shadows of a tragedy that stripped Aurora June of everything she once loved,
she’s back in the small town of Balsam Grove, North Carolina, ready to face all
she’s kept locked away for seven years. Or so she thinks.
the victims of a string of mysterious disappearances in the small, picturesque
Appalachian Mountain town, darkness has become her home—her safe blanket when
the world reveals its true colors. But as the walls of darkness start to move
in on her, she knows the only way to free herself from her past is to face it,
head-on. She just needs to figure out how.
arrival, Aurora isn’t expecting her first collision to be with the boy she left
all those years ago. The boy who betrayed her trust with no regrets. The boy
who is no longer a boy, but a man with the same stormy eyes that swept her into
his current before she ever learned to swim.
thought he was safe. He’d thought their path was mapped out. Turns out neither
of them was ready for the crash at the bottom of the cascade.
I don’t try to navigate my way. I hike beside the river, around every curve and bend, uphill and against the current. It’s a familiar path, but my focus isn’t on the destination. Every now and then I stop to take a drink from the stream, pluck a fiery pink flower, and tune into a wild animal scampering across fallen leaves. But it’s not until I reach a steeper incline that I take a moment to assess where I’m headed.
The river has significantly increased in speed since I began walking a few minutes ago. A steeper incline forces me to distance myself from the water’s edge, onto a more manageable path through the woods. My thighs burn from the steady climb, and my throat aches from dehydration. I never planned to journey this far, but I could have at least thought to bring water. I’m ready to turn back, find the river, and drink from it when I spot the top of a familiar red house peeking over the hill. Hummingbirds unleash in my chest as I inch forward.
is an award-winning author and Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences graduate
from the University of Washington who writes heartfelt and inspirational
Contemporary Romance stories mainly about “Capturing the Edge of Innocence.” K.K.
currently resides in central Florida, works full time as a Digital Producer for
a leading online educational institution, and is the mother to a ridiculously
handsome little dude who owns her heart.
K.K.’s publishing journey began in June 2014 with the YA Contemporary Fantasy
trilogy, The Summer Solstice. In 2016, K.K. published her first Contemporary
Romance, Up in the Treehouse, which went on to win the Romantic Times 2016
Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best New Adult Book of the Year. With K.K.’s love
for inspirational and coming of age stories involving heartfelt narratives and
honest emotions, you can be assured to always be surprised by what K.K.
releases next.