Three Little Words by Susan Mallery

I loved this book! Since Ford Hendrix came home from the military, Isabel has made a dedicated effort to avoid him. She is currently temporarily house-sitting and living in her parents’ house. This is convenient because she is currently watching their bridal shop while they are away. Not so convenient to have the person you are trying to avoid renting the garage apartment next door. Isabel and Ford have a complicated history. Isabel had a major crush on Ford in her youth but he was engaged to her older sister. When she was 14, her sister ditched Ford in favor of his current BFF Leonard. In response, Ford signed up with the Navy and shipped out – but not before Isabel confessed her love. She wrote to him for years while he was away. Ford never wrote back. What she never knew is that he read and cherished all those letters, even when they morphed into diary entries more than letters. Those letters were his rock in some very tough times. Flash forward to the present. Isabel is divorced and killing time until watching her parents’ shop until she jets off pursuing her retail dreams in NYC. Ford is running a defense academy with his military buddies and dodging his mom and sisters. His mother, Denise, recently set up a booth taking applications from women who might be interested in a romantic relationship with either of her two sons – Ford & Kent. If she was my mother, I would be livid but since she’s not, it’s hilarious. It occurs to Ford that if he could get Isabel to be his pretend girlfriend then maybe his mother will back off. I loved the sexy romance that develops between the two. I also loved this book because of the secondary romance that develops between Kent and Consuelo. It was just a sweet thing to read. Kent is so surprised by Consuelo’s apparent interest in him. He can’t imagine what such a beautiful and strong woman would want with a boring math teacher. He has no idea. Consuelo is attracted to him physically but she is looking for the complete antithesis of the kind of guy she is normally around. She likes that Kent is such a normal, sweet guy. Very happy with how things end. Can’t wait for the next book!