Since leaving the Army six months ago, Izzy Rivera has closed herself off from everyone and everything. Struggling with a debilitating case of PTSD, she has been fired from three jobs and was recently arrested for assault. Her last hope is a rehab program for veterans on Heron Island, which she was admitted to on a probationary basis and which she must complete to stay out of jail.

After establishing an illustrious career as a marine biologist, Ryan Callahan has returned to Heron Island to open a nonprofit to save the Chesapeake Bay and help his father—a fourth-generation waterman—expand his oyster farm. As one of the primary employers for the veterans’ center, Ryan is counting on his new workforce to make the merging of these two operations a success.

But Ryan underestimated the challenges of employing a group of physically and psychologically wounded veterans—particularly the female Army veteran who wants nothing to do with his nonprofit, his father’s farm, or the peaceful island that’s supposed to help her heal. Can Ryan find a way to convince Izzy to believe in something again? Or will the shell she’s built around her heart trap her in the past forever?

Sea Rose Publishing