Kaley Malcolm took a break from vet school to surf along the coast of California, but her fun in the sun is cut short by a fatal shark attack... Or so the rest of the world believes. The Essential Oceans Network has operatives hiding in plain sight, however, and Dr. Keith Durbin is one of the first to help Kaley. When he realizes she's not been attacked by a shark but a rogue shifter, and has been exposed to the venom that will make her one of his kind

the Ocean Kissed. He becomes her mentor, to guide her through acclimating to a new side of herself, courtesy of venom and magic: the 15 foot great white shark. Kaley, alone in the world after a traumatic event, is faced with a multi-layered identity crisis. One day, she's a gorgeous young woman in veterinary school. The next, she's splashing around eating gray seals in one bite. But in the process of coming to terms with her internal great white beast, she also discovers she's stifled another part of herself: the part that maybe doesn't want to be called she. This is a story of second chances

with ourselves, with each other, and with the world.