I love visiting Forestville, and this was no exception. 

Calloway Gilstrap has been hiding from life for seven years, closed off from the world as best he can. Avoiding writing the hard stuff that is supposed to be his memoir. Living with guilt, regret, grief, pain, and a profound sense of loss. He is quiet and shy, but he also has more reasons to avoid speaking. But he loves books, poetry, and gardening. 

Fraser Strickland is new to Forestville after retiring from being a firefighter and smokejumper for thirty years. His challenges are more pronounced due to his leg pain and its limitations. But he is also trying to start fresh and figure out what is next for him in his new circumstances while grieving the loss of his career.

One crash meeting sets off more attempts at tentative reaching out. They share a love of reading. They are both stuck at a crossroads and not sure which way to go and how to get there. Fraser is immediately interested in spending any time Calloway will give him. He is patient, kind, attentive, understanding, thoughtful, and persistent. He slowly begins to break down Calloway's walls brick by brick. I loved seeing Calloway start to climb out of his self-imposed prison of grief and how Fraser accepted and guided him, and just met him where he was at without pushing too hard. Fraser is such a gentle, caring bear, and I adored him. I loved seeing them bond and begin to live life more fully together, and begin to build confidence. They make their own rules and just try to progress day by day.

It is a heartfelt, small-town, slow-burn, new-friends-to-lovers, hurt-comfort story with mature characters dealing with grief, loss, fear, and trying to find purpose. These are two broken men who help put each other back together. They find companionship, trust, safety, passion, hope, and healing in order to ultimately move forward. But it takes take, perseverance, and they have to be willing to be brave and compromise along the way.