After sending Walter Green off to fight in World War I, Josephine Barnes dutifully writes to her love to keep his spirits up on the front lines. As word arrives that Walter was killed in action, Josephine is consumed by her grief. Declaring herself a spinster forever, she focuses not on her pain but on her love of books and building Emerson Pass’s first library. And when the war finally ends, and her twin brothers safely return home, Josephine is finally ready to put the past behind her. Surely she can find all of the love she will ever need in her large, gregarious family.

With his service over and his entire life ahead of him, Philip Baker is haunted by his guilt. Surviving the horrific days and nights on the front lines of the war was difficult enough. The weight of his betrayals is nearly crippling. As an orphan with no one at home to return to, he couldn’t stop himself from secretly reading the lovely letters written to his friend Walter by a charming young woman named Josephine. And as Josephine’s heartwarming words captivated him with each new letter, he found himself falling for her sweet soul.

Against his own moral code, Philip decides to journey to Emerson Pass to meet Josephine in person. Naturally he fears that she will feel violated by his prying into her letters. More than that, Philip is terrified that the secret he has been keeping about Walter will only add to Josephine’s anguish. But if Josephine is truly the woman that Philip thinks she is, he is certain he can’t live another day without taking this chance on her.

Reunite with the Barnes Family in this second installment of USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson’s Emerson Pass Series and enjoy a romantic, feel-good escape that will have you laughing and crying as you turn pages long into the night.