Always: A Novel

From the New York Times bestselling author of Blackberry Winter and The Violets of March comes a gripping, poignant novel about the kind of love that never lets go, and the heart’s capacity to remember.
 
Enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiancé, Ryan, at one of Seattle’s chicest restaurants, Kailey Crain can’t believe her good fortune: She has a great job as a journalist and is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As she and Ryan leave the restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers, and is stunned when their eyes meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of her life, Cade McAllister.
 
When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense—everything connected and felt right. But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what—and whom—she wants.
 
Alternating between the past and the present, Always is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she’s willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.
 
Praise for Sarah Jio
 
Goodnight June
 
“Sarah Jio’s delightful and uplifting novel is guaranteed to melt even the toughest cynic and deserves a top rating of five stars (plus the moon).”—Historical Novels Review
 
“A tribute to family and forgiveness.”—Booklist
 
Morning Glory
 
“Jio explores the degree to which time and distance give comfort to those who have experienced loss [with] a depth of feeling in her writing.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Jio has become one of the most-read women in America.”—Woman’s World
 
Blackberry Winter
 
“Compelling . . . an intoxicating blend of mystery, history, and romance.”—Real Simple
 
“Ingenious . . . imaginative.”—The Seattle Times 


From the Hardcover edition.