"Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?"
"This is a love letter, a memoir, a beautiful book about what it means to go on the journey of a lifetime."
Seth Godin, Author
Jule Kucera spent her childhood in a fearful orbit around her alcoholic, bipolar father. In her thirties, she married a charming narcissist who began disappearing on their honeymoon. When she divorced him, he stalked her. Jule vows she'll never again give her heart to a man who will only use it against her: love is an illusion that ends in pain. Instead, she devotes herself to her work as a corporate executive and to creating a beautiful nest for herself. Her Chicago home is brick the color of butterscotch. The walls are covered with her own colorful paintings, Jule's way of staking her claim on her home and her life. But the building needs work, and she hires a friend of a friend for the project. Trent Price is divorced, with not much more than a high school diploma, a weathered Chevy truck, and a ten-year-old daughter in Michigan. His torso, slashed with scars, looks to have endured a brutal accident, but there is even greater damage within. As she watches Trent work, feelings buried years ago come to life. Jule leaves a note in Trent's toolbox-an offer that brings together their damaged bodies, tattered pasts, and flickering hopes. When Trent unexpectedly blurts "I love you," Jule must choose between the safety of her curated life or risk everything for yet another man who could hurt her. This tender memoir, plainly told, is perfect for fans of
The Year of Magical Thinking
. With mature situations and language, it is one woman's honest account of her remarkable journey to love, through loss, and at last, to peace.
"What happens when two hearts of gold collide in a wounded world, determined to tell the truth and love each other no matter what? Jaw-droppingly vulnerable, laugh-out-loud funny, divinely human."
Jill E. Harris, Writer
"Can a heartbreaking tragedy still bestow a fairytale ending? This page-turner of a memoir delicately reveals that even love lost can mend a broken heart."
Katie Robleski, Author & Artist