Wynona Woolery calls off her wedding when her fiancé forces her to choose between him and the small Oregon beach town she loves. Not one to waste an opportunity in an election year, her father, the mayor, convinces her to carry on with the reception to bolster town morale. When hometown surf legend Brody McKinney – Wyn’s ex – turns up tending the bar, Wyn wishes she’d refused. When she finds her mom kissing her father’s political rival, she wishes she’d burned the venue to the ground. 

While Wyn begs her parents to reconcile, Brody closes out his dad’s estate, hoping to sell it and move back to Los Angeles before he ruins Wynona’s life for the second time. But then a dead whale washes ashore and sends tourists packing, leaving the town bitterly divided on how to dispose of the foul-smelling nuisance. As Wynona brokers peace, she finds comfort in Brody, even if she has doubts about how he kicked the opiate addiction that prompted their breakup. 

As the Woolerys grapple with a messy mayoral challenge, the question of how Brody got clean becomes campaign fodder. Wynona has to decide if she trusts Brody or town gossip. With time ticking and flies buzzing, she must decide before someone gets restless and blows the whale – and the possibility of a future with her first love – to smithereens.

Romcom / WF; 89,000 words