Riley is alone. After being kicked out of her parents' house at eighteen, getting herself out of an abusive relationship, and finding comfort only in her vices, she has no one left to count on. And when her feelings for a colleague begin to grow, Riley wonders if love is the answer to life's problems, or if it's just one more reason to pour another drink.

In his debut novella, Scolding the Winds, written with an undercurrent of dark wit and raw poignancy, Joel Kelly examines how love and religion can pull us apart—and questions whether they can also put us back together.