First published 2021
Maggie Dawes arrives in Ocracoke in 1996, a reluctant sixteen-year-old sent to live with an aunt she hardly knows on North Carolina's Outer Banks. The remote island feels like exile until she meets Bryce Trickett, a local teenager bound for West Point. Bryce opens her eyes to the beauty of their windswept home and hands her a camera that will change everything. Photography becomes her calling. By 2019, Maggie has built a celebrated career as a travel photographer, splitting time between her New York gallery and assignments across the globe. Then a serious medical diagnosis forces her to stay put over Christmas. As she grows closer to her young assistant during these uncertain days, Maggie shares the story of that transformative holiday season decades ago. She tells him about first love, the choices that shaped her path, and the Christmas that taught her what truly matters.
Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary-romance, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, second-chance
Setting: New York, North Carolina, Ocracoke, Outer Banks
Period: 1996, 2019
387 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing