Healed Heart — Melissa Walker

This was not how Eric Monroe imagined that his life would turn out. One by one everything in his life seemed to turn to ash: his parents' marriage, his career in the military, his brother's family, and his friends. It's all gone with no hope of getting it back. Now, in a life of constant changes and heartache, he finds himself starting over in a new town and trying to figure out this new life as a single father to his niece. He is convinced he has to now do everything on his own to make sure she gets the life he dreamed of but never had, that is until he meets a woman at church and she starts turning his life upside down. Now he must decide, can he open his heart enough to risk a chance at love or will he shut down and close his heart forever? Maci Drew has watched as her older sister lives out the life she always dreamed of herself, having found the love of her life young and settling down to start a family and experiencing a marriage of strength and love similar to the one their parents had modeled for them when they were young. Working as a preschool teacher, she is surrounded by children every day by what her heart longs for and she can't help but wonder if she'll ever have the joy of a child's laughter in her home. Love has always seemed to elude her, but then, that was before Eric walked in the door. Can she get him to open up and trust her or are they both destined to be alone?