The Grit and Heart of The Alpha Flame


Why real emotion matters more than easy answers.

Catherine Lynwood
Posted on July 15, 2025 by Catherine Lynwood
The Alpha Flame: Discovery by Catherine Lynwood
Two women sitting close on a worn sofa in dim light, sharing a moment of quiet understanding
Because sometimes surviving is the bravest story you can tell.

The Alpha Flame: Discovery isn’t here to offer an easy escape. It doesn’t shy away from what’s ugly, painful, or raw. Instead, it asks you to step into the lives of two women fighting to survive a world that seems determined to break them, and see them as whole, complicated, real.

It’s gritty in all the ways that matter. Not for shock value, but because pretending these things don’t happen would be the real lie. There are moments that will make you flinch, make you angry, even leave you shaken. But that’s the point. Fiction shouldn’t protect us from truth; it should help us face it.

But there’s heart, too. The kind that makes the dark moments worth enduring. When Maggie and Beth fight to hold onto each other, when they find tiny islands of safety in each other’s company, when humour sparks in the most unexpected places, it feels earned. It’s not syrupy or cheap. It’s human.

The Alpha Flame is about surviving what’s meant to destroy you. It’s about women who refuse to stay silent or stay down, no matter how many times they’re knocked to the floor. It’s about love that refuses to die, even when everything else is stripped away.

If you want a story that will challenge you, move you, even make you uncomfortable, but leave you feeling something real for days after you finish the last page, this is the journey I hope you’ll take with Maggie and Beth.

I didn’t want to write a book that made you feel safe. I wanted to write one that made you feel everything. The fear, the rage, the tenderness, the small joys that feel even brighter in the dark.

The Alpha Flame isn’t just about what happens to these women, it’s about who they choose to be when there’s no one left to save them. It’s about the impossible choices they face, and the way they cling to each other when there’s nothing else to hold onto.

It’s raw, yes. Unapologetic. But it’s also honest. Because real life isn’t neatly packaged. The things that hurt us are often tangled up with the things that save us. And that’s the story I wanted to tell.

So if you’re the kind of reader who doesn’t mind being shocked, who wants to cry, to laugh, to worry and hope right alongside the characters, this is for you. I hope it feels true. I hope it matters to you the way it matters to me.

  • Gritty, honest storytelling
  • Real emotion that lingers
  • Characters worth caring about

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