Tanner Rowe is just going through the motions...it only looks like he is living. Actually, he's just putting into place the promise he made to his wife after she died. She had always wanted them to move to Red Bluff, Michigan...a small town in the Upper Peninsula, and live on the farm with the burned-out barn. She wanted to paint, and she thought that Tanner would teach college courses on-line and make his home brewed beer. It all sounded wonderful...but then Chris's world crashed around him, leaving him grieving for his only love and the life that has been taken from him. Then there is Cole. Cole Lachlan had never had it easy. He absolutely knew that his grandfather loved him, but he had nothing with mostly only himself to blame for that. He's recently out of prison, and while he was imprisoned his beloved grandfather had died. While trying to find work Tanner finds himself by the lake and homeless. After a lot of bartering and negotiating, Cole begins working on Tanner's burned-out barn. This gives the men the opportunity to talk to each other, and for a friendship to start to develop. They learn to trust each other. Cole finds a diary in the barn, and it becomes the key that will unlock their hearts. When reading this I thought of what my grandmother told me when I was very young and my best friend in my young world wasn't allowed by the "rules of narrow-minded society" of the 50's and 60's, to go into the same places I did or even drink out of the same water fountain. She said that "just because a person isn't exactly like you that didn’t make them wrong. You should accept people as they are no matter the color of their skin, what church they may or may not attend, or who they choose to love...just accept them and love them equally". I had a pretty remarkable role model in my young life. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the events and the characters in this story. The two authors kept always rooting for Cole and Tanner throughout the entire book as they attempted to rebuild their lives. Tanner and Cole sat down together every evening to read yet another chapter in Tom’s journal. The journal story was about the forbidden love of Tom's time with his "friend" Charlie. Their story in the journal opened the communication lines for Tanner to ask questions and investigate all these "newly found" feelings. They found that it also encouraged open and honest communication between them. Once Tanner had the courage to explore his feelings for Cole, he wasn’t about to keep them a secret like Tom and Charlie had been forced to do. It was personal for me as I thought about my youngest son...15-years old and having those feelings for his friend that he thought were wrong. They weren't wrong, and he later married the boy that shared those feelings with him. They are now the parents of an 8-month little girl. I can’t find enough words to express how much this story meant to me. ( )

Those of you who enjoyed the authors' writing style in the past, pick this one up. It's one of their best work. And you get to root for not one but two couples.

I'm always reluctant to pick up a book that takes the reader back to the past, though I don't really have a reason as to why. I enjoyed books in the past that contained a story within a story, though not as much as this one.

I was worried that Tom and Charlie's story might overshadow Tanner and Cole's relationship development. If anything, it added to it and helped them move forward.

I also don't believe in reincarnation and such spiritual beliefs, but I put that aside.

Readers who are looking for books where the MC is fresh out of prison and tries to start over. This is a really good representation for that.

I only had really minor issues with the writing.
4.5 stars.

( )

Love

This is a story of love and loss, and finding love again, where you least expect it. I loved both characters, Tanner and Cole. They both had pain in their pasts and found each other at just the right time. ( )