Under the Hemlock Tree: A Coming-of-Age Story

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Janeen fished for information. "What about your visitor? Thanksgiving week, you introduced us to Chelsea, the clever one with the curves."

"She's a friend," I said.

"Girlfriend?" Megan probed.

"She's a girl. She's a friend. We aren't boyfriend-girlfriend," my voice shook a little. Janeen and Megan exchanged glances. The room went eerily silent.

"We're dying to know," Megan pressed. "Where did she spend the night?"

"Chelsea spent the night in my cottage," I confessed.

"You dirty dog," Janeen cried out. "Listen to him, Megs! He wouldn't give us a tour of his cottage a few weeks ago. Once we got him out of his shell, there's no stopping him!"

Cloistered in a remote private prep school and addicted to work, Skyler is captivated by three dynamic twenty-something women: Chelsea, a sexual trauma survivor he's reconnecting with a decade after high school; Megan, an unaffectedly open and lovely colleague; and Janeen, a mysterious extrovert with a jaw-dropping physique. Each young woman embodies Skyler's conflicting aspirations, passions, and desires.

On the precipice of a psychological breaking point, will he discover a pathway into adulthood with the woman of his dreams, or will Skyler spiral downward into self-destruction?

TRIGGER WARNING: This book contains themes and/or descriptions of ABUSE, CHILDHOOD TRAUMA, DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES & RELATIONSHIPS, MENTAL ILLNESS, NONTRADITIONAL GENDER RELATIONSHIPS, RELIGION, and SEXUAL VIOLENCE. If you are sensitive to this subject matter, please consider other content.