Irene Vartanoff

Widowed Christine Becker has spent her life so far trapped by choices she made too young and too unwisely. With her daughters grown, she is desperate to make a fresh start acting in the summer theater in New Avalon, Ohio. She wants to change her life for the better and leave behind the sordid recent past.

Roger Ahearn, her intensely handsome, flirtatious co-star, sees something entirely lovely in Christine. To him, she is radiant, beautiful, and full of untapped potential. With every over-the-top compliment, every sweet word, and every glamorous date, he urges her to believe in the vision he sees: a woman new and clean every day, unshackled by the past.

Yet Roger’s charm hides his own secret pain, a sorrow so profound it threatens the hope he offers Christine. When his health emergency gives Christine a clue to his truth, their connection deepens in ways neither expected. Christine must decide if she can embrace the beauty of soul that Roger insists is hers—and if she can help him fight the darkness he keeps locked away in his lonely, wounded heart.

If you like sweet, closed-door romances about romantic chances with new loves a little bit later in life, then you’ll like this heartwarming and poignant story.