A Near Horizon: And Other Stories

By N.M. Lombardi

In seven single-sitting tales, A Near Horizon explores stories of budding romance, from quaint Wyoming prairies to distant, fantastical shores. Stories contain strong language and mature situations, but no explicit sexual content.

A Near Horizon
Historic Romance with themes of unplanned pregnancy and loss.

1952. Pregnant and alone on a Wyoming highway with a storm on her heels, Maggie Olsen accepts a ride from Levi Miller, a solitary sheep rancher whose kindness offers her the first safety she's known in months. What starts as a night of shelter becomes a season of unexpected but much-needed connection as Maggie prepares for her child's birth, and Levi opens his home and heart in ways he never planned.

Neighborly
Historic romance with themes of simple, tender human connection.

A short, sweet, rural tale about a struggling widow, an unexpected helping hand, and the little ways that tragedy leads two people to shore each other up.

Chance
Contemporary romance with themes of disability.

Mary's daily train rides are easier with Kai beside her: quiet, thoughtful, and impossible not to care about, even though he belongs to someone else. But as he grows suddenly, uncharacteristically distant, it's hard to shake the sense that something else in his world is unraveling. How can she be there for him, when he may already be destined to be with someone else?

Drift
Superhero Romance with a humorous slant.

Macy should be used to disaster. After all, she's a superhero. Or...a superhero's sidekick. Or... she was.

After a coordinated attack leaves Queen City reeling, and Macy unexpectedly single, she finds herself getting a little too familiar with an officially designated "bad guy". Except he's also funny. And brilliant. And who doesn't have a complicated past, in this line of work? And now he has designs on her.

Reflections
Contemporary romance with themes of PTSD, physical and mental struggles.

Sgt. James Doyle came home from war to a new, more personal battlefront, left to bear the burden of severe physical scars. His one small solace is the VA hospital's therapy dog program, until the intervention of an enigmatic volunteer pushes him to either find peace with himself or build his walls even higher.

The Venus Effect
A continuation of Reflections

Sgt. James Doyle continues to explore his relationship with therapy volunteer Tammy, learning more about her history, and trying to divine just where it is the two of them are headed. But when Tammy begins to withdraw, he must face the possibility that she has scars of her own she's been learning to live with.

The Fire Inside
Fantasy romance

When a storm washes a shipwrecked sailor to her shore, Fate offers refuge, discovering quickly that he's something wondrous and dangerous in equal measure. But she isn't afraid.

As cautious trust grows into something deeper, the outside world at last finds them, its hand outstretched, prepared to take from them all that they've built. They must decide if their battles are already behind them, or if they have fire enough within them to wage one last war.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G2R937LK
• ISBN13: 9798274557986
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"