Have you ever felt that life is rushing past you? And you are sleepwalking through the days? I sleepwalked through my life for eighteen years. It was the only way to survive my husband, Paul's abuse.

But now it is time to wake up. Because I realized that all these years I feared he would kill me, but there is a much worse fate. He might not kill me. This abuse might go on and on forever. And I know I don't want that.

So I escape to my aunt's house. A new life on a new continent. Far away for everything I knew. Even the woman I used to be. The woman Paul's hands created me to be.

I find my safe place. I return to my passion: art. I rebuilt a life around who I was meant to be before Paul.

But will people be interested in the demons displayed in my new art? And what about the handsome stranger I meet on the beach the day I arrive? Who is he, and why did my aunt allow him to live in her attic?

A sweet summer Christmas romance.

Warning: this story is about surviving partner abuse. If this theme is triggering for you, don't buy.