Elicia Roper

A beautifully written coming-of-age story told from 2 POVs – Athena and Caiden.

Athena is a young woman of 19 who lives at home with her mother, stepfather Collin, brother Alex, and sisters Rain and Sky. Caiden, a young man of 21, lives with his mother, Ashley, and sister Isabella.

Athena and Caiden have broken hearts about their fathers, but they’ve hidden it for so long that it is hard to open the door to talk about it. Caiden also has something else he doesn’t discuss. His MS. show more Caiden’s mother is aware, but Caiden doesn’t want to worry Isabella and is even more reluctant to share awareness with Athena.

Times with family and friends bring a variety of emotions experienced in daily life with love and loss, school days and bullies, awareness that answers of "I’m fine" are often said to protect a broken heart, and creating opportunities to move forward with a lighter heart.

"The thing about broken hearts is, unlike a broken bone, it doesn’t get the time and attention it needs to heal. It goes undetected by the naked eye, so no one really knows the pain you are feeling on the inside."

I hope all readers will pause to read the author’s heartfelt "Dedication." Before the "Prologue" is a "Playlist" of the song titles and artists shared throughout the novel. The opportunity to listen on Spotify is easy with a link if read on an ebook. For all who read a print copy, search for the book title and/or author name. The playlist is 2 hours, 30 minutes of listening pleasure.

Multiple mental health resources in Canada (author’s country of residence) are listed at the end of the book. show less

I enjoyed writing it, it was a blast!