There are some books that fill your heart to bursting point and every time you think of them, your heart flutters a little. They are those books that you cannot help but recommend to every one of your friends, and over time, they become some of your favourite re-reads. Riley Hart and Christina Lee’s latest collaboration is every bit as beautiful as I’ve come to expect from this excellent duo, and from the very first page, I was besotted. A tender story of love that both heals and breaks the heart, and told through two very different narratives, braided together, but separated in time—one set in the present, and the other told through letters from many years before—a novel like this gives voice to all the forgotten love stories that could not be, and all the ones that wouldn’t have been possible had times not changed. I loved this book so much, I never wanted it to end.
Set in a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the small-town setting is crucial to understanding the full story. We meet Tanner Rowe a year after the death of his beloved wife, just as he moves into an old farmhouse with a half-burned-down barn. A college professor, Tanner is a man with no family, a man who’s only ever loved one person in his whole life, and whose untimely death has left a deep sense of emptiness and loneliness in his heart that nothing can dispel. The farmhouse was once his wife’s dream for a new chapter in their life together, but it has now become just a constant reminder of all the ways he’s failed her in life, and every moment inside it only serves to feed his guilt.
𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵… 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮… 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
Cole Lachlan has spent the past four years of his life in prison, and even though months have passed since his release, his new felony record has prevented him from finding work anywhere. At every turn, employers have turned him down for job opportunities, leaving him homeless and with very little to his name. He arrives in the picturesque town of Red Bluff, Michigan wanting to make a new life for himself, but his hopes for a fresh start begin to sour as he fails to find a job time and time again, making his living situation progressively worse as days go by.
𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.
When Tanner and Cole’s paths suddenly cross, they are just two men drowning in desperation and loneliness who recognise those feelings in one another, and when Tanner hires Cole to restore the old barn on his property, thus putting a roof over his head, they begin to forge a hesitant friendship that offers them both comfort and inner peace.
“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺.”
“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱?” 𝘛𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱,” 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦.
“𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵…𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵.” 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥. “𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦,” 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥.
But in the midst of it all, Cole discovers an old journal hidden in the old barn, telling the tale of a forbidden love from a long-ago era, and as they begin to read together about a young man named Tom falling in love with his best friend Charlie, Tanner and Cole’s friendship begins to change in a myriad of ways, their growing attraction leading to the possibility of something infinitely more. And once they give in, their hearts latch onto each other with growing intensity and emotion, falling in love easily and without hesitation.
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺, 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦.
But as Tanner and Cole delve deeper and deeper into the mystery of the barn fire and the events leading to it, we watch two beautiful love stories unravel in the very same place, but several decades apart, providing a searing comparison between those times, and all the ways society has moved forward over the years. Riley Hart and Christina Lee’s knack for telling intimate, human stories with a greater meaning is marvellous and rare, and while their every love story fills us with joy and wonder, there is a subtle but thoughtful social commentary permeating their novels that is both perceptive and optimistic. This is one of those beautiful reads that stays with you, and squeezes your heart all over again every time you revisit it.
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Popular Highlights in this book
“I read somewhere that we’re all made of sunlight and stardust. So maybe, whenever you look at the sky, from morning till nightfall, you’re connecting with them in some small way.”Highlighted by 203 Kindle readers- Tanner tasted like the wheat beer he’d drank at the bar. But also like smiles and joy and home. And all the things he’d ever longed for inside his heart.Highlighted by 175 Kindle readers
- He was kissing a man. He was kissing Cole. And he liked it.Highlighted by 175 Kindle readers
Beautiful Story
This book is full of love, heartache and second chances. I loved the characters, loved the story and my heart is full for Tan and Cole. Definitely go into this beautiful love story blind. There is an interesting twist that will tug at your heart and have you screaming #loveislove ❤️❤️
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2018
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Top reviews from other countries
- CharleyroseReviewed in Australia on September 25, 2018
Absolutely beautiful collaboration. Highly, Highly recommended reading.
- RENATA RODRIGUESReviewed in Germany on October 6, 2020
Everyone should read this story!
