COUPLED

by Margaret S Ward, Alan Kearin (Illustrator)

"Coupled" is the story of a young woman, Tori Webster, whose life is active and essentially carefree until she reaches her sophomore year in college. At that point, she realizes she has no inkling of a profession she would like to pursue and no idea what courses she needs before she graduates in order prepare herself. She plans a year away from college and home to visit areas in the eastern U.S. (knowing she doesn’t want to go farther west than Texas, which is her home), getting jobs along the way to finance her travels while also exposing her to different lifestyles, people and professions. Her travels take her from Texas to NYC, Vermont, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana where the diversity of cultures, climate, and observed habits and behaviors ultimately lead to the expansion of her perception of the world, or at least the United States. Even the reader finds the author's descriptions of these settings vivid and sensorially stimulating. Each situation described, each friendship renewed or established, provides plot twists for the reader and, for Tori, heightened personal insight and experiential maturity. Her God-focused faith and astute interpretations allow revelation of her loving and passionate nature toward her husband, children, siblings, parents, and "Uncle Lee," who initially introduces the reader to Tori. The guidelines she projects as she matures could be applicable to the world as a whole, she thinks, but with the one small portion at a time. Her story intertwines romance, mystery, humor, adventure, and awareness, all of which bring surprises and ongoing interest to the reader.

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 20, 2018