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Ronald Duncan is a successful but emotionless and disconnected lawyer whose livelihood is in peril because of his apathetic personality. Clients don't like this disconnect, and neither did his ex-wife. Logical to a fault, Ronald determines to fix himself and flies to Arizona with his ten-year-old son for some soul searching. By chance, he meets an old college acquaintance, Melina Stanford, who is now a life coach. After a rocky reintroduction (they disliked each other intensely in college), Ronald hires her to awaken his emotional intelligence after she and his son, Daniel, develop an immediate and inexplicable friendship. Physical attraction spices this journey as Melina slowly brings Ronald along.
Hood chooses a dual narrative to advance an allegorical novel where Ronald and Melina's joint project becomes a metaphor for trusting God to show the way, especially when it concerns sacred love between a man and a woman. Ronald is a very slow learner and appears to be a stand-in for Hood, who reveals he lived decades without knowing "who he was." Hood condenses his characters' lives into months, with charming interactions between Daniel and the main characters, as well as highly relatable friction between the protagonists. Ronald's closed-off arrogance clashes with Melina's sensitive professionalism. Sometimes their shared love of Daniel (who just wants a monster truck and friends to play with) is the only reason they can stand each other. Tension builds as personal conflicts increase.
A sensitive and patient hand guides the story through team-building adventures with ample space for reflection, contemplation, and soul searching for both the main characters and the reader. Daniel remains the catalyst for an introspective journey in which the outcome is not always certain. Through the actions of his highly relatable characters, Hood brings to life the age-old search for self.