Ashes and Awakening

Book Description for "Ashes and Awakening"When everything burns, sometimes the only way forward is through the flames. Elena Winters once believed in the permanence of art-until a gallery fire consumed three years of her work in a single night. Now, she can't pick up a brush without seeing smoke. Can't imagine a future beyond the ashes of her past. Can't remember the woman who once created beauty without fear.
Then she meets Dante Rossi. An architect haunted by his wife's death, Dante understands loss in a language Elena finally speaks. He sees past her carefully constructed walls to the artist still burning beneath. When he commissions her for his community art center-a space designed to heal the broken-Elena must choose between the safety of numbness and the terrifying vulnerability of creation. But loving Dante means risking her heart alongside her art.
It means confronting the critics who dismissed her post-fire work, the family who never understood her passion, and the paralyzing fear that everything beautiful eventually turns to ash. As Elena and Dante build something new from their combined wreckage, they discover that transformation requires fire-and that some flames are worth walking through together. A deeply emotional romance about second chances, creative courage, and learning that the most beautiful art emerges from our broken pieces.
Perfect for readers who love: Emotional, character-driven romance Artists and creative heroes/heroines Widower second-chance love stories Found family and healing journeys Pacific Northwest settings Stories where love heals but doesn't "fix"