Heart of Ice — Matthew Allen Dickerson

From the day she was born, Mina was taught that love was provided only if convenient to her parents.  Seldom did they find time for her, leaving her in the hands of paid caretakers, which would allow both her mother and father to focus on their own personal goals and careers.  As she grew up from child to teenager, accomplishments such as trophies and high grades gained her what little attention she yearned for.  Her only motivation in life was to be as successful as they were, to gain their approval and the care they denied her.  That was until she fell in love during her college years.  What should have been happily ever after ended in tragedy.  A grim reminder of what her parents had taught her.  Love made someone weak, fragile, and she refused to be a victim.  Not again. A dominating matriarch has chosen a specific path for each of her five children to follow. Their education, careers, and social life strategically planned. Every aspect of who they were as individuals molded to fit her personal agenda. Oliver, the youngest of four brothers, fell in love with the wrong woman in the eyes of his mother. Given the ultimatum, to choose a life of luxury or to follow his heart into an unforgiving world he was unprepared for, the answer was simple. However, the bitter truth of his decision revealed itself when he no longer could provide the wealth and status his fiance desired. Now, years later, Oliver finds himself facing a life crumbling around him, failure facing him at every turn, a lonely life to greet him each day. Mina finds encouragement through her flamboyant friend, Mitch, who refuses to allow her to live a life of isolation. Oliver tries to save his sister, Alice, feeling helpless as the kindness and compassion that once defined her fades under their mother's coercive influence. Fate guides two lives who are about to cross paths, their future shrouded in uncertainty. In the depths of winter's desolate landscape, a heartbeat begins to sound.