Available Now
Once You'd Gone - Book 2: Scott
Some truths aren’t spoken aloud.
Scott Broderick has spent twenty years holding his life together the only way he knows how… one day at a time. He loved his son. He loved his wife. That was supposed to be enough.
It wasn’t.
After Rachel’s death, he finds a journal she kept hidden. And with it, a version of her he never knew.
As Scott reads, the past begins to shift. Small moments take on new meaning, and old certainties start to fray.
Because the woman he thought he understood was only ever half the story.
What happens when the person you loved most leaves behind a truth she never meant you to read?
Scott is the second in the Once You’d Gone collection. Recommended reading order:
Tess, Scott, Margaret, Noah.
Characters
Rachel Broderick
Rachel Broderick never did anything by halves.
Passionate, stubborn, and endlessly curious, she sees the world through the lens of her camera and notices things other people miss. Rachel understands that photographs are not really about capturing a moment. They are about refusing to let it go.
When her young son disappears, Rachel refuses to accept the explanations offered to her. While others learn to live with grief, she continues searching for answers when everyone else believes there are none left to find.
To some people, she seems obsessive.
To the people who love her, she is simply a mother.
Favourite Film: Steel Magnolias
Personal Motto: "Look closer."
Favourite Possession: Her Nikon camera.
Scott Broderick
Scott Broderick has spent most of his life doing whatever needed doing next. He isn't a man given to speeches or grand gestures, but he isaccustomed to endurance.
Scott loved Rachel with a fierce, unwavering loyalty that survived even after her death. The trouble with loving someone for that long is believing you already know the whole story.
People often assume Scott is strong because he rarely falls apart in public. The truth is less impressive and more human. He simply learned long ago that someone still has to take the trash out, mow the lawn, and show up for work.
Love, for Scott, has always been practical.
That doesn't make it any less profound.
Favourite Film: Field of Dreams
Personal Motto: "Don’t put off five-minute jobs."
Favourite Food: Homemade pie, preferably one Margaret has baked.
Margaret Finch
Margaret Finch is the sort of woman people describe as dependable.
For decades she has been known for the beautiful house, the perfect marriage, and the quiet efficiency with which she solves problems before anyone else notices they exist. She remembers birthdays, writes thank-you notes, and bakes several times a week.
Most people have no idea how lonely she is.
Behind the polished life is a woman who spent years choosing duty over desire and practicality over honesty. The older she becomes, the harder it is to ignore the things she never said and the people she never stopped loving.
Margaret believes small acts matter. A meal delivered at the right moment. A lift across town. A hand resting briefly on someone else's shoulder.
Favourite Book: Persuasion by Jane Austen
Personal Motto: "There's no sense making a spectacle of yourself."
Favourite Place: Her summerhouse.
About Serenity Bea
Serenity Bea writes emotionally charged, psychologically rich stories that explore the quiet complexities of human connection. Her characters are flawed and painfully real, often grappling with identity, morality, and the invisible forces that shape their lives.
Serenity’s writing is intended to spark conversations, question assumptions and to provide the reader with the opportunity for meaningful reflection that can shift perspectives.
Her debut novel Aftermath made the Top 15 in the 2025 international New2theScene writing competition, marking her as a fresh voice to watch in literary fiction. Her work blends immersive storytelling with thoughtful social commentary, creating narratives that not only resonate, but challenge.
Drawing on her degree in Applied Psychology, she brings sharp, compassionate insight to her writing—unearthing the hidden fears, longings, and misbeliefs that drive her characters’ decisions.
When she’s not torturing fictional characters in emotionally complex ways, she’s likely listening to Hans Zimmer and sipping a margarita.
She has incurable insomnia, a cat who thinks he's her co-writer, and a dog who's convinced he should be.