In Avalon Harbor, everyone knows everyone-and nobody forgets.
Shayna Lynburgh thought the summer before college would be her chance to escape. Instead, she spends her days watching her mother lose her battle with cancer while clinging to her dream of becoming a journalist. Restless, grieving, and desperate for something to pull her out of her small-town life, she never expects distraction to arrive in the form of the town's newest arrival.
Val Alston is a celebrated poet and visiting college professor with a failing marriage, a growing dependence on alcohol, and more secrets than anyone realizes. Their connection is immediate, consuming, and impossible to hide in a place where everyone is always watching.
But obsession has a cost. As Shayna begins to see the darkness behind Val's charm, she's forced to confront the line between saving someone and being pulled under with them. The choices she makes will trigger consequences neither of them can control-and leave Avalon Harbor forever changed.