Lottie's life is no fairy tale. In fact, it's far from it. Her mother flits between relationships, her father's never home and Lottie's the odd one out at school, the quiet one. But she's loved by her friends and, to Lottie, that's all that counts. But things change when she's given the notorious 'Pen Pal' assignment in class. Lottie gets the chance to pretend and be the perfect person she's always wanted to be. She's suddenly the beautiful, 'popular' one who everyone loves, in her letters. Her ginger, knotted locks transform to flowing red flames and she's as thin as a twig. Lottie looks forward to writing to the mysterious boy who receives her rants and her life seems good. Just when all is well and her pen friend seems sunk well into her lies, her mother changes everything. New people, a new country and a new school. The only thing that stays the same is her pen pal. Can he help her to face her fears and start afresh? Will she be stuck the odd one out forever?

Everyone has a fear. Fear of spiders? Arachnophobia. Fear of small spaces? Claustrophobia. And of course, the fear of being tickled by feathers: pteronophobia. Sophie Smart fears drowning. No, her fear isn't some made up malarkey like exposedflabophobia (acute paranoia when wearing a swimsuit and baring pasty thighs and a round bottom). Sophie drowned as a child. She died for three minutes. Her childhood trauma is real. Yet Sophie, hot-shot advertising executive, isn't a child anymore. Now Sophie's most important client, handsome Matthew Silver, is insisting she learn how to swim. She can't blame him really - he's the owner of a chain of swimming centers, and Sophie's in charge of his new advertising campaign. The last thing Sophie wants to do is get in the water, in a clingy swimsuit, with a client she's trying to impress. She's not going to win him over flapping around like an idiot, is she? But with a broken heart from her last relationship, maybe getting into the pool is just what Sophie needs. Maybe she can trust Matthew with her fears. Maybe it's time for her to forget about her past and take the plunge?