Book excerpt: James Allen is a high school chemistry teacher in the small East Texas town of Richie, Texas. With a master’s degree in Chemistry from Texas A&M University, he could have tripled his salary in industry but Jim's mother, an English teacher before leukemia took her life, had instilled a love of teaching in her son. He has chosen the family farm and a tranquil life fishing with his mentor and friend Jess Winters, a retired math teacher. On the surface, Jim appears to be a clumsy, nerd, stumbling through life with his head in the sand, but content with the quiet life of a teacher. He does not date, even skipped his senior prom, but at the beginning of his fifth year as Richie High School’s Chemistry teacher, Jim happens to sit down beside new hire English teacher, Kay Adams. Kay is an ex-Marine and a widow with a five-year-old daughter, whose husband, another Marine, was killed by a landmine in Iraq. After leaving the Marines because of the difficulty finding a safe place for her daughter when deployed on assignment, Kay has started a new life with a degree in English and a teaching certification. She lands in Richie, Texas, seeking a small-town environment for her daughter. On that day, when he sits down beside Kay, sparks fly and Jim is smitten. Up ahead in their journey as a couple, there are many hills to climb in a gossipy, corrupt, little town but hopefully love is on their side.