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A cautious interior designer is brought face to face with the best
friend who betrayed her—and her friend’s gorgeous older brother.
When she was 15, a random act of violence ended Claire McKenna’s
promising tennis career. She retreated to her coastal Connecticut hometown,
surrounded by loving family and friends. Claire learned to live with the
lingering physical effects of her bullet wound, but the trauma’s toll on her
mind has been harder to overcome. After her boyfriend dumped her for her
close friend Peyton, Claire became more frightened of loss than ever. She
clings to her safe routines: weekly dinners with her parents, her book club,
and her small interior design business. When Peyton returns home to Sanctuary
Sound to recover from cancer treatments, her handsome older brother, Logan,
joins her. Logan is Claire’s opposite: a Manhattan-based photojournalist and
fashion photographer with wanderlust and an eye for stunning women. At first,
Logan reaches out to Claire to help repair her broken friendship with Peyton. Soon,
Logan’s seductive entreaties tempt Claire to take some personal and
professional risks. Beck (The Memory of You, 2018, etc.) is in fine form
in this small-town romance that’s light on sensuality but thick with emotional
entanglements. Logan accuses Claire of “settling for less than [she] want[s]
because it’s safe,” but Claire worries she will be “a blip in his rearview mirror.”
While their romance develops a tad too unhurriedly, Beck’s depiction of trauma,
loss, friendship, and family resonates deeply.
A low-key small-town romance unflinching in its portrayal of the
complexities of friendship and family and the joys and sorrows they bring.
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