Dakota

Eighteen-year-old Dakota Buchannan is determined not to be the messed-up, orphaned teenager with an over the top imagination the media describes her as. After her father's accidental death at Jennings oil refinery, she finds out that she has a much older half-brother and moves to Houston, Texas, to live with him and his young daughter, Savannah. It doesn't take long for Dakota to settle in and capture the heart of a young man. Life seems to be going quasi-normal until CEO Jake Jennings breaks into Dakota's home to confront her. In his narcotized state, he assaults her while incoherently apologizing for something his late father did to her, of which she has no recollection.

She eventually escapes, and Jake is charged. Released on bail, he returns to his penthouse, and Dakota's boyfriend takes her away for the weekend to clear her mind, but on their return, the front page of the local newspaper confirms 'Jake Jennings plummets to his death.' Dakota's half relieved the man is dead, but the other half replays in her mind what he was trying to tell her that terrifying night and whether or not he actually killed himself or did someone push him off his balcony.

Feisty and determined, Dakota never loses sight of hope or the importance of family and friendships. She navigates her new life with her moral compass -- reconciling the past and seeking answers while discovering secrets and lies.

Sarah Patt graduated from Wheelock College in 1991 and taught for five years before becoming a mother in 1996. It wasn't until 2008 when she returned to the classroom. While maintaining a full-time teaching position at The Landmark School, Sarah earned a master's degree in Special Education from Simmons College in 2012. She is enormously grateful for her devoted and loving husband and their three children, who support her writing endeavor wholeheartedly with words of encouragement and expressions of pride. Dakota is her second published novel.