A Powerful New Novel Explores Love After Loss, Trauma Healing, and the Courage to Begin Again

 

What happens when the life you carefully built disappears in a single moment? In One Year, the debut novel by Dr. Kari G. Borgmann, readers are invited into a deeply human story of grief, resilience, unexpected love, and the quiet bravery it takes to rebuild after devastating loss.

Blending love, mystery, adventure, and emotional healing, One Year follows a woman who loses her husband of thirty-eight years and finds herself suddenly untethered. With her children living far away and her once-predictable world fractured, she accepts a short-term job in Iowa—an impulsive decision that becomes the catalyst for transformation. There, she meets a man who has been emotionally alone for fifteen years, carrying a secret that will ultimately change both of their lives.

What unfolds is not a conventional romance, but a layered exploration of grief, personal identity, and the complexities of starting over later in life. One Year captures the emotional terrain of widowhood, the unspoken fears of loving again, and the small, everyday moments that quietly stitch a broken life back together.

“At its heart, this book is about giving yourself permission to speak, to feel, and to choose yourself again,” says Borgmann. “It’s about finding your voice when life has taken away everything familiar.”

Written with honesty and sharp emotional insight, One Year resonates strongly with mature readers, particularly women over 40, working professionals, retirees, and those navigating loss, trauma, or major life transitions. The novel also speaks to men seeking insight into emotional healing and readers drawn to thoughtful, character-driven storytelling.

One of the most compelling aspects of One Year is its refusal to romanticize pain. Instead, Borgmann allows grief to exist in all its discomfort—messy, inconvenient, and often isolating—while still leaving room for humor, self-awareness, and growth. The protagonist is not portrayed as fragile, but as someone learning how to live differently, imperfectly, and honestly.

The novel’s emotional depth is balanced by moments of wit and sharp observation, including one of its most quoted lines:
“Oh my, how nice! It is a gentle way of saying, ‘Fuck you!’”
These moments of candid humor offer relief while reinforcing the book’s central theme: reclaiming agency and voice after years of emotional compromise.

Dr. Borgmann draws from a lifetime of professional and personal experience. With a doctorate in business administration, decades of work as an accountant and counselor, and ongoing studies in divinity and pastoral counseling, her understanding of trauma, resilience, and human behavior adds authenticity and nuance to the narrative. While One Year is a work of fiction, its emotional truths feel deeply lived-in and relatable.

Readers will also connect strongly with the character of Sydnie, whom Borgmann describes as embodying “the voice, kindness, courage, and passion most women want.” Sydnie’s journey reflects the inner negotiations many readers recognize—between responsibility and desire, fear and hope, silence and self-expression.

More than a love story, One Year is a meditation on what it means to start again when you never planned to. It speaks to anyone who has ever wondered whether reinvention is possible after profound loss—and answers with compassion rather than clichés.

This novel is the first book in a planned series, with Book Two scheduled for release in early 2026, making One Year not just a standalone experience, but the beginning of a longer emotional journey for readers who connect with its characters and themes.

One Year is a timely and deeply resonant novel for readers seeking authenticity, emotional honesty, and hope grounded in real human experience—not fantasy, but earned renewal.

About the Author
Dr. Kari G. Borgmann lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband Keith. She is an accountant, counselor, educator, and lifelong writer with a passion for stories that explore healing, identity, and human connection. One Year is her debut novel.

Contact:
Author: Kari Borgmann
Email: kari_borgmann@yahoo.com
Website: https://www.kariborgmann.com/
Amazon: ONE YEAR: Volume I

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Dr. Kari G. Borgmann’s One Year Gives Voice to Grief, Reinvention, and the Unspoken Strength of Starting Over

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  Grief rarely follows a straight line, and healing is seldom graceful. In her emotionally resonant debut novel, One Year , Dr. Kari G. Borgmann captures this truth with unflinching honesty, offering readers a story that reflects the quiet, complicated reality of loss—and the unexpected possibility of renewal. One Year tells the story of a woman whose life collapses when her husband of thirty-eight years dies suddenly. With her children living far away and her carefully ordered existence gone, she finds herself suspended between who she was and who she might become. When a short-term work opportunity takes her to Iowa, she encounters a man who has deliberately closed himself off from love for fifteen years. Their meeting is not planned, not simple, and not free of consequences. Rather than centering on romance alone, One Year explores the emotional aftermath of long-term partnership, the loneliness that follows profound loss, and the courage required to imagine a future that...
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