Winter Seedlings and Winter Suns - Jute and Allie struggle to overcome self-loathing caused by having been sexually abused

Winter Seedlings by Julie Roberts Towe

Jute would like to make herself invisible, but she can’t. Instead, she makes herself repulsive, even frightening. This keeps her step-dad’s hands off her, so it doesn’t matter if people mistake her for a boy or call her a freak. Jute is certain she doesn’t need love anyway, doesn’t want it. She doesn’t even know how to love. But if she did, she would love Allie.

Allie is beautiful, wears vintage dresses, and craves approval. She blames herself for what has been done to her. She knows if she becomes a better person, a person worth loving, a person willing to give up everything, a man will love her. If only Allie could see herself through Jute’s eyes…

When Allie inadvertently puts Jute in danger, they are forced to face their demons. If they drop their guard, will love be able to penetrate their scars and repair their hearts, or will their self-loathing destroy them before it can?

Winter Suns

A teenage girl in Eastern Kentucky has been isolated since birth. She experiences abuse from her father as unquestionably the will of God. She obeys his rules in hopes of banishing her demons and finding redemption. But when she breaks a rule in order to teach herself to read the Bible, she discovers something more powerful than God’s laws. A hidden letter written sixteen years prior by a woman named Allie to her lover, Jute, reveals both disturbing and electrifying secrets. She feels called to find Jute and deliver the letter to her, even if none of the maps in the Bible show the way to Nashville, Tennessee.

Meanwhile, in Nashville, Jute has decided to let go of Allie’s things. She asks her son, John, to take the boxes from the attic to the barn. To him, it’s all junk. He was never told about Allie. But, when John discovers an old photograph tucked inside one of the notebooks, he is instantly drawn into the mystery of what happened to the girl. What he discovers is even more horrifying than the secrets his mother is hiding. He wants to forget it all, but he can’t.

Add your review of "Winter Seedlings" and/or "Winter Suns" in comments!