Three Rivers (A Gateway to Love Novel Book 1)

by Chloe T. Barlow

How do you start over when you gave everything to one life, one plan, and lost it all?

Althea refuses to allow herself to love again. Imprisoned in grief at twenty-four after her husband’s sudden death, she’s convinced her heart died along with him. She spends her days honoring his memory by clinging to the legal career he helped her to build and to the remaining pieces linking them together.

Griffen’s been running from his past. Despite success as an author and investigative journalist, he’s been traveling through life on autopilot. For a decade, he’s chosen perilous adventures and meaningless sex over the danger of any attachments. When he finally returns home to Pittsburgh, he’s slammed by the awakened memories and regret he’s spent years trying to escape.

A chance encounter brings them together. Their instant desire for each other – and the bond they discover between them – shocks them both. Despite her best efforts, Althea can’t resist Griffen’s charm or his intriguing proposition – if she agrees to a no-strings affair with him for the two weeks he’s in town, he swears he’ll walk away when their time is up. Assured she can test the waters of a new life while keeping her vow never to betray her husband’s memory by opening her heart to another, Althea throws herself into the escape Griffen provides her.

Their perfect plans go awry when the intensity of their connection overwhelms them. Will they risk it all on the chance of something great together…or will the power of their secrets and guilt tear them apart?

“A richly nuanced — and smolderingly clever — book about letting love shine in places where the past feels bigger than it needs to be. The cast of side characters range from quirky to mysterious, lending tremendous authenticity and depth to a romantic story that is so much more. A one-click must read!” Julia Kent, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

“A heartbreaking tale of letting go and learning to love again. A jaw-dropping debut novel you have to read.” – Helena Newbury, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author