"If a Tree Falls" is a tender love story that will appeal to any woman who recalls the rapture of having had an adolescent crush on her favorite rock idol. Amanda Morgan's obsession is world famous musician, Marshall Stewart. His poignant love songs sustain her through the turmoil of her teenage years until his sudden disappearance. Never found, he is mourned by his fans and is eventually declared legally dead. Amanda grows into adulthood and finds what she believes to be genuine love until her fiance ends their engagement when he cannot stand by his promise that he accepts her infertility. Heartbroken, Amanda seeks a way to re-define herself and move on with her life when she takes a job as a live-in babysitter for six-year-old Dylan Sterner. In hiring her, Dylan's grandmother explains that the boy and his father, Mark, recently came to live with her after an auto accident killed her daughter-in-law and left Mark with a severe leg injury. While Amanda immediately bonds with Dylan, she finds Mark hostile and reclusive. Over time, as clues emerge, she begins to suspect the unbelievable possibility that this broken, mysterious man is Marshall Stewart ten years older and in disguise. When "Mark" discovers that Amanda is still a fan, he is determined to drive her away but soon realizes that while she's exactly what Dylan needs, he wants her in his own life, as well. As he falls in love with her, he faces the dilemma of admitting his true identity at the risk of betraying her trust and losing her, and Amanda must decide if she can live a life of secrecy to protect the man she loves. While I gained writing and editorial experience with my first job at a local newspaper, I've been writing romance since my teen years and love the challenge of creating magic between unlikely characters. I submitted the original version of this manuscript to Harlequin some years ago and was fortunate to catch the attention of then Editorial Assistant Deborah Tile. While she was enthused and encouraging about my work I developed breast cancer during that time and was forced to set the project aside in lieu of treatments and several recurrences. Now fully recovered, I recently pulled out the manuscript and have breathed new life into an idea that has blossomed into much more than I started out with. At 92,642 words, "If a Tree Falls" consists of 22 Chapters and an Epilogue. A modern day fairy tale, it is written for the woman who wants to curl up at the end of a long, demanding day and go away to that intriguing place of "What if...?."