Echoes on the Sidelines

By Dana Velle

At forty-nine, Elena Navarro had her grief catalogued, her life in order, and no room left for wanting anything she couldn't keep.

Two years after she buried her husband, the Elmwood librarian lives by one rule: stay behind the glass. Then a downpour empties the bleachers at her son's game and leaves her sharing a cheap yellow poncho with the only other parent who didn't run for his car - Jack, a widowed mechanic who lost his wife slow the same way she lost her husband fast.

Neither of them is looking for this. Both are too careful, too scarred, too watched by a small town that already has opinions. But grief recognizes grief, and what begins as two people who can sit in the same silence becomes something with weight: a second chance neither believed they were allowed.

Then their teenage sons collide, the gossip turns, and the people they used to be start asking what it costs to want again.

They've both already survived losing everything. The terrifying part is having something left to lose.

For readers of Lucy Score and Susan Mallery.

Tropes: later-in-life romance, second chance, widow & widower, small-town romance, single parents, slow burn to steamy, grief & healing, found family.

A steamy standalone contemporary romance. Intended for adult readers (18+).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GV11GPD9
• ISBN13: 9798253729632
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 234 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"