her rescue dog, reminds her of Paul’s last letter.

Macomber’s format for the full-length books of this series seems to be the stories of two sets of guests at Rose Harbor Inn with snippets of Joe Marie’s life interspersed, and the mention of the next book’s guests in the final chapter. She gives the reader believable characters with realistic and often topical dilemmas, and while the queen of feelgood specialises in happy endings, the road is not always a smooth one. Heart-warming and enjoyable.