The first in a quartet of books featuring four brothers from Chesapeake Bay. Cameron, Ethan and Philip are called home to honour their dying father's last request, and Cameron's life changes overnight when he has to start taking care of his youngest brother, a difficult teenager called Seth.

Nora Roberts (b. Eleanor Marie Robertson, October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA), is a bestselling American author of more than 165 romance novels, and she writes as J.D. Robb for the "In Death" series. She also has written under the pseudonym Jill March, and by error some of her works were published in the UK as Sarah Hardesty.

Nora Roberts was the first author to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. As of 2006, her novels had spent a combined 660 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, including 100 weeks in the number-one spot. Over 280 million copies of her books are in print, including 12 million copies sold in 2005 alone. Her novels have been published in 35 countries.