A Misconception of Fate

Book excerpt: Five years after fleeing Seattle for a fresh start in Georgia, Sam Hawkins returns, unsure if he's heading home or leaving it behind. His homecoming reunites him with his high school buddies, but after the initial fun and games he comes face-to-face with a stark reality: Unemployment sucks. Work's not much better when his boss rides him and his attempts to casually play the field in a small office blow up in his face. It all just makes quitting that much sweeter. When he finally scores a break, his faith that everything happens for a reason is restored. But the celebration doesn't last long. He wakes up in the park, bruised, battered, and minus one Hawkmobile. Enter 17-year-old Monica Dawsey, who soon begins monopolizing his time, much to the chagrin of his mother--not to mention hers. The hard-drinking Sam and his teenage girlfriend have a settling influence on each other, and they'll need it when life hands them a disappointment so bitter that even Sam can't reconcile it with his vision of fate.