She’s lived her whole life by the rules.

This summer, she’s about to break every one of them.

Elizabeth Margaret’s future has already been decided—Harvard, law school, and a prestigious career waiting at her father’s firm. She’s the perfect daughter, the overachiever, the girl who never disappoints.

But when a mysterious aunt she’s never heard of invites her to spend the summer at a secluded bed-and-breakfast off the coast of North Carolina, Elizabeth takes a risk she’s never taken before—and steps into a world nothing like the one she knows.

Island life is slower. Freer. Filled with sun-soaked days, family secrets, and a kind of warmth Elizabeth has been missing her entire life. And then there’s Cade—infuriating, magnetic, unapologetically himself—who challenges everything she’s been taught to want and everything she’s afraid to admit she needs.

As Elizabeth is drawn deeper into the rhythms of the island and the people who call it home, she’s forced to confront a question she’s never allowed herself to ask: What if the life planned for her isn’t the life she wants?

With her heart pulling her in one direction and her family’s expectations pulling her in another, Elizabeth must decide whether this summer is just a temporary escape—or the beginning of the life she was always meant to live.

The Summer My Life Began is a heartfelt, romantic coming-of-age story about first love, self-discovery, and finding the courage to choose yourself—even when it changes everything.