From USA Today bestselling author Emily McIntire comes an angsty, best-friend’s-brother, second-chance romance and the second interconnected standalone in the Sugarlake series.

Elliot Carson left Sugarlake and has never looked back. Revered as the next big thing in basketball, Eli’s a star until an injury ends his career, sending him spiraling with no direction.

But he won’t go home.

He can’t.

Instead, he accepts a coaching gig at Florida Coast University, determined to leave his past behind. But fate has other plans when Becca, his sister’s best friend, shows up as a student and, even worse, becomes the new team manager.

Rebecca Sanger is the preacher’s daughter and the town’s disappointment. When she ignores her family’s demands to come home, she’s cut off and needs a job so she can stay enrolled at FCU. She thought she had everything figured out, until Eli Carson―the person she hates more than anything in the world―ends up being her new boss.

Forced together, Becca and Eli’s hatred turns to heat, and they start an affair. But disaster quickly strikes, ripping them apart.

Years pass, and Becca’s back home, under her parent’s thumb, and living a mundane life. When Eli shows up out of the blue with a fiancée in tow, Becca is tasked with planning their wedding.

There’s only one problem.

Becca still loves Eli.

And he hates her.

For the second time in their lives, they’re forced together, and they’ll find out just how thin the line is between hate … and a love that lasts a lifetime. 

Contains mature content.

Emily McIntire is a USA Today bestselling author of painful, messy, beautiful romance. She doesn’t like to box herself into one subgenre, but at the core of all her stories is soul deep love. A long time songwriter and an avid reader, Emily has always had a passion for the written word, and when she’s not writing you can find her waiting on her long lost Hogwarts letter, chasing her crazy toddler, or lost between the pages of a good book.

Brooke Bloomingdale is an in-demand narrator with a background in film and stage acting.

Liam DiCosimo is a professional audiobook narrator, voiceover artist, singer, and podcaster. A modern seanachaí, or Irish Folk storyteller, he relies on that long tradition, which uses a wide range of conventions, styles of speech, and gestures to help create renowned performances. For more information, visit LiamDiCosimo.com.