They say the past can't hurt you—until it turns up in someone else's manuscript.

When acclaimed documentary filmmaker Tessa Newberry returns to Dogwood, Mississippi, to bury her complicated mother, she doesn't expect to come face-to-face with Alexander Hawthorne-the boy who stole her heart when they were seventeen. Now a powerful publisher, Lex is just as magnetic as ever, and their chemistry reignites like no time has passed.

But their second chance is threatened when Tessa uncovers a haunting manuscript tucked inside a thrift-store box-one that feels all too personal. With chapter titles like "Alexander Hawthorne Is a Liar" and "Alexander Hawthorne Is a Monster," the story reads less like fiction and more like a secret confession. And Tessa is convinced it was written by his ex.

As she delves deeper into the manuscript's dark revelations, Tessa is forced to question everything she thought she knew about Lex-and the summer that tore them apart.