Robbie’s dad has always been hard on Robbie and his brothers, but when their mom dies on Robbie’s sixteenth birthday, he becomes downright abusive. Robbie doesn't understand why his dad is so mean to him or why his brothers resent him for their mom's accident, but he desperately tries to hide the bruises. On top of that, after his dad's horse training jobs run out, he moves them to Colorado to their uncle's ranch in the mountains. At Uncle Caleb's cabin, Robbie meets Sam, a boy whose family also lives on the property. Finally he has a real friend who shares his love of horses, but Sam is black and openly gay. Both traits incur Robbie’s father’s rage. When his dad attacks Robbie in front of Uncle Caleb for standing up for Sam and himself, all of their secrets are thrown out into the open, and Robbie's life is changed forever.

Six months after moving to Thornwood, Robbie’s life is slowly getting better. With Dan in jail, he should feel safe from the abuse he suffered before, but that does little to calm his nightmares. Fortunately Sam, his boyfriend, is always there to help him through the worst of them, and he finds peace while out riding his horse. But things are far from perfect. His little brother is hurting, his older brother is angry all the time, and the family he loves is breaking apart in front of him. Sam only wants to see Robbie happy. He loves his boyfriend and will do anything for him, including standing up to Robbie’s older brother. His favorite times are when they’re out riding together and leaving the rest of the world behind, but those perfect moments can’t last forever, especially when tragedy comes to the ranch.

A Companion to the Robbie & Sam Series Three years after running from Thornwood, Colorado, to join the Army, Daniel Messana is no closer to figuring out who he is or what he wants out of life. Now that he’s home, his constant companions are loneliness, PTSD, and guilt over the way he mistreated one of his brothers and abandoned the other. Franklin Cooper, or Coop, enlisted at eighteen and loved every minute he spent in the Army—until an IED in Afghanistan took his sight. Now he’s home and, with his service dog by his side, ready to regain his independence. The trouble is no one will let him do anything for himself. He’s drowning beneath his family’s oppressive love, and his only respite is the time he’s allowed to spend at the on-base pizza place once a week. That’s where he meets Daniel, and those afternoons become even more special. But both men have a lot to work through before they can take the next step together.