A debut novel for fans of Jane Austen, Elin Hilderbrand, and Gilmore Girls, Worse Than Strangers is a beachy retelling of Austen’s Persuasion set against the backdrop of a cottage on Nantucket about finding romance, second chances, and a new path in life.

Rose and Lily are best friends first, mother-daughter second, which is good because right now, Lily could really use a friend. Recently fired from her NYC magazine job and heartbroken, Lily has fled to the family cottage in Siasconset. She is shocked when she stumbles across her first love at the grocery store holding hands with his new fiancé—a fiancé he never mentioned on their many, many late-night phone calls.

Rose has secrets, too. A therapist about to start her own private practice, Rose’s world is rocked by the handsome renter staying in their guest cottage, Thomas Wentworth: the one person she thought she would never see again and the man who has always (unfortunately) held her heart.

A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion set against a backdrop of blue and purple hydrangeas, swollen brick sidewalks, tall sea grass, and uniform, shingled houses, Lily and Rose Gardner’s summer journey of second chances, healing, and hope begs the question: Can you repeat the past, and is it ever too late to try again?