Little Lake Secrets: A Modern Western Romance
Frank Richardson
Some wounds run deeper than others. Some healing requires more than solitude—it requires love.
Sophie Langston is running from her life. After six years as a Seattle therapist specializing in family trauma, she's burned out from pouring herself into everyone else's pain while ignoring her own. When her mentor suggests a sabbatical, Sophie escapes to Little Lake, Montana—a postcard-perfect town where nobody knows her story and the biggest decision is whether to paddle north or south on the glassy blue water.
Cole Turner is drowning in legacy. Three years ago, his father vanished, leaving behind crushing debt and a failing marina. Cole has worked himself nearly to death trying to save the family business and redeem his father's name. He's exhausted, isolated, and terrified of becoming the man who abandoned him.
When Sophie witnesses Cole's quiet desperation, her professional instincts kick in despite her sabbatical. Cole needs help—and Sophie knows exactly how to give it. But as therapy sessions blur into late-night conversations and shared vulnerabilities, they discover they're fighting the same battle: both were abandoned by fathers they loved, both are carrying shame that isn't theirs to carry, and both have built walls so high that love seems impossible.
As Sophie's dying father reaches out for reconciliation and Cole faces a crisis that mirrors his father's worst mistakes, they must choose between repeating the past or couraging forging a new future together.
Set in the breathtaking Montana wilderness, Little Lake Secrets is a deeply emotional contemporary romance about:
- Breaking generational cycles of trauma
- The ethics and complications of love between healer and healing
- Small-town communities that become family
- Learning that asking for help isn't weakness—it's the bravest thing you can do
