Cruel Destiny: a love story

★★★★★ "Emmanuelle has done it yet again. She found a way to slip into my mind and heart with her words and the creation of characters you can't help but fall in love with." (Goodreads)

I never thought I’d start over. Not in this quiet town, not as a single mom, and definitely not after everything I lost.

Once, music was my life. My voice filled sold-out stadiums. Now, I spend my days running a cozy shop in Green Mountain, Tennessee, trying to build something stable for my son… and stitching together the broken pieces of my heart.

Love? That was another lifetime.

Then Nick Peterson walked in...literally, by mistake.

He looked like every woman’s warning sign: brooding, beautiful, and carrying something too heavy for words. But behind those haunted eyes was a tenderness I didn’t expect…and a connection I couldn’t ignore.

Neither of us was looking for anything. We were too busy surviving. But somehow, in between late-night talks, slow smiles, and the silence that understood us both, friendship became something more.

Now, I’m terrified. Because falling for Nick means risking everything I’ve rebuilt—and I’ve already lost it all once.

And Nick... he has his own ghosts. Ones that don’t let go easily.

But what if fate brought us here for a reason? What if this messy, beautiful thing between us is worth fighting for?

This is our beginning. And I don’t know how it ends. But I do know this: I’ve never felt anything like this before.

Cruel Destiny is a deeply emotional, soul-stirring romance about finding light in the aftermath of grief, choosing love when it’s easier to run, and the kind of connection that doesn’t come around twice.

Perfect for readers who crave slow-burning tension, aching vulnerability, and characters who feel like they could walk right off the page.

🩷 strangers to friends to lovers

🩷 small town

🩷 second chances

🩷 found family

🩷 life after grief

🩷 soul mates

For fans of Jennifer Hartmann, Rebecca Yarros, Paige Toon, Nicholas Sparks, and Mia Sheridan.

Cruel Destiny is the first book in the Second Tear duet—a breathtaking tale of love, loss, and the undeniable pull of two hearts meant to find each other. This is the introduction to Nick and Dahlia’s beautiful and heartbreaking love story. It begins where Sweet Agony ends.

Cruel Destiny is perfect for those who love realistic and emotional romance, tear-jerkers, new adult and contemporary women's fiction, strangers-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, spicy and steamy romance, small town love stories, strong and sassy heroines, alpha and irresistible heroes, music and rock stars, single-parents, heartbreaking, and full of hope stories that will live in your heart forever.