The Art of Staring Over

Some love stories begin with a spark. Theirs begins with three little girls, a small-town autumn, and the quiet courage to believe that God is not finished writing their story.

Nicole Sullivan thought moving home to Serenity Crossing, Tennessee, would give her twin daughters the stability they needed after losing their father to cancer ten months ago. A first-grade teaching position, her parents’ farm, and a church family she loves— it was supposed to be enough.

Mike Hartwell has not thought about love in three years. Since a car accident took his wife, he has poured himself into raising his six-year-old daughter, Lizzie, and running the family lumber mill in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. He is a good father, a good man, and a good liar — because the life he calls “enough” has been quietly hollowing him out.

Their daughters meet and decide, with the uncomplicated certainty that only six-year-olds possess, that they will be best friends forever. And somewhere between the horseback riding lessons and the trick-or-treating and the long conversations they have while watching their children play, companionship becomes something deeper — something that feels like hope.

But hope, for two people who have buried the person they loved most, comes wrapped in guilt. As the leaves turn and the anniversary of Nicole’s husband’s death casts a shadow over November, both Mike and Nicole must confront the guilt they have been carrying like a second heartbeat — the fear that loving again is a risk.

In a small town where everyone notices, three little girls see the truth first, and God’s timing has never been more perfect. Two wounded hearts must decide whether starting over is worth everything it demands — letting go of the belief that they already had their chance at love.

Tropes:

• Second-chance-at-love / love after loss

• Single parents finding love

• Small-town forced proximity

• Children as matchmakers

• Found family / blended family

• Slow-burn clean romance

Reader Promise: This clean, sweet, wholesome Christian contemporary romance contains no explicit content, a guaranteed happily-ever-after, and a faith thread woven through every page — delivering an emotionally rich, deeply hopeful love story that will remind you why second chances are worth believing in.