"When it happened, all those years ago, when I knew what I had done I felt so sick. So dirty. There are moments now, years later, when the day is bright and everything seems so beautiful, and then I slip into that darkness. I'm in that day again where I did what I did. I want to die. So that's why I'm careful with us. That's why I walked away tonight and won't come back until after midnight. That's why I keep my distance, always try to check my emotions, my lust. That's why I always whisper, 'Are you okay? Are you alright?' when we make love. That's why we can be friends, friends who sleep in the same bed, but why I would never be your boyfriend again, not in a million years, Dylan Mesda." Dylan Mesda and Lance Bishop attempt to sustain a relationship whose trust was once so violently broken, but help is in the way in the form of young Elias Anderson. Brendan and Kenny attempt to keep their union alive while Sheridan comes to terms with the deepest love he has ever known while the second greatest love, Logan Banford, struggles to make a life as an aging escort. There are new people in Rossford as well: the dark and strange Maggie Biggs; young poet, Jonah Layton. Sean Babcock returns after a long absense to be reunited with the brother he harmed. Todd and Tara's daughter, Maia, is all grown up. Laurel Houghton, so steady in life, is about to be made unsteady in love, and the childless Will and Layla will have their lives permanently altered by a trip overseas.

Rory, High Prince of Failmark, and his cousins Sir Gaheran and Sir Gowan arrive at the quiet home of Harlan Tamlinson and his sister Issenfray to call them back into the service Rhyan, High King of the Ten Kingdoms. Worried about the growing strength of his treacherous father-in-law, Markhan Corvailen, King Rhyan prepares to pit himself against his old enemy. Rhyan is not the only one with plans. As Brynn Ellisand prepares to marry the King's oldest daughter, Mellanie, he meets a love that will change his life. Princess Sendra, Rhyan's youngest child will do anything for freedom, even if it means running off to her grandmother, Arnave, the witch who launched a civil war that nearly tore the High Kingdom apart. Queen Alsyce strives to carve a place of power for herself between her warring husband and father while her brother, the one time beloved of Harlan seeks revenge for the abuse done to him long ago. Harlan and Issenfray, who sought to escape the glittering court of Clearstone Castle, and the sorrow they experienced there long ago are placed in the midst of intriguing kings and queens, scheming wizards and enchantresses, and in the end no one can escape the visions of fire which threaten to engulf the Ten Kingdoms of Failmark, The Hallowed Land.

Fenn said, "You have a great musical gift and it comes from Tom. You think of him as a very sweet, very dear man, and he is. But he once composed an entire score in his head on a train ride. That's the thing about geniuses, they rarely know they are." Dylan asked his father, "Have you ever told Dad that?" "It wouldn't sound right. Tom has always had a hard time believing in his own brilliance. He never believed it when I told him how great he was. But... if he wasn't what I said he was, then why would I have loved him?" To come to the end, you must go to the beginning, and so the last Rossford book begins not some years after the last, but nearly twenty years before the first. The young characters we began with: Layla, Will, Brendan, Dena and Milo are entering their middle years and Laurel, Dylan, Maia and their friends are coming into the world of adulthood, but here is also the story of Fenn, Tom, Bryant, Todd, Adele and Nell and how they came to be the people we first meet in The Houses in Rossford.

"But you're leaving me. For him." Dylan shook his head. "It isn't like that. It's not him." "Then, I don't..." "I'm not leaving. I'm just not your boyfriend. And it's because we don't work. Not really. And we shouldn't work. It shouldn't be an issue...".. Dylan said, fighting it and pulling away. "I am too young to be this old... "It's about...how if I keep this up I'll be a senior citizen at thirty." Dylan Mesda is fifteen years old, and caught between two loves and an almost uncontrollable sexuality. But he is not the only one going through changes. Between Paul and Noah, long settled into relationships, a spark will be kindled. Meredith Affren seeks affection and adventure away from Mathan, and an old love tests the new love between Sheridan Klasko and Chay Lewis. Away from Rossford, Brendan and Kenny attempt to stay afloat and Brian Babcock returns to Rossford after a long absence only to meet the familiar specter of Chad North.

THE CITY OF ROSSFORD The night of the gang rape, Chay got the call, and all the days around that time people would shake their heads and say, "Things like this don't happen in Rossford. Things like this never happen." So begins the fourth Rossford novel. Nearly ten years have passed since Fenn Houghton and his lover Todd made off with Ed Callan's money, and on the night we return to Rossford it is haunted by an attack on an innocent, young girl. In a story darker that the previous triptych, while old characters and old joys remain, a new darkness and new people come into the story of Rossford as its citizens come to grips with the traumas of life and tragedies from which even the city of Rossford cannot escape.

Well, when last we left off Noah Riley was being held at gunpoint in Fenn Houghton's house over some money that he had stolen, only he hadn't stolen it and it was drug money anyway. Not that they were really doing drugs. Well, they were, but the drugs were being done at a party for a pornstar and Todd, Fenn's significant other was filming it. That's because Fenn and Todd were running out of money and Fenn's sister was finding out that her husband was not only cheating on her, but had a secret family, with her secret sister. See, Adele had a sister she never knew about who turned out to be her husband's mistress, which meant that her daughter Layla, Fenn's niece, had a brother she never knew who is now dating Claire, the sister of Paul who she never knew used to be Johnny Mellow, a gay pornstar, which leads us back to the party, which makes things very confusing. And we haven't even gotten to the DVD Brian Babcock made which ruined Paul's relationship with Kirk and made Brian so ashamed that after a decade of wreaking havoc on Rossford, he fled and Todd-Fenn's Todd-went after him. All with Fenn's permission. See, Brian broke up Fenn and Tom, his ex lover, who is currently dating his cousin, Fenn's cousin, who is a playwright, who... oh... it starts to get confusing right about here...

Fenn Houghton and his significant other, Todd are quickly going broke. That's the bad news. But they find half a million dollars; that's the good news. It belongs to a drug lord who will do anything he can to get it back. Bad news again. Fenn's sister, Adele doesn't know what's worse, learning of her husband's cheating ways, or learning who he's cheating with, and for how long. A young boy is sent to live with his grandparents in hopes that he will give up his criminal ways, but no one knows of his grandparents' all too criminal past and occasionally risky present; and while two girls deal with their fathers' sins and their own mistakes, a young porn star decides its time to turn his life around and become a serious actor. With guns in the cookie jar and condoms in the collection plate, no matter how ordinary this Indiana town may appear from the outside, inside the houses in Rossford, there's never a dull day.