Serene dreams of making couture dresses even more stunning than her moms, but for now shes an intern at her moms fashion label. When her mom receives a sudden diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, all that changes. Serene has to take over her mothers business overnight while trying to figure out what happened with her dad in Beijing. He left before she was born, and Serene wants to find him, even if it means going against her moms one requestnever look back.Lian Chen moved from China to Serenes mostly white Southern California beach town a year ago. He doesnt fit in at school, where kids mispronounce his name. His parents dont care about what he wants to docomedyand push him toward going to MIT engineering early. Lian thinks theres nothing to stick around for until one day he starts a Chinese Club after school . . . and Serene walks in.Worlds apart in the high school hierarchy, Serene and Lian soon find refuge in each other, falling in love as they navigate life-changing storms.