Facing an empty nest for the first time since the death of her husband, Dan, three years ago, Tess Everett immerses herself in volunteer work for the Winterset public parks, home of the famous covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa. But when former resident J.W. McRae shows up at one of the bridges with paintbrushes and easel, sparks fly—because J.W. was once married to Tess’s late friend Char. Worse, J.W. was a deadbeat dad to Char’s son, Wynn—then a college student—who Tess and Dan took under their wings after his mom’s death.

J.W. hopes to make amends with his son now that there’s a new little granddaughter in the picture. But when Tess agrees to rent the backyard garage apartment to J.W., hoping to be a bridge to reconcile father and son, sparks of a different kind are kindled. As their friendship grows, Tess and J.W. must discover if what they have together is worth rearranging their entire lives for. And whether they can build bridges that will mend broken relationships.

With a 49-year-old heroine and 52-year-old hero, this was a sweet, second-chance-at-love romance set in bridge country in Iowa.

J.W. returns “home” after years of separation from his son (following the separation from and death of his wife). J.W. wants to mend things with his son, and his daughter-in-law believes the birth of her first child (and J.W.’s first granddaughter) is just the thing to bring them together. Things don’t go as planned, but J.W. is determined, and he decides to stay and try. With the help of his new friend (attractive, single Tess), he moves home.

The story immediately pulled me in. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen between J.W. and his son, as well as watching the later-in-life romance between him and Tess. For me, there were some slow spots (got a bit wordy and repetitive), but I enjoyed watching two been-there, done-that characters building relationships based on experience instead of playing games and making silly mistakes (as often happens in early romances).

A sweet story and great summer read.

Rated PG. Get your copy here!

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