by Casey Wilson
First published 2022
Madison watches her fourteen-year-old daughter Abbie pace anxiously through another temporary home in Millbury. Madison wants to promise stability but fear keeps them moving from town to town. Everything shifts when Duke, a spirited golden retriever puppy, bursts into the community center where Madison works. Abbie stops pacing the moment she meets Duke. The puppy belongs to Arthur, a seventy-five-year-old man who struggles to handle Duke's energy. Madison proposes a solution that benefits everyone: she will train Duke so Abbie can spend time with the dog. The arrangement creates an unexpected family unit. For the first time, Madison considers staying put. She feels hope for a different kind of life. But Madison's past refuses to stay buried. When it surfaces, it threatens to destroy the fragile bonds they have built. Duke brought them together, but the real test comes when forces try to tear them apart. The golden retriever must prove whether love can overcome the dangers that chase them.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Millbury
256 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Grand Central Publishing