"This gave me Call me by your name vibes but with a much better HEA… I absolutely loved it."

— ✧ ✧ ✧ —

On a moonlit Thai beach, one kiss knocks two lives off course. Twenty-five-year-old Lester has flown from wintry England to Ko Lanta to shepherd a friend's bachelor trip—not to be seen, understood, and quietly undone by Silom, a young boatman who reads tides better than he trusts promises. That single moment makes both men reckless enough to imagine a different life.

Set largely on Ko Lanta in the 1990s, this is a sun-drenched, quietly yearning story of first desire, family obligation, and the small choices that become fate. The island's coves and currents feel like a map of what Lester and Silom can—and can't—say. Around them move the people who sharpen the stakes: Michael, the gilded friend who can't offer what Lester needs; Lyla, the sister who expects poise above all; Mama and Uncle, who keep Silom's world afloat; and Kamil, a friend whose flamboyance meets a community's limits.

Lester wants the courage to be honest; Silom wants a love he doesn't have to hide. Between them stand class, culture, an ocean, and the futures their families demand. If the tide keeps pulling them back together, what will each man risk when staying means loss and leaving means regret? Content boundaries: some on-page consensual intimacy, one scene of homophobic violence with brief blood detail, and occasional strong language. A complete standalone. Perfect for readers who enjoy island-set queer romance, slow-burn longing across years, working-class/upper-class contrasts, found-family warmth, and tender stories with melancholic hope.

For readers of André Aciman (Call Me by Your Name), Madeline Miller (The Song of Achilles), and anyone who has ever carried a memory like a flame in their chest.

232 pages.

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