Like the Clouds Break: a small-town story of grief, second chances, and love that dares to bloom after the storm

Some storms never break, they just change direction.

Hate is easy. Hate is natural. Hate has consumed Stella Santino.

Five years ago, a massive blackout storm stole Ryder Mason-her first love, and the only person who kept her steady. She’s been broken ever since, driven by two sources: grief as cold as the night he died, and the fierce, burning certainty that Ryder’s best friend, Trev Collins, is responsible for his death.

Trev’s guilt is written in his silence and his unstable temper, which only feeds Stella’s consuming hatred. He was the last person to see Ryder alive, and the chaos Trev brings feels exactly like the storm that ruined her life.

The only refuge Stella finds is with JR. His steady presence is a quiet melody in what’s left of her messy life. But to choose JR is to finally close the door on Ryder’s memory, which is a sacrifice that feels less like healing and more like the ultimate and final betrayal of the man she can’t let go of.

When a sudden truth about Ryder’s final night throws Stella and Trev together, the wall of her hatred starts to crack. As her anger collapses, it only ignites a burning connection that demands her to make an impossible choice.

A powerful and suspenseful finale to the Mount Vernon trilogy, Like the Clouds Break is a devastating account of grief, fate, and the brutal truth that shatters all certainty. Will Stella accept the quiet comfort of the life JR offers, or is she destined to chase the brutal truth from the night she lost Ryder, even if it means running straight into the arms of the storm she’s learned to fight so hard against?