She expected a fresh start. She didn't expect him.

Shattered by a scandal she doesn't even remember, eighteen-year-old Everly Davis vanished without looking back. Branded the villain after a party took a dark turn, she cut ties with everything—her school. her so-called friends, and the version of herself they made up. She ran to quiet, peaceful Blue Lake, where no one knows her.

Julian McKay isn't looking to be found. At twenty-one, he's still carrying the weight of a girl he couldn't save and a version of himself he barely recognizes. He keeps his circle small, his emotions smaller, and his past buried deep. Love? Not even on the radar. Especially not with a girl who crashes into his life like she's meant to break it open.

But Everly and Julian are two broken people who don't know how to stay broken around each other. And just when they start to believe in second chances, the past Everly thought she left behind shows up.

Moving on sometimes means facing what you ran from. Can they face it together? Or will it tear them apart?

A slow-burn, emotional romance about grief, redemption, and the power of unexpected love. Perfect for fans of small town settings, broken-but-healing characters, forbidden attraction, and second chances that shouldn’t work—but just might.