The Story Behind Return by Land By Tracey Jerald

By Tracey Jerald

Divorce is messy. In fact, a friend once likened it to me as having your heart chopped out with an axe for fun then trying to function afterward. But she persevered for the sake of her children and has since found love again.

I couldn’t be happier for her and her family.

Divorce is raw. It’s real. And it struck a chord deep inside of me because there are so many challenges people face when they are living through the dissolution of their marriage. How do they cope emotionally? Provide for their children? Try to preserve the relationship their children have with their now co-parent while not choking them to death?

And above all, what happens if they fall in love with someone new? How does that dynamic fit in without harming anyone?

There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. In fact, all I found were they brought about more questions and more heartache for the people involved.

Welcome to the original musings of Return by Land.

But how could I manage to get a single mom – Meadow Borneman – in Juneau, Alaska and a single man – Kody Laurence – living in Portland, Oregon together? Well, that was actually the easiest part. Enter a pain in the rump ex who demanded my heroine move to the lower 48 as part of their custody agreement.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the idea of writing about a brotherhood of friends was sparked by my time at the Great Alaskan Lumberjack show in Ketchikan, Alaska. Being selfless, I picked up calendars (read that to be eight) as gifts for my crew so they, too, could meet the Lumberjacks.

But when I came across an interesting profile of a female Lumberjack who “threw better than most of the men,” I knew I’d struck character profile gold. The devil inside me hissed, “Yes. Meadow needs to be able to do that.”

Since I already knew from Return by Air that Kody was good with his tools as the owner of a well-respected construction company, I had to ensure Meadow was a strong woman where it counted. Something simple like being able to out throw Kody in his Lumberjack show specialty gave her the confidence boost she needed to level the playing field between them. Because even though he’s swoops in like a white knight, this woman has depths Kody hasn’t begun to explore despite the fact he’s been in love with her practically since the moment they met.

Seventeen years earlier.

Return by Land is the second book in the Glacier Adventure Series. While standalone, it continues the story about a lifelong brotherhood. It’s also about second chances and closing a gaping hole in your soul when you have the ability to.

Tracey Jerald is the author of the new book Return by Land.

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