A new life in paradise should have healed her wounds. But for a woman struggling to hold on to her family and her sanity, one stormy night could change everything.
Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Lyn Liao Butler‘s Someone Else’s Life, which is out February 1st 2023.
Blow by blow, Annie Lin’s life crumbles. Her dance studio goes bankrupt. Her mother and beloved dog are gone the same year. Then a terrible accident leaves her young son traumatized.
It’s time for a change.
Palm trees, mai tais, peace and quiet―Annie should be at ease, safe in her new Kauai home with her husband and son. She hopes proximity to her family can provide them all with a sense of belonging and calm. But soon items from her past start turning up―her dog’s collar, a bracelet that disappeared years ago―and she has the unnerving sensation she’s being watched. Reality begins to fracture, and Annie’s panic attacks return. When, during a brewing storm, a woman appears on her doorstep looking for shelter, Annie is relieved to have the company and feels an unexplainable bond with her visitor.
As the night progresses, Annie realizes the woman is no stranger. Their lives are inextricably intertwined―and Annie might just lose everything.
The moment Annie Lin opened the door of the ohana, she wanted to slam it shut again. Their neighbor Kalani Pang waved at her from across the street with as much enthusiasm as a teenage cheerleader.
“Annie! Aloha!” Kalani’s booming voice wafted across the warm air toward Annie, along with the fragrance of the plumeria flowers that dotted Annie’s father’s property. He’d been letting Annie and her family stay in the guest cottage behind the main house since they’d moved to Kauai from New York after the new year.
Annie closed her eyes briefly, taking a breath to brace herself. It wasn’t even ten in the morning yet, and she was still groggy from a restless night. She opened her eyes and turned to run back inside (manners be damned), only to slam into her son and husband on their way out.
“Mommy, what’re you doing?” Finn asked, squinting up at her in the bright sunlight. He hugged his bear, Hot Chocolate, close to him. He never went anywhere without it, not since that August day almost six months ago.
Annie didn’t answer and glanced over her shoulder. She stifled a groan when she saw Kalani crossing the street toward them. Their neighbor’s chipper energy was soul-sucking, and Annie’s soul was already as hollow as a GI tract after a colonoscopy. (Thank goodness she still had a few years at forty-two for one of those.) Add a hangover and she’d much rather have opened the door to find a serial killer, to be honest.
“You want to go grab a coffee?” Kalani asked when she’d made it to their side. She pouted her full lips into a smile. “You’ve been living here for over a month and we still haven’t gotten together.” The sunlight bounced off Kalani’s shiny black hair so that the waves flowing to her low back rippled like lava down an active volcano.
“I can’t. I’m on my way to volunteer at the shelter.” Glad for a legitimate excuse, Annie raised her hands to her own dull black hair, which she’d wound up into a messy bun.
“Your wife’s too busy for me,” Kalani said to Brody, who was watching their exchange with an amused smile.
“Oh, I’m . . .” Annie started to say but stopped when Kalani burst into laughter.
“I’m just kidding.” Kalani’s hair swayed as she laughed. “But seriously, we need to get together soon. Our kids might get married one day.” She beamed at Finn. “Want to come over when Leila gets home from preschool?”
Finn had gone over to play with Kalani’s three-year-old daughter a few times without Annie. In another life, she would have enjoyed getting to know Kalani while their kids played. But now there was no way she could handle the social niceties needed to engage with the woman during a playdate. She would rather go an entire year without alcohol. Wait, no, she wouldn’t. She’d need the wine.
