Born and raised on an isolated Appalachian mountain, sixteen-year-old Marli Meade yearns to break free from her father’s diabolical church but fears its clutches are so deep she may never escape. When she meets local boy Nate Porter, though, she realizes the life she craves—to be a normal teenager—is worth fighting for, even with the grave and deadly risk that fight would entail.

Book #2 in The Rowan Slone Series

Appalachian teen Rowan Slone has left her dysfunctional, violent past behind. She’s ready for her senior year in high school, she has a new job that she loves, and a safe place to call home. Rowan is close to achieving everything she’s ever wanted—a sense of family, a sense of purpose, and a sense of self.

But there are cracks in Rowan’s new life as relationship issues threaten to send her future crumbling to the ground, including managing self-harm impulses. When her long-held secret is discovered, Rowan must find the courage to fight for the most important thing yet—herself.

Seven years ago, an innocent act by Rowan Slone turned her life into a nightmare. Since the age of ten she’s lived with the burden of her baby brother’s death. Now she is seventeen and all she wants to do is graduate high school, go to college, and escape the loveless family she has endured all these years—the same family that holds her responsible for his death. But no one holds her responsible more than herself.