“There’s a certain comfort for the cats to be away from humans.”Įach day after work, Czekaj arrives toting canned and dry cat food. It provides some privacy and protection for the cats when they are eating or sheltering from the elements. “It’s flat and it’s fairly off the trail,” Czekaj says of the area that has been dubbed Prison Cats Cove. The abandoned Western Penitentiary is believed to have been home to an estimated 400 stray cats over the years. They are third-generation caretakers who have fed, spayed and neutered, and vaccinated more than 400 feral and abandoned cats in a program dubbed TNVR, which stands for trap, neuter, vaccinate and return. They feed and care for the colony that lives inside the prison gates and the surrounding area, including neighboring industrial sites and the Three Rivers Heritage Trail along the Ohio River. “There’s probably a cat colony on every block and people don’t know it,” says Tara Czekaj.Ĭzekaj and two of her Brighton Heights neighbors are the volunteer caretakers for the Pittsburgh Prison Cats.

River of Love has the makings of a Lifetime movie with the emotional upheaval of the Hallmark Hall of Fame series.Most Pittsburghers probably know the North Side’s hulking stone State Correctional Institution - Pittsburgh by its historic name Western State Penitentiary or simply “Western Pen.” Stories about its famous residents and made-for-Hollywood escapes make it one of the most colorful city landmarks.īut not many people know that for the past 40 or so years, it’s also been home to one of Pittsburgh’s incalculable number of homeless cat colonies. What starts out as a slow building friendship may have a chance at becoming more. “As they get to know more about each other, the walls start to come down and the healing begins. But when real life steps in and their pasts collide, it’s Faith who’s left with something to prove. As she lets down her guard and begins to trust Sam, intense conversations turn to intimate pleasures.

Sam pulls out all the stops, proving to Faith that his past doesn’t have to define his future.

When her boss’s sinfully sexy brother sets his sights on sweet Faith, she knows the self-professed player is everything she shouldn’t want, and she’s determined to resist him. She’s also put what she’s learned to good use helping others by founding Women Against Cheaters, an online support group. Physician assistant Faith Hayes escaped her painful past and built a safe, happy life in Peaceful Harbor.

The trouble is, the only woman he wants refuses him at every turn. He’s fast, focused, and determined-and never at a loss for a willing woman to share his time with. River rafting and adventure company owner Sam Braden works hard and plays harder.

River of love by melissa foster