Piper Anderson has been given a fresh start in the picturesque town of Edenville, North Carolina. But her plans of settling into a normal life are derailed when she witnesses a prominent judge in her community committing a violent assault. Running from her own past and fueled by a passion to make the judge answer for his crimes, Piper is forced to decide if she'll play by the rules or achieve justice in her own way.

Against all odds, Piper Anderson has managed to pick up the pieces of her life. She's holding tight to her budding romance with Officer Bobby Wright, anxious to have her moment with him. Now encircled by fiercely loyal friends, she finally feels like she's standing at the edge of a normal life. That is until reports of a brutal attack at the local college campus turn her dream of happily ever after into a nightmare. The unmistakably familiar details of the attack are an instant reminder of the chains tying her to people and places she so badly wants to escape.

To Piper Anderson, fate has always been that unavoidable circumstance that befalls a person. Some people are destined to be happy, and others, like Piper, have a rougher road. Each time she tries to step off her predetermined path in search of happiness, someone or something drags her back to it. Heartbroken after Bobby allows his own past to come between them, Piper is eager to leave Edenville behind. With Jules as her companion, she heads back to New York, the place where it all began, in search of a piece of her history that isn't tarnished.

No matter what people tell him, Jedda Wright is convinced he's nobody's hero. He's made his mistakes and paid dearly for them over the years. Suddenly freed from his past, he's forced to find his way in a world he hardly recognizes. He's written himself off as a lost cause and pushes away any chance at love. Has he been punished enough to be worthy of his redemption, or when given the chance, will he make the same mistakes again?