The Journals. The Waiting Heart, #1

When thirty-two-year-old Claire Hartman inherits her grandmother's house in Willowbrook, Indiana, she expects to spend a few weeks sorting through old furniture and faded memories. What she finds instead changes everything. Hidden in the attic is a trunk full of leather-bound journals written by Owen Mitchell, a distant cousin who died in 1926 at just twenty-four years old. His entries from 1924 to 1926 reveal a young man searching for something Claire understands all too well-real love, genuine connection, and someone who truly sees him.
As Claire reads Owen's words night after night, something unexpected happens. She begins to fall for him. Not for the historical figure or the old photograph, but for the heart and mind revealed in every carefully written page. Owen writes about waiting for "the one"-someone who listens with her whole heart, who values ideas over small talk, who understands that love should feel like coming home to yourself.
The journals become Claire's refuge and her obsession. She talks to Owen's photo. She writes him letters he'll never read. She visits his grave and tells him things she's never told anyone living. Her best friend grows worried. Her sister stages an intervention. But Claire can't stop reading, can't stop feeling this impossible connection across ninety-nine years. Owen died before finding his person.
But his words found Claire. And now she has to decide: Is this profound emotional recognition across time worth holding onto? Or is she in love with a ghost, hiding from real life with someone who can never love her back?A deeply emotional story about the power of written words, the nature of love across time, and what it means to truly see another person's soul. Perfect for readers who believe some connections transcend everything-even death itself.
THE JOURNALS is Book One of the Genealogy Series, a collection of romantic novellas exploring love, history, and the bonds that connect us across generations.