A heart-wrenching story of love and loss set in the mountains of rural Vermont. Flashing blue lights and a pink sandal in the middle of a rural Vermont road mark the end of a dream for Mina Mason. The tragic accident halts her elopement to Sam Miller and takes her family—all except her peculiar mother. Left as the sole caregiver to her aging parent amid piles of hoarded possessions with no respite in sight, Mina breaks her engagement to Sam. He deserves the normal life he’ll never find with her. Half a world away, Sam’s life as a military sniper turns out to be anything but normal. The ruthless chaos of war leaves him drowning in a haze of booze and blood. Nights are a blur. Days, he does his job, mission after mission. Until the day he squeezes the trigger and not only destroys his target, but any hope for inner peace as well. Haunted and adrift, Sam returns just as the world Mina’s dedicated herself to crumbles. He offers strength; she offers healing, but Mina and Sam must learn to trust each other with their secrets or lose their second chance at a life together. Praise for C.L. Howland "Howland's debut novel is a coming of age story that keeps readers hungering for the next page, the next chapter, indeed, the next book." — Marisa Miller "Clear depictions of Vermont rural life: tough upbringing in beautiful natural surroundings. Highly recommended!" — Charlotte R. Williams "Howland's debut novel is a coming of age story that keeps readers hungering for the next page, the next chapter, indeed, the next book." -- Marisa Miller "Clear depictions of Vermont rural life: tough upbringing in beautiful natural surroundings. Highly recommended!" -- Charlotte R. Williams C. L. Howland has lived most of her life in rural Vermont, but was an outlander working in Boston for about 8 years. During her teens and early twenties, she read George Orwell, Kurt Vonnegut and Stephen King. One day, she ended up with a copy of The Flame and the Flower, by Kathleen Woodiwiss. To this day, C. L. doesn't know how she got it, but was hooked. That pioneer opened the bedroom door for the first time, and literature of interest to women has never been the same. Over the years, C. L. found herself drawn to stories of ordinary people in sometimes extraordinary situations. When her favorite author retired, C. L. wondered if she could fill the gap by writing the kind of story she liked to read. Once that thought was in her mind it was like fly paper. The more she tried to shake it off the more it stuck--until C. L. had do something about it. C. L. Howland loves breathing life into the characters she creates and the town of Northam, Vermont is the perfect backdrop for some of these stories--the elementary school teacher who yearns for a child of her own, the overweight girl in homemade dresses, the veteran battling PTSD, the mother whose hoarding isn't her only secret. They all have a story. And one by one, doors in this speck of a town are thrown open in C.L. Howland's books. When not writing, C. L. enjoys life in the Green Mountains of Vermont with her family. C. L. and her husband, Dale, strive to keep Vermont traditions alive. They are beekeepers and harvest honey, as well as make candles, lip balms and skin creams from the bountiful hives. C. L.'s husband gathers bucket after bucket of sap to produce delicious world-renowned Vermont maple syrup. The Howlands spend the last warm days of summer gathering wild blackberries to delight neighbors with blackberry brandy nestled amongst homemade candy and cheesecake during the holidays. To learn more about C. L., please visit: www.clhowland.com or drop her an email at: info@clhowland.com .