You can’t go home again—Nick’s motto for the past twenty years. He was a teenager when he and his mom left his mentally ill and abusive father back in a small town in the northwoods of Wisconsin. Nick’s made a life for himself as an artist in New York with a new show scheduled in nine months. He should be in a painting frenzy but so far he’s hanging empty canvas. Then comes the call—his estranged father has killed himself. Nick flies home to Lacland, a house crumbling from years of neglect and one very fat bulldog.

Jonas doesn’t love his job as a research lab veterinarian, although he enjoys volunteering on his boyfriend’s canine behavioral studies. But when he discovers his so called life partner is messing around, Jonas leaps at a job offer in a small town miles away.

Despite the grief swirling around Nick and Jonas, their first meeting is electric. But Nick’s only in town for a short time and Jonas is still stinging from the betrayal. They try to keep their distance, but that’s easier said than done. Especially in a small town where misery and hope share the same address.