Ashwind and the Peace Within: Book 11 (Painted Path Series)

Danica doesn’t let things go— not when she’s right. And she’s always right. At seventeen, she’s beautiful, brilliant, and brutally unforgiving. With long dark hair, sharp blue eyes behind round wire-frame glasses, and a brain that cuts like a scalpel, Danica makes sure everyone knows where they stand: with her, or against her. There is no middle ground.

If you don’t agree with her, you’re out.
She doesn’t forget betrayals, and she definitely doesn’t forgive them. From family disappointments to friendship fractures, Danica keeps score—and her list is long. Her grudges are not just memories; they’re fuel. They protect her. And in her mind, they’re justified.

But when everything starts to fall apart, her certainty starts to crack.
A public humiliation. A blow-up with her only real friend. A deep wound from someone she once trusted. Danica’s inner fortress starts crumbling, and no amount of clever comebacks can stop the ache. To get her out of the line of fire, her parents send her to a quiet farm she once called boring. She expects nothing. That’s when she meets Ashwind.

Ashwind is a Percheron—huge, silver-gray, and silent.
But there’s something strange in the way he watches her, as if he already knows her heart. One brush of his muzzle against her palm sends her reeling into a vivid vision—of something that happened years ago. A moment she swore she’d buried. She’s not just seeing the past—she’s living it. And Ashwind isn’t finished.

One by one, the visions return.
Moments Danica blamed others for. Moments she justified. But in each vision, she sees something she missed—something that threatens her tight grip on being right. Worse still are the glimpses of what’s coming if she can’t let go. Futures built on isolation. Loss. Bitterness. Regret.

Forgiveness isn’t weakness. It’s war.
And it’s not a battle Danica wants to fight. Letting go feels like giving in. Saying sorry feels like surrender. But Ashwind keeps showing her what she’s risking—friendships, love, even her own identity. Danica must decide: cling to the pain she knows, or face the pain that frees her.

For readers who love strong heroines with sharp edges and stories that peel back layers of pride and pain, Ashwind and the Peace Within delivers a powerful journey of awakening. This is no soft tale. It’s about the cost of being right—and the power of being real.

Book 11 of the Painted Path Series, this story blends raw emotion, equine magic, and hard-won insight into a tale that will challenge and change the way you think about forgiveness.