Love, Sorrow. Series

"I'm sorry, Zoe," the doctor's voice repeats in my head as I leave. When I walked into the doctor's office, I thought I might have a life of unexpected difficulties ahead. Now, as I walk out, all I have are the difficulties. My life? The doctor took that. All but six months, that is… At least, it feels like he took it. I'm going to enjoy my life, I'm doing what I want, I'll be daring! Is what I tell myself as I push the doctor's office door open and look up into the eyes of a beautiful girl I never had the courage to talk to. But now? Now I have nothing to lose.   "Fuyuko? I love that name." Zoe is the first person to say this. But she's the reason for a lot of my first in my life. She's my first friend, the first to bring joy into my life, the first person I want by my side, and the first person I've fallen in love with. I didn't think I would ever laugh or even cry again, until Zoe—a stranger at the time—told me she's dying, that I am the only person she is telling, and that we are now best friends… all in one breath. Because Zoe is the bold, passionate girl that conquers her fears. The girl I have never been... before now. Because I have Zoe by my side… even if it is for only six months.   Fuyuko is the girl Zoe always wanted to be friends with. Zoe is the friend Fuyuko never knew she needed or wanted. But as they work hand-in-hand to make the life Zoe has left as great as possible as they delve into "Zoe's list." But it is the unexpected love that brings them closer than friends. As Fuyuko holds Zoe, she can feel life being breathed into herself... as it is being pulled out of Zoe.   Love, Sorrow, and the In-Between Is a story of platonic soul mates, a story for those of us who want to laugh, cry, dance in the kitchen, have stupid adventures, live, and die… as long as our best friend is at our side.     This is a standalone novel, and the first novel in the Love, Sorrow, series. A series of standalone novels following the lives of a family made up of friends. (Tropes: Found family, bucket list, soul mates, grumpy sunshine, slice of life, one bed.)   Trigger Warnings: This story contains subjects of bullying, abandonment, homophobia (specifically: Lesbophobia), and suicide. I like my readers to be well informed of such topics ahead of time, because your well being is worth more than my novel.

"Not a single one of us is related in any way. We aren't siblings, cousins, or parents to each other. But we all needed help in some way, so we helped each other. You're part of that now."   Mei is only seven-years-old when she finds everything in her life slipping away. Having Albinism has ostracized Mei from her peers and society. After being abandoned to die as an infant, she finds herself abandoned once again by the adoptive parents who were supposed to love her. But Mei has one person who loves her... until a car wreck takes them away too. This is when Mei decides she is better off alone. But she soon discovers life isn't as easy on the streets as she had hoped. With determination, Mei decides she will survive … or die trying.   Three years after Zoe's death, Sara can't stop thinking about her, and that day she lost the person she loved. Every day brings her renewed fear that she will lose someone else. To Madison, it feels like her and Sara's lives stopped with those words the police officer spoke at their door three years ago, leaving Madison wondering if they will ever be whole again. Though Emily just lost her mother to a car wreck, and her father a year before that, she fights to stay strong for Sara, the person she loves. But it is starting to feel too heavy. It feels like the cracks running through her are getting too deep. But everything changes when a broken little girl, with no options left, steps out of a thunderstorm and into her life.   This family, made up of friends, finds themselves with a new and unexpected struggle. The struggle of raising and protecting a child, a child that is far from average at that. But it is the challenge of keeping Mei safe with them, in keeping this odd new family together that makes life worth living again.   Tropes: Found Family, LGBTQ+ Family, Slice of Life, Adoption, Friendship.   Trigger Warnings: This story contains subjects of bullying, abandonment, homophobia (specifically: Lesbophobia), and suicide. I like my readers to be well informed of such topics ahead of time, because your well being is worth more than my novel.