In the frostbitten heart of Chicago, a scarred and solitary soldier finds a second chance at love with the man who broke his heart.
His twenty years are up, and Sergeant Jasper ‘Jazz’ Brookes is finally returning from war, his body scarred and his heart, once open and trusting, battling the relentless demons of PTSD. The world he left behind seems to have moved on without him. His marriage, a casualty of the war he fought both abroad and within, has ended in divorce.
Homeless by choice is fine until the Chicago winter bites, and he has no choice but to throw himself at the mercy of the charity he doesn’t want. When he finally finds his way to an old, weathered building in Humboldt Park—a safe space for soldiers returning from war to find their feet—he has an unexpected reunion. There, Jasper faces Alex Richardson, the boy who captured his heart when they were growing up, his first love, and the one he left behind when duty called.
Alex has never truly moved past the day Jasper walked away. Their encounter in this forgotten corner of Chicago ignites old flames and stirs long-buried emotions, and Jasper and Alex reconnect. They must navigate the shadows of their shared history and confront the pain, the longing, and the unspoken truths that linger between them.
And only then can they have a second chance at love.