Lost Souls - Hardcover

Sometimes it takes finding someone else, to find yourself all over again. A woodland river was the musical backdrop that drew their lives together forever. Get to know James and Gabriel and follow them on their joint journey of love and self-discovery as they encounter and overcome the obstacles of merging their lives...and worlds, together. On a warm, humid summer evening while vacationing, James encounters blonde, seemingly carefree Gabriel hitchhiking on the side of a lonely stretch of road. Attracted to and intrigued by this smiling, bubbly stranger, James invites Gabriel to join him for the rest of his sightseeing week of leisure. During their week together, James and Gabriel very quickly form a close bond; confident, self-assured and intuitive, James suspects Gabriel isn’t all he appears to be. Slow to trust others, Gabriel eventually feels comfortable enough with James to open up to him and reveal his real life, his need to escape it, and his fears of returning. In the surroundings of a secluded stretch of a small, lazy woodland river, James and Gabriel learn they share many of the same fears and uncertainties in their very different, but similarly monotonous lives. In the quiet of a small motel room, they find passionate love, and a soulmate who accepts the other for exactly who they are. When they part at the end of the week, they resolve to stay in contact; months later, after nurturing an increasing need to be together again, the two finally reconnect, introducing themselves into different worlds. Feeling that his privileged upbringing and familial responsibilities are the root of his unhappiness, Gabriel breaks away and follows James back to his home in the suburban hills of Maryland. The two are frequently drawn back to the quiet little Pennsylvania river where their love began, and Gabriel finds that he is being drawn back home to his family as much as their river retreat; James also finds himself welcomed into Gabriel’s world, unexpectedly finding a loving, accepting, surrogate family he didn’t realize he was needing. Gabriel finds himself back in the Bryn Mawr home surrounded by the family, now with James at his side. Amidst increasing work demands and schedules, James and Gabriel begin to drift apart. Unable to bear the distance from his soulmate, Gabriel makes a desperate plea to James; unwilling to give up, Gabriel finds a way to lead James back to where it all began, bringing both their vision and their love back into focus.