Beneath the Surface — Bob Guelker

It's pretty obvious that Sam Ryan and Sally Hunter should have more sense than to fall in love...

For starters, he is almost a generation older than she. Besides that, Sally is married. And she vows to stay that way, no matter how terrible her situation has become.
Canoes in Winter: Beneath the Surface takes you inside Sam's world--his Thoreau-like knowledge of nature; his quiet, personal practice of the spiritual; and his fulfilling life among the good folks of the little town of Stone Creek, Minnesota. He seems perfectly at peace. On the outside.
But the skeletons he has kept secret in his closet have once again come a' rattlin'. Just days before his fateful first meeting with Sally, he suffers another debilitating PTSD attack. He must cope with the seething guilt and anger that stems from childhood innocence brutally ripped from him.
Their unlikely friendship deepens quickly, and their ill-advised bond grows, in spite of Sally's guilt and Sam's history of failures in love. Then almost as quickly, the dogged realities of who they are and where they came from demand their due.
Still, there is a connection between their souls that cannot be denied...
Canoes in Winter: Beneath the Surface is a delightful modern romance set in small-town Minnesota. If you enjoy reading about campfires, horses and barrel racing, homemade wine, country life, and a second chance at love--this contemporary romantic novel is for you.