Book Description

Six years of running isn’t long enough to help Reneata Morris escape the guilt and shame of her past. Leaving behind in Alabama her fiancé and first true love, Ty, who is willing to sacrifice everything to make her happy; Tess, her rambunctious little sister; and Gramps and JoAnn, her protective grandfather and estranged mother, who she later learns hides a horrid family secret. Reneata fights to overcome the generational curse of poverty, addiction, and rape, whose influences affect how she sees herself and the world. Now, struggling to heal after the murder of Ervin, her older brother, an art prodigy who struggled with drug addiction, Reneata is reluctantly admitted to Bethany Skylar Mental Institution after a suicide attempt. But her time at the hospital is a blessing in disguise. While there, she befriends, Dr. Bobby Brown, a young, attractive psychiatrist who goes out of his way to help Reneata face her fears. But unbeknownst to her, Dr. Brown knows something about the days leading up to her brother’s murder that he, Gramps, and JoAnn all decide not to disclose to Reneata in fear that it would setback her recovery. Before discovering the truth, Reneata is released from the hospital and sets out on a journey to start over and find love again. After moving to Georgia, changing her name, and attempting to forget her past, she falls in love with Cory Dubose, a young, wealthy, advertising executive from California who wants to marry her. Convinced that he can give her the life she wants, Reneata, who is still struggling with Ervin’s death, lies to Cory about her family, the suicide attempt, and her time at Bethany Skylar Mental Institution. She agrees to marry him, but only if the wedding takes place back in her hometown. Older and wiser, Reneata returns to Alabama to deal with what she left behind. But upon her arrival, six years after running away, her grandfather, Ty, Dr. Brown, and to her surprise, her mother, JoAnn, band together to force her to face the truth before her wedding day.