The Second Time Around

In this tenderly hopeful story about moving on from past pain, a jaded widow is caught between a father and son who fall for her, forcing her to reconsider whether love is done with her after all.

Claire Kehoe is at a loss. At forty years old, she’s a widow, an empty nester, and a struggling artist whose passion fizzled with her marriage. Her husband’s turn into abusive alcoholism ensured that Claire lost him well before he died, leaving her heart fractured and guarded.

Committed to starting fresh, Claire becomes nanny to the young son of wealthy Banks Sexton. But it’s his older son, Smith, who proves to be more than Claire bargained for. One older and the other younger than her by ten years, both men begin to express an interest that Claire can’t accept. As they vie for her, the potential for heartbreak keeps Claire closed off from them both.

As much as she tries to stay on her own path, Claire finds herself at a crossroads between these two men. She knows that the love she’s always dreamed of is just around the corner—she just doesn’t know which way to turn.

Mary Beesley has received a Crowned Heart of Excellence Review and a five-star Readers’ Favorite Award. She’s been a daydreamer since childhood, but after having profound difficulty learning to read, she couldn’t be more surprised to have fallen in love with books. She writes stories that find hope in hardship and shine light on the goodness and strength of the human spirit. Mary loves traveling, cooking, painting, hiking, and pretending to play the piano. If she’s not in her writing chair, you’ll probably find her on her yoga mat or enjoying her local Southern California beach with her husband and four children.

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