Two free chapters of Waiting To Break by Ruth Madison

Cover of Waiting To Break by Ruth Madison. A handsome quadriplegic man in his late 40s using a power wheelchair and communication device.

Former rockstar Gabe Whitlock has been hidden away in a long-term care facility ever since an on-stage accident stole his music, his movement, and even his voice. No one’s thought about him in years.

Anna Lin is still raw from losing her mother and battling the panic attacks that derailed her college career. Living with her father again feels like a step backward—until he gets her a job as the activities coordinator at Rosehaven.

What she doesn’t expect is to find Gabe Whitlock, former frontman and guitarist of Pressure Front, quietly wasting away in a nursing home in Western Massachusetts.

Drawn together by music and art, Anna and Gabe forge an unlikely bond. But when Gabe’s sister schemes to seize control of his estate, Anna and a ragtag band of residents push back.

Their defiance threatens to cost Anna the fragile new life she’s building—and Gabe the last shreds of independence he has left.

Waiting to Break is an emotionally powerful, deeply romantic journey about finding your voice after losing everything, the dignity of choosing who you love, and the courage it takes to find your own path in life.

For fans of soulful, emotionally charged romance novels like Me Before You and authors Jodi Picoult, and Nicholas Sparks.

TROPES: Found family, later in life, age gap, disability rep, rockstar