Introduction

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A January 2026 Indie Next Pick • "This gripping page-turner feels like it was ripped from the juiciest headlines." ?People • "Sexy and full of surprises...an ideal curl-up-by-the-fire read." ?Real Simple

Hurricane season can be murder...

St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.

When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.

As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive?and as deadly?as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping…

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Discussion Questions

From the publisher:

1. How is gossip a central force driving the narrative, and how much does the small, Southern beach town setting amplify its prevalence and impact? Do you think any character’s side of the story can ever reflect the full truth?

2. Early in the novel, a local describes what it’s like when a hurricane comes through town and utilizes its most beloved qualities—the ocean and wind—for devastation. “‘Killing you with the things you love? The things that made you feel so blessed to live here in the first place? Tell me that don’t feel evil.”’ How is this sentiment of destruction reflected in the web of secrets constantly circulating through the St. Medard’s Bay community?

3. Compare and contrast the family legacies that Landon and Geneva have inherited, and the way they respectively approach upholding them.

4. Why do you think Lo and Frieda/Edie were able to reconcile after four decades, despite everything that had happened between them? Considering the strong bond between the Witches of St. Medard’s Bay, and now Geneva, do you think there’s an intrinsic difference between the friends you make in childhood and adolescence versus friends you make as an adult?

5. What did you make of the hurricanes in this story being named after women? What correlation do you notice between the storms’ surges, and Beth-Anne’s, Lo’s, and Geneva’s explosive reactions toward Linus, Landon, and August, if any?

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