May 28, 2018
Tagg (From the Start) crafts a beautiful romance filled with humor, mystery, and heartfelt emotion. Despite efforts to prove himself otherwise, Bear McKinley cannot escape his past as a felon. When Bear is asked to leave the mission field in Brazil due to his shady past, he fears his chances are over. He travels home to Atlanta only to discover that his family, which had always been engaged in crime, is worse off than he remembered. When Bear is suddenly given the responsibility of his niece and nephew and instructed to leave Atlanta immediately, he flees to a place of happy memories: Maple Valley, Iowa—where he briefly felt at-home after leaving Atlanta. Raegan Walker has been pining for Bear ever since the day he left Maple Valley to chase his dreams of establishing a church in Brazil. His sudden reappearance in her life causes her feelings for him to resurface, and she begins to hope that, this time, their relationship will have a chance to thrive. As Bear bonds with his niece and nephew, he begins to regret losing contact with his family for the past six years. When he receives a letter from the mission board in Brazil asking him to come back, Bear faces a decision. Tagg’s moving story beautifully explores themes of redemption and the nature of home.