LIKE ALL THE REST (Ellis Springs Series #1)

“Welcome to the community of Ellis Springs, the seat of Dewey County, Pennsylvania; population 5,108. Ellis Springs: Laced with cool mountain springs.”
Most people are able to recall, in minute detail, where they were and what they were doing when life handed them an Aha! moment. Startling revelations have a way of staying with a person. For Dewey County librarian Natalie Andrews, her most recent and pivotal Aha! moment occurred on a seemingly normal Friday afternoon in late September. While she couldn’t pinpoint a specific issue within her fourteen-year marriage, she simply knew something was amiss.
Natalie loved her satisfying job. Her husband, Clark, was co-owner of a successful insurance agency. Financial security was not an issue. They owned a colonial-style house decorated with gorgeous antiques and an inviting yard landscaped for maximum curb appeal. While Clark had a knack for home improvement projects, Natalie thrived and wowed as a homemaker. As a team, they complimented each other nicely. Some would say their home life, by all outward appearances, was perfect. But appearances can be deceiving.
After seven long years of fertility issues, Natalie chose to throw away her basal thermometer, ovulation predictor kits, and fertility drugs. The letdown and heartache, as each unsuccessful month passed by, left her feeling like an utter failure. While Clark seemed to take events in stride, Natalie wasn’t as fortunate.
Waking up, on the other side of her nearly two-year-long depression, has led Natalie to her present-day preoccupation over what was off-kilter with her marriage. Her determination brings about unexpected answers. Those answers, in turn, spawn even more troubling questions. Clichéd or not, she stands firmly beside the adage: where there is smoke, there is fire. Refusing to sit back as their relationship unravels, Natalie and Clark begin couples counseling with their priest, the Reverend Stephanie Talbot. Will her help and guidance be enough to save their relationship?
Marriages dissolved at an alarming rate in modern society. Natalie always considered hers immune to such a fate, however, as clarity returns and the truth comes out, Natalie realizes her marriage could end LIKE ALL THE REST—but not without a fight.