A Life, Freed

On her own for the first time, Rowan Slone is no longer waiting for the future. She's living in the present, and relishing every minute of it. She has a new boyfriend. She is helping best friend, Jess, raise her five-month-old son, Jacob. And she continues to work as Assistant Manager at the animal shelter-all while settling into her first semester of college. Rowan's stars are aligned and she's not looking back.

But all is not as golden as it seems. Being a young mother is too much for Jess to handle, leaving Rowan to shoulder much of the burden of raising Jacob. Trina becomes involved in a religious cult, causing Rowan to fear she may have lost her sister forever. And her mother has a new psychiatrist whose goal is to get Rowan into therapy, forcing her to deal with her mother, and the past, once and for all.

Adding to the rising turmoil, Rowan's first love, Mike Anderson, returns, and wants to see her. She is surprised how much she wants to see him, too. But his sudden reappearance makes her wonder if there is room in her future for the boy with the pine-colored eyes or is it too little, too late?

As the winds begin to stir, threatening to send Rowan's carefully-built life into a tailspin, she must search deep inside herself to discover what she truly wants. Will soul-searching help her achieve that elusive sense of peace and family she's always craved or will the pain of the past prove too great?