Kayli Baker – författare

IAN Book of the Year Awards Women''s Fiction Finalist

Heartbreaking and redemptive, Annie''s story reveals the strength of her spirit, the healing power of unconditional love, and the potential of unexpected relationships to teach us to accept ourselves.

When Annie returns to the town where she grew up after twelve years, she plans to house-sit for her mother and take a much-needed break from her stressful job and worsening anxiety. But revisiting the past is never straightforward, and she soon discovers that she can no longer run from the things she''s tried so hard to leave behind.

Her ex-boyfriend Rob, the once-love of her life, is still living in her hometown, and Annie barely has time to process what seeing him again could mean before another surprising figure appears on her friend and mentor''s doorstep. Suddenly, Annie''s quiet sabbatical has turned into a whirlwind of traumatic memories and new romance, and the responsibility of navigating her PTSD without burdening anyone else in her life threatens to overwhelm her.

But even flawed love can help us to heal in unexpected ways, if we can only learn to accept it. Annie''s journey will keep readers glued to the page, brimming with compassion and rooting for her to find the love and peace she deserves.

All of life is comprised of moments that fill us with happiness or sadness, fear or confidence, pain or joy. These moments collectively form the foundation-the stories-that shape our lives.

At the heart of our life''s stories, we all have moments in which there is a silencing of who we are or what we believe, or perhaps what transpired in our past. We may do this as a result of societal pressure to conform or in an effort to hide some aspect of ourselves. Perhaps we remain silent because we are succumbing to our own fears about what might happen if speak our truth. No matter the reason, this silencing is a betrayal of ourselves, of our truth and authenticity. What might happen if, instead, we made a decision to become vulnerable and bring ourselves out of the silence?

This collection of stories explores the life of Katherine Turner, a woman overcoming a lifetime of abuse and insecurity, as she journeys to face the vulnerability and uncertainty of breaking her silence in otherwise ordinary moments of extraordinary courage.

Battling mental illness and addiction, Katherine''s parents are ill-equipped to deal with the trials of raising a family. Their unhappy relationship implodes on Katherine''s last day of first grade, and the abuse and neglect characteristic of her childhood worsens as her family descends further into poverty. With her mother deep in the clutches of alcoholism, her father missing, and her two older brothers already in foster care, Katherine steps in to care for her younger sister, despite being a child herself.

When social services later intervenes, Katherine and her sister are placed in foster care in the countryside. Her new home and the stable and caring environment her foster mother provides are a far cry from the life she''s always known, yet Katherine''s struggles continue. As she approaches adulthood, reeling from her past and battling loneliness, life continues to beat her down with tough choices, staggering betrayals, and various assaults. For a few years, she''s able to cope by suppressing her memories and turning to self-harm and addiction. However, when she pawns her most cherished possession, she realizes that she''s following in her biological parents'' footsteps, tumbling in a downward spiral of self-destruction. Is it too late for her to escape her family''s generational inertia?

Katherine''s story is one of crippling weakness and breathtaking strength, debilitating self-doubt and defiant determination, self-destruction and healing...and the discovery of what it actually means to be resilient. 

Since 2006, the MeToo Movement has been rocking society, shedding light on the pervasive and growing darkness of hidden sexual abuse and assault. Olivia, like many when they discovered it, found herself an avid supporter of both the movement and the women who were coming forward with their stories. And like many, she still struggled to use those same words for the experiences of her own life, setting aside her memories and instead focusing on those of others.

As an editor of writing focused on abuse survival, Olivia suddenly began softly thinking those words to herself as she worked on others'' manuscripts, until one day she knew it was time to tell her own story of abuse and assault and what life''s really like on the other side.

This is her story.

Love has the power to heal our deepest wounds and help us rediscover the magic of hope.

As Annie''s time in her hometown reaches an end, fractures appear in her whirlwind romance with Rob. Though he surprised her on Christmas morning with a house worthy of her dreams, his expectations for Annie to remain in Stockwood and make a home with him are heavy. Annie realizes she isn''t ready to give up the security of the career, house, and life she''s built for herself in the city in exchange for an uncertain future with Rob. When he confronts her about her wavering commitment on the last day of her sabbatical, they fail to find a compromise.

