Lion in Love

On the streets and outskirts of Lowell, Massachusetts, three lives unfold, each shaped by longing, risk, and the weight of the past. Misty survives on a highway off-ramp, reading palms and performing the tricks her mother taught her, while trapped in a dangerous relationship with Dean. When he enlists her in an extortion scheme against a city councilor, Misty is forced to confront the threat he poses to everything she holds dear. Grant tends his Christmas tree farm and maintains a quiet arrangement with his widowed neighbor, Pamela— until grief and longing intrude, disrupting the careful balance of their lives. Meanwhile, Billy interprets the world through his father’ s fable: a lion who surrendered his teeth and claws for love, only to be destroyed by the vulnerability he offered. Lion in Love interlaces these stories across a working-class cityscape, exploring how loneliness shapes desire, the risks we take for connection, and the price of loving without defenses. David Moloney’ s second novel is a haunting, tender, and unflinching exploration of desire, danger, and the fragile courage required to survive intact in a world that tests the heart.