Traveling the world was Juliet Thompson's lifelong wish. At twenty-one, she'd outgrown her hometown of Appleseed, a tired seaside village echoing with the memories of her dead father. Her only regret about leaving the American east coast town, was leaving behind her best friend Marcus. Her closeness with him was a safe-ground from the dreaded, unwanted world of romance. Leaving him would mean losing that safe-ground, but this was something she had to do on her own. Almost ready to embark on her adventure, Juliet's life and the lives of those around her are suddenly thrust into turmoil by a journalist visiting the town to do a promotional article. Matt Somers exudes confidence, wealth, and an abundance of sexual heat. It covers what he hides beneath - secrets, loneliness, and a grand plan to win the tough tomboy over. However, he underestimates his target and love lines become hopelessly tangled. For all those affected, there are difficult life lessons to be learned. Denying love can be can be toxic. Wishing for love it is not always enough. Most of all, deceiving people to find love can start a war nobody saw coming. Matt burrows beneath Juliet's skin because he has secretly profiled her for months, hoping to get her to fall in love with him, thus destroying the platonic cocoon she has around herself and Marcus. When Matt's deception is revealed lives are destroyed. This leads to the disappearance of his Down syndrome brother, a boy whom he loves more than life itself. Will the search for Nicholas lead to tragedy, or will it give Matt his happy ending with Juliet, leaving Marcus to battle a relationship with Juliet's saintly, yet scheming sister? Certainly not the woman Marcus pictured himself growing old with. If only everyone knew what Matt Somers was really hiding - a secret more than ten years old. A death that still haunts his every waking moment, one he just wishes had never happened.