First published 2025
Katie Vaughn faces a brutal choice. She can wait for the layoff notice from her video production job, or she can accept an assignment that could save her career. Her coworker Cole offers her the chance to profile his brother Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer stationed in Key West. Katie sees one major problem. She cannot swim, but she tells them she can. She travels to Florida knowing the lie will eventually surface. Hutch turns out to be strikingly attractive and equally cynical about love. Katie finds herself drawn into his world of helicopter rescues and beach life, along with his eccentric Aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane. The deception grows more complicated as Katie and Hutch grow closer. Between swim lessons, storm chasing, and Key West nightlife, Katie must decide whether to come clean about her abilities and face her deeper fears about taking real risks.
Genres: fiction, romance, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Key West, Florida
309 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press