Low Tide Hearts (JJ Maybank)

In the Outer Banks, loyalty is everything - and secrets are currency.

After a scandal shatters her family's pristine Kook reputation, Ellie Hartwell is forced from the safety of Figure 8 into the unpredictable world of the Cut. She isn't looking for friends - only answers. Her father vanished months ago without a trace, and Ellie knows his disappearance wasn't by chance.

JJ Maybank - reckless, guarded, and fiercely loyal to his own - senses danger the moment Ellie steps onto Pogue turf with whispers of hidden files, family betrayal, and the elusive Royal Merchant mystery. His instincts scream to keep her at arm's length. But there's something about the calm fire she hides - a pain he can't ignore.

John B Routledge, the determined leader of the Pogues, carries his own shadows - scars left by a past that feels strangely entwined with Ellie's. When their paths cross, an unspoken bond forms - a silent understanding that the secrets they chase run deeper than either expected.

Together, they plunge into a search through buried truths and shifting alliances where every revelation threatens to pull them under. In Low Tide Hearts, the tide doesn't just rise - it drags everything with it. And sometimes, the greatest danger isn't the ocean, but the ones you choose to trust.