Title: Letters from the Heart Series: Willow Valley #3 Author: S.L. Sterling
Genre: Contemporary Romance Tropes: Small Town/Widower/Military Release Date: July 26, 2023
BLURB
Peggy
After the death of my husband, I drowned myself in flowers, a bittersweet memory of the good times we’d shared. I’d had the good fortune to fall in love with a man who wasn’t great with words but understood the language of flowers. There had been flowers for every occasion, which culminated into the biggest flower delivery of all, my own shop in the small town of Willow Valley, Peggy’s Petals. So I spent all my time and energy building my small flower shop.
Eight years later, my friends are trying to encourage me to move on, but how does a person do that and leave behind the guilt they hold? Instead, I tried something safer. My best friend, Trinity, suggested I join the Army pen pal program. It seemed the safest way to test out the waters with someone new, and the best part, we’d never meet, or so I thought.
Ethan
I’d now been widowed longer than I’d been married and thanks to countless deployments, I knew the men under my command better than I knew my own daughter. As I neared retirement, I wanted to change that. I started talking to my daughter. She explained that she had been doing some volunteer work for a non – profit. She was starting a pen pal program for military men and women and she wanted me to get involved.
Apparently, all I needed to do was write a pen pal provided by the non-profit. So, I signed up, and began exchanging letters. This went on for a few months. The more I knew about her, the more I wanted to know. Then kismet played its hand. Melinda, my daughter, and Peggy, my pen pal lived in the same small town.
As I prepared for retirement, I finally knew where I wanted to settle down. The military had given me an amazing life, now I wanted the job of being a family man, which meant being with my family. I planned to move to Willow Valley, build a relationship with my daughter, and if I had my way, build one with Peggy too.
A tale of loss – both of a partner and of their way – this pair had more in common than they realised. I really liked the letters and communication that lead to them getting to know each other, I thought they were great. I really liked the lead up to the letters being sent and even though at that point the whole story behind Peggy’s inability to move on from her husbands passing wasn’t known, I kinda understood her hesitancy in sending a letter to a stranger, even if it was a good thing to do.
Ethan’s quiet determination to get to know Peggy was fab, I liked that he wasn’t continually in her space and gave her time to get her thoughts together. I liked that he also got the chance to know his daughter again and realised what he’d given up in the time after his wife passed, I really enjoyed their banter and interactions.
Peggy, oh Peggy…. She drove me bloody nuts at times. She dithered about what she wanted so much, I was amazed that Ethan held in to his patience…. Then, when we finally found out just what was holding get back, I really felt for her but was rooting for her to finally see that she deserved to live life again!!
I love the supporting characters in this series and really do hope there’s gonna be more books to come.
Even if you haven’t read the previous books in the series, give Letters from the Heart a go, it’s honestly worth it!!!
AUTHOR BIO
USA Today Bestselling Author S.L. Sterling was born and raised in southern Ontario. She now lives in Northern Ontario Canada and is married to her best friend and soul mate and their two dogs.
An avid reader all her life, S.L. Sterling dreamt of becoming an author. She decided to give writing a try after one of her favorite authors launched a course on how to write your novel. This course gave her the push she needed to put pen to paper and her debut novel “It Was Always You” was born.
When S.L. Sterling isn’t writing or plotting her next novel she can be found curled up with a cup of coffee, blanket and the newest romance novel from one of her favorite authors.
In her spare time, she enjoys camping, hiking, sunny destinations, spending quality time with family and friends and of course reading.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
― Stephen King
My favourite genre is PNR - yep, more than happy to admit that I’m a bit of a #parawhores...... but small town is a very close second!!! In saying that, I’ll read and review a real mix of genres - from the better known authors to new-to-me authors and everything in between.
I hope you enjoy the posts and that they might lead you to some ‘new to you’ authors.
Thanks for stopping by.
Tracy 🖤💜🖤
Book Loving Pixies 
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