“A solitary painter in a remote coastal town finds an unexpected connection that rekindles desire, memory, and risk in Taylor’s novel.

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“Eva lives alone in Pony Rock, a small, weather-beaten town off the coast of Oregon where routine and isolation have become both refuge and identity. A college art instructor with a somewhat eccentric niche practice—shooting fruit and painting the aftermath—she moves through life with deliberate simplicity, avoiding emotional entanglements after a damaging marriage and a childhood spent in an orphanage. Her closest relationship is with Alice, a sharp, pragmatic friend who grounds Eva but also challenges her. Eva’s days are divided between teaching, navigating the subtle hostility of her academic department, and retreating into her private world of art and solitude. Everything shifts at a wedding on the coast, where she meets Jackson, a motorcycle mechanic whose presence immediately unsettles her emotional equilibrium. What begins as a tentative interaction quickly deepens into attraction—then intimacy. He takes her home, and their connection unfolds with surprising ease: conversation, shared histories of loss, and physical closeness that Eva has avoided for years. As Eva’s relationship with Jackson is getting serious, Dean shows up. What began as a tentative intimacy between two people evolves into a throuple relationship as Dean becomes integral to their emotional world. As the trio’s relationship deepens, Eva navigates both the exhilaration and unease of reentering emotional vulnerability. Meanwhile, tensions at the college escalate, particularly around her pursuit of tenure and the quiet antagonism of her department chair.

“The narrative weaves between romantic immersion, professional precarity, and the subtle revelations of Jackson’s past, including hints of trauma linked to his military service. The coastal setting—alive with birds, storms, and shifting light—mirrors the emotional currents at play, grounding the unfolding relationship in a sensory, almost meditative landscape... The exploration of trauma—both spoken and withheld—adds a layer of tension beneath the romance. Rather than resolving neatly, these elements linger, suggesting that intimacy does not erase the past but reframes it...

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“A tender portrait of late-blooming love where solitude, art, and longing meet in a fragile transformation.”

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                                                                                                                           — Kirkus Reviews

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