An evocative love story set along the Italian Riviera about a beautiful socialite and a journalist, both with secrets and pasts they try desperately—and dangerously—to hide

Rome, 1953: Hal and Stella meet by chance, two outcasts, both far from home. Or perhaps it was the hand of the gods at work that night as the Eternal City welcomed the beautiful elite to its rooftops. It’s a bright awakening for Hal; he believes he’s found the love of his life—his Stella, his star.

To his dismay, the mysterious girl disappears as quickly as she swept in, and Hal’s life as a journalist falls back into its familiar routine. But when he’s asked by an Italian contessa to take part in the trip of a lifetime—as the official reporter on a grand yacht as it skims its way along the Italian Riviera toward the Cannes Film Festival, the most famous movie stars and directors of the day as its cargo—Hal can’t believe his good fortune. Especially when a familiar beauty becomes a fellow passenger.

Yet not all that glitters is gold, for many secret histories lurk beneath the surface of these Bright Young Things. Stella is bound to a powerful and profoundly dangerous man, and as Hal’s obsession grows, they sail closer and closer to a tragic fate.