THE LOVE THAT REMAINS

Grief changes you, and no one is more aware of that inescapable fact than Carlotta Mercier.

It’s been four years since her husband, John Paul, passed, but moving on feels impossible. She feels like a shell of the woman she once was, but what else is there? Better to just lose herself in work. Better to fill her days to the brim so she doesn’t have time to wallow. Never mind that she’s so lonely for his company that she’d rather be alone if she can’t have him. Never mind that she’s so starved for his touch that her dreams of him border on hallucinations. Never mind because her heart will always be broken after losing the soul mate she waited for most of her life to meet. How can anyone move on from that? 

Apparently, her husband, John Paul, knew.

In a letter written the year before he passed, Carlotta’s husband, who loved to celebrate his wife and the day they married, guides her through a tenth-anniversary trip he planned before he got sick. A trip that will take her to his hometown of New Orleans, where she will finally get to know the man he was before he left that city. Will this trip down memory lane help Carlotta discover who she is now that he’s gone? Can a young man who idolized her husband introduce her to the woman born from the love that remains?

This is my love letter to New Orleans. My favorite city. The home of my heart. A city where you can have an intimate conversation with death while celebrating life.



The Love That Remains is a love story with a little sexy lagniappe (lan’ yap) on the side, but this is “women’s” [yes, I hate this genre label because it’s so binary, but no other exists for now] fiction with strong romantic elements. Expect life to happen to this character as the story won’t be limited to romance but her learning to live with her grief and accept new love. I hope you enjoy it!

Content Warnings:

Death of a spouse

Cancer

IVF (but not infertility)

Unprotected sex

Graphic sex

Standalone