Back in the city, Annie struggles to set boundaries with her demanding and oversolicitous boss and to find the comfort her insular way of life once provided her. The only sliver of joy in her busy, lonely routine comes after she runs into her ex-boyfriend, Lucas, and they fall back into an easy friendship. As they grow closer, Annie wrestles with guilt over the realization that they both still care about each other. Rob-unaware of Lucas'' presence in her life-suddenly reappears, determined to repair his relationship with Annie. All the feelings Annie had attempted to forget suddenly surface, leaving her conflicted and forced to make an impossible decision.

Will Annie allow herself to take a leap of faith-one that demands the loss of familiarity and predictability-or will she retreat once again into the comfort of her well-established cycle of self-sabotage?

Months after their elopement, Annie and Rob are settling into their new home and married life. It seems they''ve finally left everything that stood between them in the past, but their happily-ever-after is short-lived. When Annie announces she''s pregnant, past issues flare to life, and a disastrous misunderstanding severs their relationship.

As she reels from the end of her marriage, Annie''s friends and family show her she''s never truly alone. Nonetheless, she struggles to find the strength within herself to trust her instincts, compounded by how ill-equipped she feels for motherhood, as she continues to heal from her lifetime of trauma. And when her kind, hardworking ex, Lucas, offers a level of support and comfort she never expected, Annie reconsiders her past romantic decisions.

With her due date rapidly approaching, Annie must learn to trust both others and herself, remembering that sometimes promises bloom in the most unexpected places, and-when kept-these promises can bring unparalleled joy.

Renata is a writer. Or...she was. After finding the courage to leave her abusive fiancé, Damien, and move back to her hometown, Renata realizes she has lost not only her words but herself. She navigates life with a caution she never knew before and doesn''t let anyone too close.  

Inspired to honor her promise to her late father to always follow her heart, she takes a job at a local café and sets her sights on reviving her love of writing. With the café''s friendly owner, Fern, and upbeat barista Caroline, Renata discovers much about life, friendship, and love. Renata''s life is looking up, and when she hits it off with handsome baker Chad, she believes she may finally find her happy ending.  

But her relationship with Chad triggers wounds from her past, which she hides from him while grappling alone with the resultant fear, trauma, and shame. Chad may not forgive Renata once he discovers she''s been lying to him, and after a dangerous appearance from Damien further jeopardizes their relationship, the decisions she makes will determine the course of their relationship. Can Renata escape Damien for good and learn to trust again? Or will echoes of her past destroy their future?  

Nina Covington is living a life she could only have dreamed of growing up near the poverty line. At twenty-eight, she has a lucrative career, lives in a high-rise condo in the most exclusive neighborhood in Midtown, and her boyfriend is a successful financial consultant with clients all over the globe.   

Then she runs into Myles, and the life she''s been running from for seven years returns to rock her carefully-constructed present. Her once promising relationship with him came crashing down when she was assaulted in college, an event Nina has all but pushed from her memory. But Myles remembers a different version of Nina, and his return makes her question the reality she''s currently living. The façade of Nina''s perfect life crumbles, and she''s forced to make a decision: face the music and the past she''s been running from or continue living the lie she''s been keeping afloat for almost a decade.  

Ever since the fateful night Drew snuck out of his parents'' house and found a tearful Tasha hiding outside her bedroom window, they''ve been the best of friends. Their bond strengthened throughout their childhood, forged by their mutual struggles with abusive families, and they swore to be in each other''s lives forever. Life, however, had different plans for them, and following college graduation, their careers and shifting priorities pulled them miles apart.

But when Drew is nominated for a professional distinction that will be awarded in the city where Tasha now lives and decides to stay for a week, he and Tasha reunite without knowing this trip will change the course of their lives and challenge the connection they were once so certain of. The trip brings to light Drew''s years-old feelings for Tasha, but while he''s ready to see where a new kind of love could take them, Tasha pulls away from him, plagued by the unhealed wounds of her childhood.

When she hits rock bottom, Tasha finally acknowledges the harmful patterns she''s been perpetuating in her own life in a bid to outrun her past. No longer able to run from Drew''s feelings for her-or hers for him-she must summon the courage to heal... or risk losing Drew forever.