When Riley Maybank returns to the Outer Banks after years at Veilstone Academy, she's no longer the Quiet older sister JJ remembers-she's a storm wearing skin, with secrets buried as deeply as the tides. Together with her best friend, Julianna Routledge-John B's enigmatic sister-they face the ghosts of the past and the betrayals that never stopped echoing. But the Outer Banks doesn't forgive easily. Old flames resurface. Hidden letters stir forgotten wounds. And a scandal from Veilstone threatens to unravel the fragile peace Riley has built. As loyalty and truth clash beneath the Carolina sun, Riley must decide whether coming home means healing-or setting everything on fire. Secrets in the Wake is a gripping emotional drama about the weight of legacy, the resilience of chosen family, and the price of finally telling the truth.

The cliché college love story: The IT boy of campus. The quiet girl in the back row. She falls first, he falls harder. He asks her out, she says yes- and the readers squeal in joy. That's how it's supposed to go. Right? Not this time. What if trust gets in the way? What if the past has claws? What if loyalty doesn't last, and "ever after" is a longer stretch than anyone's ready for? Because real life doesn't always give you a happy ending.

Julianna Routledge has always lived in the shadows of the Outer Banks-caught between sun-soaked days and storm-wrecked truths. With loyalty stretched thin and old wounds never fully healed, her story unfolds in stolen glances, unspoken grudges, and the kind of choices that change everything. In the OBX, nothing is ever simple... and Jules is no exception.