The traumatic events of The River Maiden have left Sarah MacAlpin's life in shambles. Her best friend won't talk to her. The man she loves says they can't be together. She's just discovered something that destroys the main thesis of her dissertation. To top it off, she's learned that her dream fellowship in Scotland was given to her with ulterior motives by her billionaire benefactor. Sarah has to choose whether to accept the fellowship anyway or try to find a different path. Meanwhile, she's battles her own personal demons and questions about her family. She hopes to find some answers in her mother's memoir. What she finds are some upsetting parallels to her own life. Like Sarah, Molly left Kettle Holler on the verge of making her dreams come true, but her ambitions were derailed by a family secret that took her across an ocean and left her a broken shade of her former self.