The Art of My Life (39 page)

Rachel, on a dead run from an affair
with a married man, snags the job on Jake’s boat before she can
change her mind. Her salvation is shoving ocean between her and
temptation and, just maybe, between her and an oil slick of
self-disgust.

The many-layered story weaves together
disparate strands into a seamless cord. Mother and daughter look
eerily alike—down to their lusts. Their symbiotic bond, forged in
the blood of childbirth on the kitchen floor and cemented by their
secrets, must be cracked open. A son must go home. Sin must be
expunged.

Tattered Innocence
is for
anyone who’s ever woken up sealed in a fifty-gallon drum of their
guilt.

1st Place Long
Contemporary, 2009 RWA Faith, Hope and Love Contest

Tracy Krauss '12 Top 5 Reads

Stuck in sleepy New Smyrna Beach one
last summer, Raine socks away her camp pay checks, worries about
her druggy brother, and ignores trouble: Cal Koomer. She’s a plane
ticket away from teaching orphans in Africa, and not even Cal’s
surfer six-pack and the chinks she spies in his rebel armor will
derail her.

The artist in Cal begs to paint
Raine’s ivory skin, high cheek bones, and internal sparklers behind
her eyes, but falling for her would caterwaul him into his parents’
life. No thanks. The girl was self-righteous waiting to happen. Mom
served sanctimony like vegetables, three servings a day, and he had
a gut full.

Rec Director Drew taunts her with
“Rainey” and calls her an enabler. He is so
infernally there like a horsefly—till he buzzes back to
his ex.

Raine's brother tweaks. Her dream of
Africa dies small deaths. Will she figure out what to
fight for and what to free before it's too late?

For anyone who's ever wrestled with
their dreams.