This is the story of a lady who one year after losing her husband is yet to recover and as a result she decides to set up an inn in his honor, a place that ends up being a healing haven to other guests who check in at a particular time. Jo Marie Rose moved to Cedar Cove almost a year ago after her husband Paul passed away while at war in Afghanistan. She left her job as a banker and bought an inn amidst a lot of criticism which she renamed to Rose harbor. Her venture has been successful and she has managed to acquire many friends in the area. One of these people is Mark who Jo Marie cannot really refer to as a friend owing to their frequent tussles. Despite this, Mark works as her hands man in the garden and she finds him really useful. However, they disagree and Mark leaves while Jo Marie is threatening to sue him. He does not take in the threats and even goes ahead to collect all his tools, leaving her in a mix up since she has no idea who is supposed to help her finish with the Rose garden.
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On this particular occasion, she receives a couple of reservations but something about her visitors seems attract her attention. Mary Smith is a recovering cancer patient. She is doing well in business but her life is empty since she has no family. She is in Cedar Cove to try and locate George, a man she was in love with twenty years ago. To date she still feels guilty about breaking up with him because of the love they shared. She turned down his proposal since they were living miles apart and according to her it would not be possible to keep the relationship going. As a result of her cancer, Jo Marie is trying to be extra cautious with her, something she is not appreciating.
Annie Newton and her grandparents are the other guests expected at the inn. Annie is going through a hard time after breaking up with her boyfriend Lenny barely six months ago. He had been an ideal husband for her and her parents liked her too. However, she caught him cheating and forgave him on the first occasion but when it recurred she had to call off the relationship. Lenny is however still trying to convince her back and that is why she decides to arrive at the inn earlier than she had been scheduled just to make sure she is as far away from him as possible. In order to keep all this out of her mind, she takes to organizing her grandparent's fiftieth anniversary.
After pondering over the idea for some time, Mary decides to try and reach George who is now an attorney. She manages to get his number online from a list of attorney's in Seattle but on contacting his office she is informed that he is in court the whole day. This comes as a relief since she wasn't sure about the call in the first place. To her astonishment however George calls back. After a lengthy conversation, she realizes George is now divorced and the best part is that he never stopped loving her. They agree to meet in town later in the day after he is done with his court proceedings.
Annie's grandparents arrive in the company of Oliver, a childhood friend who always found pleasure in teasing her. Despite this anger she has towards Oliver, there is a spark that is ignited between them during their stay at Rose harbor and they end up having an affair. Annie is willing to do anything to get Lenny out of her mind but that is not going to happen since Lenny manages to trace her location. He arrives when they are planning to leave after the anniversary party and has a confrontation with Oliver. Annie however tells him off and he has no choice but to leave her with her new found love.
George promises to escort Mary to the airport but this turns out to be a trick he's playing on her. He is not planning to let her go and promises to hook her up to the best doctors in Seattle. After a moment of resistance, she realizes that she is fighting a losing battle and agrees to stay after all she is still in love with George. After all the guests have left, Jo Marie is left a happy woman knowing that her guests who had come in distressed had left a happy lot. She has also managed to wear down Mark's ego and now they are able to relate without having to argue every other time.
Best part of story, including ending:
I like this story because it starts from a depressed point but at the end all the main characters find the happiness they have been looking for in Cedar Cove.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene is when George abducts Mary and takes her to his house. This is because he knew how stubborn she can be and has to find a way of tricking her to stay since talking her into it would never work.
Opinion about the main character:
I like the fact that Jo Marie is able to handle all her guests with their different issues and they leave the inn a happy lot.
