Brief

A young woman transfers to an Ivy League school for her last year in college to discover the truth about an accident suffered by her brother. In her quest she discovers the existence of secret societies on campus, truths about her father, and a missing person all while falling in love with the school’s star hockey player along the way.

What We Liked

- The mysterious secret societies, the non-communicative brother, a missing coed, and an investigative journalist looking for answers makes for a compelling concept. There is also a heavy romantic storyline that will appeal to a largely female audience.
- Film: A feature adaptation of the story would be engaging. The romance angle is appealing, but the book could use a punch up of the storyline relating to the suspense/mystery elements of the plot to create a more complete movie story arc.
- TV: Adapting the book into a limited mini-series for television could be interesting. Keeping the focus on the intrigue and mystery of the secret societies and the scandal involving the missing coed would make for a suspenseful series.
- Key points: Romance; Suspense; Ethnically diverse cast; Young audience demographic; Happy ending.

Synopsis

Amelia Baston comes from a wealthy family. She transfers to the Ivy League school attended by her parents and brothers for her senior year. She wants to find out what happened to her brother, Lincoln, that has caused him to retreat from life. She is also curious to discover any leads on the disappearance from the university of an acquaintance from high school named Lana Ly.

Amelia promptly gets a job writing for the school paper and is given the assignment of writing about the secret societies on campus. She also befriends, Hailey, a barista at the local coffee shop, and learns that Lincoln’s hockey buddies, Logan and Nolan are the most popular guys on campus.
Amelia discovers that Lincoln was part of a secret society and that he may have been the last person to see Lana before her disappearance. Amelia gets her own invitation to join a secret society. Logan is part of the society as well and though they didn’t get along at first, they soon start to flirt shamelessly and fall in love.

Lincoln overdoses and spends some time in a medically induced coma. While he is recovering, Amelia is initiated into the secret society and learns that their father, also a member of the secret society, was involved in a sex ring masquerading as a mentorship and that he and Lana were having an affair.

Amelia wants her father brought to justice. Hailey reveals that she and Amelia share a father. Hailey has always been jealous of Amelia getting to spend time with their father and getting to take advantage of his lavish lifestyle. Hailey now plans to do away with Amelia and take her place. She also reveals that she has been harboring Lana to keep her quiet and that she tried to kill Lincoln to protect their father from exposure.

Hailey kills Lana and buries Amelia alive. Some guys from the rival secret society discover Amelia and rescue her from the grave. She is happily reunited with Logan. Hailey and her father are brought to justice and after some time to heal from the trauma has passed, Amelia and Logan graduate and plan to get married and start their new life together.

About The Author

Claire Contreras is a New York Times Best Selling Author who traded her psychology degree to write fiction. Don't worry, she still uses her knowledge on every single one of her characters. She's a breast cancer survivor (x2), who was born in the Dominican Republic, raised in Florida, and currently resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband, two adorable boys, and French bulldog. Her books range from romantic suspense to contemporary romance and are currently translated in over fifteen languages. When she's not writing, she's usually lost in a book.