First published 2026
Berry has built her life around careful balance. She works as a vice principal while raising Leo, her sixteen-year-old autistic son. When a promotion appears within reach, Berry faces an impossible choice between career advancement and her family's requirements. Meanwhile, college student McKenna watches her world collapse. Her grandmother's dementia worsens, her swimming scholarship disappears, and homelessness looms. McKenna finds stability in one place: teaching swim lessons to children with autism. When Leo becomes her student, McKenna and Berry's lives intersect in ways neither expects. Both women believe they need rescue, but they discover something different. The people they think require saving often become the ones who provide salvation.
Genres: literary-fiction, domestic-fiction, contemporary, adult, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: character-driven, emotional, heartwarming, intimate, thought-provoking, uplifting
Tropes: found-family, mutual-rescue, second-chance, unlikely-connection
Period: 21st-century
384 pages · Paperback · Harper Muse
Content warnings: mental-illness