by Sara Fawkes
First published 2015
Lacey St. James asks herself the same question every day: how did her life become this mess? She works a dead-end job at a grocery store while raising her younger brother in a mobile home. Her ex-boyfriend won't leave her alone, and everyone in town knows her bad reputation. She sees no way out until she meets Everett Ward. He's an outsider who house-sits at a coastal family home, living on the margins like her but somehow different. Everett becomes fascinated with Lacey for reasons she can't understand. He seems determined to prove that life holds more possibilities than she dares to imagine, if only she believes in herself. Lacey desperately wants to trust him and the future he describes. But Everett is hiding something. When she discovers that everything he told her was built on lies, she must decide whether the hope he gave her was real or just another cruel disappointment.
Genres: romance, contemporary-romance, new-adult
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Coastal Family Home
360 pages · Paperback · Marabout
Content warnings: depression, emotional-abuse