Autumn — Cole McCade

There are worse things in life than loving a man who hates you.

Unfortunately, Walford Gallifrey can't think of many.

Ever since a ghost from his past kidnapped his niece, Willow (THE FOUND, Crow City #2), Wally's life has been nothing but grief, turmoil, and loss. With no idea if Willow is dead or alive, Wally's only comfort is in caring for his grieving brother-in-law and Willow's father, Joseph Armitage. For the past twenty years, Wally has never hoped to be anything but the backdrop to Joseph's life; between marrying Wally's sister and decades of mistakes building walls of enmity and resentment between them, Joseph has been firmly cemented in Wally's mind as unattainable.

But the pain of Willow's loss forces them to face the demons sleeping between them, find common ground -- and more. Together, they explore mutual grief. Shared memories. Quiet respect. Warmth. Camaraderie. The joy of learning to live again.

And an unspoken attraction, buried beneath the scars of hurtful words and terrible missteps.

Yet even as they work through the thorns and tangles of old wounds, Joseph has his own struggles to face. The struggle to leave his ex-wife in the past. To let his daughter go. And to trust Wally to love him, to see him as more than just his multiple sclerosis, when so many have treated him as less than a man. The only way forward for them both is forgiveness. Trust.

And a second chance to discover what it means, to truly be in love.

Note: This novel, while a standalone, follows in the aftermath of the events of THE FOUND (Crow City #2), and ties in to the events of THE SAVED (Crow City #2.5), which detail--respectively--the events of Willow's kidnapping and Walford's prior relationship with her kidnapper, Vincent Manion.