SPLINTERED DREAMS: The Dare to Love Series Book 1 by Diana Lynn – Romance Fiction, Contemporary, Self-Discovery

After decades spent in a loveless, broken marriage, Crisa wants another chance at love. In Splintered Dreams, a romance novella by Diana Lynn, she must first stumble through her own insecurities to find it.

When Crisa’s husband, Alan, dies unexpectedly she is left with a stark emptiness inside her heart. Her marriage had been a sham. Her husband’s infidelity and lies crushed her idea of love and left her with questions about who she is, what she wants, and will she ever trust someone with her heart again. Casual sexual relationships can’t fill the void. She needs true love.

Physical intimacy is only part of what Crisa desires. She yearns for the kind of love that lasts a lifetime.

A chance at love falls in her lap when her friendly, affable coworker, Slade Doyle, finds her in the office cafeteria. Their friendly banter turns to flirting over coffee, followed by an intriguing invitation to dinner. The surprise relationship sprouts easily, but Crisa must push past her instincts to protect her vulnerabilities as she struggles to find a path to love once again.

However, Crisa is not the only one who must tackle demons from the past. Slade’s had his own bumpy journey through a series of failed relationships and meaningless hook-ups.

Splintered Dreams lays bare the familiar challenge of healing a heart and trusting yourself enough to love again.

No matter how long it takes, or what mistakes are made along the way, Crisa and Slade begin to search for lasting love. By traveling this road together, they uncover layers of their own selves they would have otherwise never found.

Older than most romance protagonists, Crisa and Slade develop a mature relationship based first on friendship. They stumble a few times in their decision-making, but don’t allow poor reasoning and motivation to stand in their way. Instead, communication leads them, and their conflicts opens the door to a deeper understanding of themselves, and each other.

Crisa and Slade’s budding love draws readers in with unanswered questions behind the choices they’ve made in the past and how those same choices affect their own love story.

Crisa chose to stay with her late husband after he offered her a more than generous divorce settlement twenty years before his death. And Slade, with his long history of short-lived, sometimes unhinged relationships leads us to wonder if something in his own personality was the cause of his failed adventures in dating.

The journey to find these answers, and true love, makes Splintered Dreams a bright, thoughtful romance.

Diana Lynn’s endearing love story explores the burgeoning relationship of two people who must break down the defenses they’ve erected through the years to protect their hearts so they can open the door to true love.