crabapple house publishing

Coming first won’t ruin you. Longing for it will.

Born to replace the little girl her parents lost, feisty Australian botanical artist, Viola Buckley, knows the impoverishment of being loved in the shadow of the darling who came before her. Only a first-place win for her art will secure freedom from the heartaches of a second-place childhood.

When Viola’s mother requires seaside therapy, they retreat to Phillip Island’s Blue Wren House for Rest Cure, a cruel Victorian Era remedy promising restoration at a price Viola cannot afford... or ignore.

Neither can she ignore visiting American, woodworker, Silas Swift.

Widowed, quick-witted yet guarded, Silas will lose his family carpentry business unless he reclaims a long-abandoned treasure, hidden in the pieces of a kit home, now fashioned into the island guesthouse. He’s not hunting romance, no matter how beguiling his entanglements with Viola.

And she will not be burned twice, by falling into a heart that’s already loved another. Still, Phillip Island holds more than healing winds and buried treasures.

For brave souls willing to face the firestorms of love, it offers second chances.