Part of Lowcountry Tales, book 6
First published 2009
Fresh out of college, Beth Hayes dreams of conquering the world as a writer. Her plans for travel and graduate school collapse when her family scatters across continents. Her mother Susan heads to Paris, while Aunt Maggie, Uncle Grant, and stepfather Simon relocate to California. Beth gets stuck house-sitting the Island Gamble, her family's historic home on Sullivans Island in South Carolina's Lowcountry. She vows to rest, recharge, and resist the island's pull toward domestic life. Then she meets Max Mitchell, and her carefully laid plans crumble. Beth discovers she knows little about her family's history, and her ignorance threatens both her inheritance and her standing with relatives. Wise Aunt Sophie, Cecily Singleton, and investment banker Woody Morrison help her navigate the crisis. As Beth learns hard lessons about betrayal and loss, she finds that the island itself seems determined to claim her as its own.
Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary-romance, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: California, Island Gamble, Paris, South Carolina, Sullivans Island
Period: Fresh out of college
392 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow