Gilmore Girls meets The Home Edit, at the beach, with a revenge glow-up, an estranged daughter, and one flannel-wearing contractor who knows his way around a power drill.

Melissa Radford has made a career out of staying in control. But when her perfectly curated Manhattan life implodes, she heads to Beachwood Bay to flip her late grandmother’s crumbling cottage and fast. Her plan? Renovate, sell, and get back to the city before the salt air ruins her blowout.

The locals have other plans.

Especially Dawson Evans, the grumpy, gorgeous contractor with calloused hands and zero time for high-maintenance city girls. But Melissa’s not just any city girl. And underneath all her spreadsheets and sarcasm, there’s a woman he can’t stop thinking about.

With her rebellious daughter in tow, nosy neighbors playing matchmaker, and the beach house determined to expose every crack in her carefully constructed facade, Melissa might just discover that the life she tried to escape is the one worth rebuilding.

She came to renovate a cottage. Beachwood Bay might just renovate her heart.

Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Meghan Quinn, Lucy Score, Jenny Colgan, Elin Hilderbrand, Gilmore Girls, small-town romantic comedies, found family fiction, and slow-burn beach reads with heart and humor.