Kennedy "by the sea" Murray: British, wild, free, scared. After years of being abused by her mother's new husband, Kennedy is kicked out of the house and forced to move across the ocean to live with her deadbeat father in Tennessee.
Sam Dawson is the wrestling captain of Crawson High School, home of the Crawdads! He's tall, dark, and handsome and the girls in Crawson county are dying to be with him. All Sam wants is to get out of this town and get out of the grip of his family, a life of wrestling, and his past.
When Sam and Kennedy meet, two worlds will collide, scars will be dug up, and walls will be torn down. Intrigued by the girl in the abandoned airport hanger, Sam falls head over heels and pursues a relationship. Will Kennedy let him in? Will they uncover each other's pasts?
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]