Butternut Lake

On the run from her abusive husband, Mila Jones flees Minneapolis for the safety and serenity of Butternut Lake. Ready to forge a new life, Mila's position as home health aide to Reid Ford is more than a job-it's a chance at a fresh start. Though her sullen patient seems determined to make her quit, she refuses to give up on him. Haunted by the car accident that nearly killed him, Reid retreats to his brother's cabin on Butternut Lake and lashes out at anyone who tries to help. Reid wishes that Mila would just go away . . . until he notices the strength, and the secrets, behind her sad brown eyes. Against all odds, Mila slowly draws Reid out. Soon they form a tentative, yet increasingly deeper, bond as Mila lowers her guard and begins to trust again. While the seemingly endless days of summer unfold, Reid and Mila take the first steps to healing as they discover that love can be more than just a dream.

Readers who love Susan Wiggs and Susan Mallery will adore New York Times bestselling author Mary McNear newest novel. A young woman travels home to Butternut Lake, confronting her past and the tragedy she and her friends have silently carried with them for over a decade while also facing an unknown future. Butternut Lake is an idyllic place-but for one woman, her return to the lake town she once called home is bittersweet…Sometimes life changes in an instant. Quinn LaPointe grew up on beautiful Butternut Lake, safe, secure, sure of her future. But after a high school tragedy, she left for college and never looked back. Becoming a successful writer in Chicago, she worked to keep out the dark memories of an accident that upended her life. But now, after ten years, she's finally returned home. Butternut is the same, and yet everything is changed. Gabriel Shipp, once her very best friend, doesn't want anything to do with her. The charming guy she remembers is now brooding and withdrawn. Tanner Lightman, the seductive brother of her late boyfriend, wants her to stick around. Annika Bergstrom, an old classmate who once hated Quinn, is now friendly. Everyone, it seems, has a secret. Determined to come to terms with the tragedy and rebuild old relationships, Quinn settles into Loon Bay Cabins, a rustic but cozy lakeside resort, where she begins writing down her memories of the year before the accident. Her journey though the past leads her to some surprising discoveries about the present. As secrets are revealed and a new love emerges, Quinn finds that understanding the past is the key to the future.