First published 2026
Lucy Cooper brings her young daughter back to Windward, the crumbling family estate on Winthrop Island, after her estranged father dies. She finds the property drowning in debt and discovers that Ben Ressler lives in the neighboring caretaker lodge. Thirteen years earlier, teenage Lucy fell for Ben during his summer vacation, destroying her friendship with Laura Peabody in the process. Ben was the final person to see Lucy's father before his death. As Lucy pieces together her father's last days, she learns he obsessed over research into winter 1717, when an injured pirate took shelter on the island with a mysterious healer. Local legend claims this pirate buried treasure somewhere beneath Windward. Lucy begins to see the historical mystery as a path toward forgiving past mistakes and finding love again. Her buried feelings for Ben resurface, but someone else on the island wants the legendary treasure and will stop at nothing to get it.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, second-chance-romance
Setting: Winthrop Island, Windward
Period: 1717, 2000s
464 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books