When Samantha Manning, her two sisters, and her parents move from West Virginia to Pensacola, Florida, they feel like they have landed in paradise. As she begins to settle into her life, she quickly discovers that life in Florida is so much more exciting and confusing than her old life. And then the worst thing ever happens, her father has a stroke and dies the week after her thirteenth birthday. Her hopes and dreams begin to vanish as she makes one bad decision after another. She must find a way to pick up the pieces of her life as her very existence crumbles beneath her. Will she be able to emerge from the ashes and find a better life?
Sam realizes that the exciting future that she once longed for is far from reality, because she made decisions that have brought heartache and pain to her family and friends. After years of catastrophes, including unwanted pregnancies and untimely death, she finds hope with the one person she initially hesitated to trust, Ty. But, is it too late to start over and get back the life that she so desperately wants?