CHERYL R. LANE

Madeline Wellington awakens a year after the Civil War with no memory of who she is or the life she once lived. Found by a man who claims to be her betrothed, she clings to the only truth she’s offered—until she discovers his story is built on lies. In reality, she had been married to another man… and they had a child together.

Ethan Wellington is shattered after losing his wife of one year. Grief eventually gives way to the hope of a new beginning, and he remarries—only for Madeline to reappear a month later, alive but changed. When Ethan learns his new wife, Elizabeth, is expecting, he makes the heartbreaking decision to send Madeline to her brother’s home. The separation is agonizing for them both, even as they struggle to share responsibility for their child.

At her brother’s farm, Madeline meets William Brown, a former soldier who served beside Ethan and quietly vowed to watch over her. When a growing problem threatens her family’s reputation, William offers a solution—a marriage of convenience that could protect her future. But accepting his proposal means closing the door on the love she still feels.

A sudden tragedy sets off a chain of events that forces long-buried truths into the light. Madeline is haunted by a final, elusive memory—one tied to the very accident that stole her past. Uncovering it may be the only way to save her life.  Will she reclaim the happiness she longs for, or will the shadows of her forgotten past steal it away once more?