| "A sister lost, a truth buried, but the past always demands its due"
"Meave Cormac and Liam Wood have spent years at each others throat-grades, clubs, leadership, and pure ego. They don't talk unless it's to gloat, and their only real relationship is stealing Student of the month from each other.
But then, Meave stops fighting.
Her grades slip, she skips clubs, and Liam-winning too easily hates it. he corners Meave multiple times, who finally snaps: her sister is missing, the police won't help, and she's out of options. But she has to wait.
Until she realizes she can't.
She starts digging-and, of course, Liam shows up.
From there, it's chaos. Clues, dead ends, breaking rules, dragging in unexpected help.
Tensions rise, secrets unravel, and the deeper they go, the worse it gets.
But one thing is clear: they can't stop now.
And somewhere along the way, they stop being just rivals."
In which two ex-step-siblings reconnect after just about blowing up their family the first time around...
Three years ago, Maddie fell hard for Jacob Isaacs, the smartest boy in her school. The only problem was this: Her dad had quite literally gotten engaged to his mother. The two tried to dampen the flames of their burgeoning attraction for each other but not before they got caught and were the talk of the town for months.
After the fall out, Maddie moved away to try and start her life over and not be known as the girl who got caught doing it with her 'brother' at prom. She hasn't seen her family in ages and intends to keep things that way.
Jacob, on the other hand, has worked hard to accomplish everything he's ever dreamed of. He's stayed close to home, done exceptionally well at school, and is adored by just about everyone who meets him. There's only one problem: There's a Maddie-shaped hole where his heart used to be. But no matter how hard he tries to reach out and find her, he can't. She won't let him. He let her down and gave up on them when she needed him most. And she's not ready to forgive and forget.
But then Maddie's dad passes and she's forced to come home for his funeral. It should be a quick visit. She intends to make it one. But Jacob has other plans. He let his girl slip through his fingers once and he won't let that happen again. So now he has to convince her to give him one more chance. After all, they're not related to each other anymore.