Romeo O'Brian has spent most of his teenage life studying, sailing, and silently loving Briar Crawford -- his sister’s best friend, his next-door neighbor, the girl who lives like she has nothing to lose. When their families send them to the beach house alone for the summer, Romeo knows it’s his last chance to tell her how he feels -- before he sets off on a year-long solo sailing trip around the world.
But Briar is drowning in her own way -- caught between grief, guilt, and the ghosts of the brother she lost. She's not interested in falling in love. And if she was, it would never be with Romeo, the cinnamon-sweet boy who sees too much.
Now surrounded by friends, secrets, and unexpected feelings, Romeo has one summer to prove he’s more than the sweet, sensitive, guy she's always known. Everyone's making him look cool -- funnier, hotter, more grown than she ever saw before. And Briar has to decide whether the only heart she’s never meant to break... might be the one she can’t live without.
It’s supposed to be casual. Just a distraction.
But Romeo’s not a little boy anymore.
And no matter how hard she tries, Briar can’t stop falling for him