What I Thought Love Required

Some beliefs arrive quietly.

Be useful.
Be agreeable.
Be less than you really are.
Need less.
Carry more.
Hold it together.

Most of us never question them.

We build our lives around them and call it love.

If you've spent your life earning love, approval, or belonging, this story may feel uncomfortably familiar.

What I Thought Love Required moves through childhood, marriage, heartbreak, parenthood, ambition, and burnout, tracing the invisible beliefs we inherit before we're old enough to question them, and the long, often ordinary process of learning to let them go.

This isn't a book about finding love. It's about discovering you were never meant to earn it.

"Like talking to a friend who admits they don't have it all figured out."
Doreen Chombu · Readers' Favorite · ★★★★★

"For one of the first times, I felt seen."
Jamie Michele · Readers' Favorite · ★★★★★

"A very human, life-affirming perspective on finding real inner clarity and choosing peace after forty."
Jefto Pierre · Readers' Favorite · ★★★★★

Available August 4, 2026

Book One · The What I Thought Series

What I Thought Loss Meant

Most people think loss begins with goodbye.

A phone call.
A funeral.
A packed suitcase.
A final breath.

But loss has been shaping us long before we recognize its name.

Sometimes it arrives as a move.
A friendship that quietly ends.
A dream that slips out of reach.
A version of yourself you thought you left behind.

Sometimes nothing has ended at all.

Something has simply changed.

If you've ever wondered why certain people, places, or moments still live quietly inside you, this story may feel uncomfortably familiar.

What I Thought Loss Meant moves through childhood goodbyes, fractured friendships, professional collapse, parenthood, and the quiet losses that arrive without funerals, tracing the invisible ways loss shapes us long before we know what to call it, and the long, often ordinary process of discovering what remains.

This isn't a book about getting over loss.

It's about discovering that what you've been carrying isn't only grief.

It might also be love.

"Readers who enjoy memoirs about how love survives change will be genuinely touched by this book."
Jamie Michele · Readers' Favorite · ★★★★★

"It's one of those memoirs that will stay with you always."
Kamil Wróbel · Readers' Favorite · ★★★★★

"The writing has an intimacy and depth that will resonate with readers and provide both hope and inspiration for those who have experienced loss in their lives."
Leonard Smuts · Readers' Favorite · ★★★★★

Coming December 2026

Book Two · The What I Thought Series