Picture This

Editions:ebook, Hardcover, Paperback

Sometimes the real story begins in life’s second half.

Ani Stevenson has spent her life lifting others—always steady, always kind—but quietly wondering if she also deserves a hand to hold.

Jesse Peterson has known loss and struggle too. Years of addiction and a broken engagement left him wary of life and love, but now, clean and determined, he’s ready to discover what the world might have to offer.

A decades-old photograph, captured in a fleeting moment neither remembers, suggests a connection they can't explain. One that refuses to fade.

When their paths cross again, past meets present, and old questions rise alongside new possibilities. Ani and Jesse are about to discover love can arrive later than expected but is more than worth the wait.

From critically-acclaimed author Lee Barber, Picture This is a tender, uplifting story about love that waits, second chances, and the quiet courage it takes to let someone truly see you.

Published: May 5, 2026

Publisher: Radiance

Genres:

Romance

Tags:

family life, later-in-life romance, women's fiction

About the Author

Lee Barber

Lifelong resident of Ohio, Lee Barber walked a long and winding road to fulfill her dream of being a writer. Along the way, she learned about the goodness, resilience, and creativity of all people. When she is not writing, Lee collaborates with others to tell life stories, end oppressive practices and policies, and generate beauty and order in the world. For her, romance is finding that place of hope, and falling in love is for people of all ages.

Other Books By Lee Barber

Stand-Alone Books

Sorted First to Last

Picture This

Peace of Pie

Under the September Sky

Under an Endless September Sky, Sometimes the Story Finds You.
Sapphire Sullivan has spent almost a year trying to forget the only boy she’s ever loved. One stolen kiss with her brother’s best friend changed everything. When Jack Murphy called it a mistake, Sapphire promised herself she’d stop wishing for something that could never be.
Then Labor Day weekend brings him back into her life.
Under the glow of carnival lights and an endless September sky, Jack looks at her the way he used to. Old feelings ignite, forgotten dreams come rushing back, and Sapphire starts believing that maybe first love deserves a second chance.
Until someone else appears.
Jett is the kind of boy who only exists in stories. He’s beautiful, mysterious, and seemingly devoted to only her. There’s only one problem—no one else can see him.
Except Jack.
Sapphire doesn’t know why Jett came into her life, what connects him to Jack, or what he truly wants from her. But as strange moments become impossible to ignore and the line between the real world and something more begins to blur, Sapphire is forced to question everything she believes about love, fate, and the stories we tell ourselves.
Because sometimes the hardest choice isn’t between the past and the future. It’s between the story you’ve been writing… and the life waiting to be lived.

Fourth of Forever

One summer. One secret. One love they never saw coming.
Aliya Jacobs has always counted down the days to summer at Lake Carrington—sunlit swims in turquoise water, lazy afternoons at her uncle’s cabin, and every moment spent with her best friend, Nick. But this summer brings an unwelcome surprise… Nick’s cousin Wyatt.
Sharp-tongued, guarded, and openly resentful of the out-of-towners he calls “hillies,” Wyatt clashes with Aliya from the moment they meet. Yet when a late-night rescue leads them to a reclusive old man and a map tied to a long-lost treasure—their rivalry turns into something far more complicated.
Whispers of hidden clues begin to surface, suggesting the legend might be real. At the same time, the powerful Elias Corporation is closing in, determined to transform Lake Carrington into a luxury resort that could destroy Nick’s family store and the town Aliya loves.
Reluctantly forced to work together, Aliya and Wyatt race to uncover the truth before time runs out. But as danger grows and secrets unravel, they must decide what matters more: finding a treasure that could save the lake… or risking their hearts on something even more uncertain.

Forgotten Fayetteville and More Hidden Histories from Washington County

Washington County has nearly two centuries of stories to tell, and many of them have been forgotten.
In this follow-up to Forgotten Fayetteville, local historians J. B. Hogan and Susan Parks-Spencer uncover more of the people, places, and events that shaped Fayetteville and the surrounding county. Explore the violent early years of Evansville, revisit the shocking murder that led to the execution of the Burnett family, and discover what made April 1864 one of the deadliest months in Washington County history. You’ll meet John Rollin Ridge, the first Native American novelist, learn the story of Rebecca Brown Tollett’s life in slavery, and examine the tragic lynching of Reverend Anthony Bewley.
From vanished towns and frontier churches to forgotten cemeteries, pioneering families, and overlooked chapters of Native American, Black, and immigrant history, these stories reveal a richer and more complex past than many realize. Woven together, they form a portrait of the lives, triumphs, and tragedies that shaped this corner of the Ozarks and the communities that call it home.
Whether you’re a lifelong resident, a newcomer, or simply a student of Arkansas history, Forgotten Fayetteville and More Hidden Histories from Washington County invites you to look beyond familiar landmarks and rediscover the people and events that helped shape the Ozarks.

Roan & Weatherford