Monsters in the Closet — Monica Alexander

Life got in the way.

It was a phrase I'd heard before, but I never understood it until I experienced it for myself. For twenty-three years I'd been in control of my life and my decisions. I'd made my own way, carved my own path, created my own happiness. But life's a funny thing. Just when you feel like you have it all figured out, it drops a bomb on you that you never saw coming.

In my case, that bomb was named Shana Lane, a name that still grates on my ears nearly four years later whenever I hear it on the radio or see it on the cover of a magazine at the grocery store. Shana Lane is someone I despise, because everything in my life was great until the day she came into it.

Sometimes things just don't work out. Sometimes you can't find a way around the obstacles you face in life. And sometimes you lose the one person you ever truly loved because of things that are out of your control.

Haley Brecken and Sawyer Everett understand this all too well. They were happy and in love until one day it all became too much. Life got in the way.

It's been more than three years since they've seen each other. When Haley finds out that Sawyer's going to be spending three months in her town and staying at the inn she runs, an array of emotions run through her, but one is stronger than all the others. She still loves Sawyer, and she wants him back. But old anger, the ever-present distance in their lives, and the things neither of them can change are just as prevalent as they were years earlier. Haley soon realizes that no matter how badly she wants to be with the man she loves, it might not be possible.

As much as it pains Sawyer to see Haley again because his feelings for her haven't changed, he knows being with her isn't an option. Nothing has changed for them. Nothing can solve the problems that surfaced years earlier. No matter if he has to see her day in and day out because his boss is filming a movie in her town, he's determined to keep his distance.

But feelings like they had don't just go away, and staying away from each other might be harder than they ever thought. Some people are just meant to be together â€" if they can find a way past everything that tore them apart once before.