In a Distant Valley by Shannon Bowring

In a Distant Valley

Shannon Bowring

Europa Editions · Paperback · October 17, 2025

Both a love letter and a window into the rural places that have shaped many, In a Distant Valley sets the stage for a final act to play out across a deep winter in snowy Maine.

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Who it’s for
A compassionate return to Dalton, where family ties and old connections shape a winter of change.
Genres
Small-Town Fiction, Small-Town Romance, Second-Chance Romance
Published
Europa Editions, October 17, 2025

About this book

Both a love letter and a window into the rural places that have shaped many, In a Distant Valley sets the stage for a final act to play out across a deep winter in snowy Maine. For a while, Rose Douglas believed life had given her a break. She was enjoying a steady job at the local clinic in Dalton; her two young boys, Adam and Brandon, were doing well in school; and their little family had found an easy friendship with widower Nate Theroux and his daughter, Sophie.

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The possibility of something deeper even hung between her and Nate—until the day Tommy Merchant, her ex and the father of her sons, showed up without warning on her doorstep. While Rose knows all too well his erratic and abusive nature, he swears he’s clean, and ready to turn over a new leaf. Tommy isn’t the only one who’s found his way back to the town that defined him. Lost after a disastrous stint living down south with her father, Angela Muse has returned home to Dalton. There she runs into Greg Fortin, the friend who once saved her life when they were children and finally starts to believe there may be someone who understands her in a world that offers more questions than answers. But secrets are the lifeblood of a small town, and everyone in Dalton soon finds themselves part of a chain of events hurtling towards outcomes beyond their control, where more than one future will be decided. Brimming with compassion and heart, In a Distant Valley is the remarkable conclusion to the story readers have been following since Shannon Bowring’s debut novel, The Road to Dalton.

Dalton’s Ties

A compassionate return to Dalton, where family ties and old connections shape a winter of change.

Come here for

  • Rural Maine, small-town ties, and relationships with history
  • A family-centered story where old connections matter

Expect

  • Interwoven lives in a close-knit town
  • The conclusion to a story begun in The Road to Dalton

Where it sits

Small-Town Fiction77%
Small-Town Romance29%
Second-Chance Romance21%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Lesbian Romance
  • Sibling Stories
  • Small-Town Fiction
Authors
Shannon Bowring
Publisher
Europa Editions
Published
October 17, 2025
Format
Paperback
Reading lane
Lesbian Romance