by Emily Giffin
First published 2014
Shea Rigsby has never left Walker, Texas. At thirty-three, she still lives in the college town where football dominates everything. Her best friend Lucy is the daughter of Clive Carr, Walker's legendary head coach. Shea works in the university athletic department, the same job she took after graduating over ten years ago. She has built her entire life around the local team and community. Then tragedy hits Walker. The tight-knit community reels from an unexpected loss. Shea's comfortable routine crumbles. She starts questioning whether her safe, predictable life satisfies her anymore. For the first time, she considers leaving everything behind. Shea abandons her security and ventures down a new path. She uncovers disturbing truths about the people she has always trusted. The coach, the team, the town itself reveal sides she never suspected. As her world shifts, Shea must face her own buried desires and long-hidden fears. She discovers that staying loyal to home sometimes means betraying yourself.
Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary, contemporary-romance, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Walker, Texas
Period: 21st-century
416 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books