Songbird (Evans)

It begins with a little red envelope . ....... The one Jade doesn't want to send. The envelope that invites her mother, Beryl, to her wedding-and opens up more of her past than she cares to deal with. Jade has worked so hard to put her hardscrabble childhood behind her. And she's found everything she wanted in the beautiful green hills of Whisper Hollow, Tennessee. A thriving vintage shop all her own. A lovely one-eyed shepherd dog named Roscoe. And Max, the almost-too-good-to-be-true man she plans to marry in just a few weeks. For the first time in her life, her heart feels at home, and she can't wait to step out into their beautiful future. But can she really have a sweet by and by if she can't come to terms with yesterday?

Maybe in the wide-open country she can learn to breathe again. Happily married and owner of two successful boutiques, Jade longs to begin a family with her husband, Max. But when she discovers that Max has an illegitimate son-who he wants her to help raise-Jade's life is turned upside down. She flees to her childhood home, a rambling Iowa farmhouse, with enough room to breathe. There-while her mother's health grows fragile, and the tug of her first love grows stronger-Jade begins to question everything she thought she knew about family, love, and motherhood. In the wide-open landscape, Jade begins to see a future that doesn't rest on the power of her past, but in the goodness of God's tender mercies.

A fresh start is a gift. So is having a hand to hold. Jade and Max share a deep love, though revelations from his past have recently shaken their marriage. And Jade is completely smitten with Max's little son, Asa, whom she is now raising as her own. Their blended family brings her a joy she's never known. But there is one more secret to be uncovered. One that will impact them all. Max is doing his best to "man-up" and prove himself worthy of Jade's devotion. As well as that of his young son. It seems like life in Whisper Hollow, Tennessee, will pick up where it left off until Max is faced with an unusual opportunity-leave his family's law firm to coach high-school football in Texas. Realizing a fresh start will bring healing to their marriage, Jade takes the leap of faith and moves with him and baby Asa, bidding good-bye to her beloved Blue Umbrella shop. The new beginning in quaint Colby, Texas, is soon sullied when Max discovers the high-school program isn't all it seemed. While Max struggles to rebuild a once glorious football team, Jade wrestles with news that could break Max's heart . . . and change their lives forever.