Flynn:
My best friend’s about to get married, and I’m in love with his future wife. Believe me, I’d do anything to change it, but Ruby Quinn has been my dream girl since high school, and my stubborn heart refuses to let go.

It gets worse. I’m pretty sure Ruby hates me, and I don’t blame her. When she wouldn’t give me the time of day back in school, I started teasing her to get her attention. Stuff like making her drop her books everywhere or slipping condoms into her cart while she was shopping with her mom. Yep, I was a real prize. But I was also a lovesick teenager, and I’ve honestly changed now—minus the lovesick part.

When Ruby got together with my best friend Blake, I was so cut up that I took off after graduation to enroll in flight school. It hurt so bad that I didn’t set foot back in town—not even once.

Until now, eight years later. Because Ruby and Blake are finally tying the knot.

And I’m the best man.

Ruby:
In one week, I’m marrying my high school sweetheart. Unfortunately, Blake’s best man happens to be a guy who used to pick on me back in high school. A guy who left our small town of Still Springs right after we graduated and never came back. Like he was too good for this place, and us.

A guy named Flynn Hudson.

After all these years, Flynn has returned, and I’d love to say he’s still the same cocky jerk I remember, but he’s different. Grown up. Showing me sides of him I never dreamed existed. (Okay, maybe I had dreamed them, but only when I’d had one too many glasses of chardonnay.)

It shouldn’t matter to me now. But it does.

Because being around Flynn makes me second-guess every choice I’ve made. Am I getting married because I want to or because that’s what’s expected? Is this all a big mistake?

Is Blake really the best man for me?

Dylan:
Life couldn’t get much sweeter. I love my job and the city where I live. Women come and go with no strings attached—just the way I like it.

But all that changes when I get some devastating news, and I’m forced to return to the small town I grew up in.

The only spark of light in these dark days is getting to reconnect with Jade Quinn. She and my baby sister Hayley have been best friends since middle school. But Jade isn’t the same little kid I remember.

She’s all grown up.
She might also be the only person in town other than my sisters who doesn’t hate me.

The more time I spend around Jade, the more she draws me in. But starting something with her, knowing that I’m leaving, won’t be good for either of us.

And I can’t cross that line with my little sister’s best friend… Can I?

Jade:
All I’ve ever wanted to do is run my family’s convenience store. It’s right in the center of a town I love, and it’s packed full of memories of my childhood—and my mom. The problem is, we’re going out of business. Fast. And my best friend Hayley’s family owns the store that’s stolen all our customers.

It gets worse. Hayley’s infamous older brother Dylan just moved in next door.

Dylan King has an awful reputation—even his sister warns me to stay away. Except when I’m around him, all my instincts scream the opposite.

With a business to save, I really don’t have time to date, and I don’t want to jeopardize my friendship with Hayley.

But what if the worst man in town turns out to be the greatest guy I’ve ever met?

As a construction foreman, Ethan Davis is used to being in control.

So when his parents buy a rundown beach house in a faraway town and hire someone else to renovate it, he insists on doing the work himself.

If he stays focused, he should finish the job early and under budget.

But there are some things Ethan can’t control. Like an unreliable ferry, inclement weather, and his new neighbor, Chloe.

Chloe’s cheery attitude and constant smiles really get under his skin. Not that it matters. He has a job to do, and his deadline is written in stone.

***

Life is good for Chloe Mills. She lives right on the beach, and her coffee shop is thriving. The only thing missing is someone to share it with.

Unfortunately, in a tourist town like Inner Shores, people tend to come and go with the tide. Like her new neighbor, Ethan.

He might be the surliest person she’s ever met, but Chloe can see a big heart hiding beneath all those scowls.

So when he moves in next door, she decides to show him all that Inner Shores has to offer. Even if it means catching feelings for someone who was never meant to stay.

Because for Chloe and Ethan, nothing about life—or love—is a sure thing.

But love doesn’t always fit into your plans.

Sometimes, it changes them.