Until the Tide

Glory Dawson arrives in the Florida Keys with little more than a duffel bag, a bruised body, and the desperate hope that disappearing might finally save her life.

Haunted by an abusive relationship and the memories of a childhood marked by instability and loss, Glory has spent years surviving rather than living. After a frightening act of violence leaves her shaken and alone, she follows the advice of a compassionate counselor and heads south to start over in a place where no one knows her name.

The tropical paradise she finds is nothing like she expected.

Nestled between turquoise water, weathered docks, and endless ocean horizons sits Dave's Outdoor Water Sports, a quirky dive shop and charter business filled with an unlikely group of employees who have created a family out of broken pieces of their own lives. What begins as a temporary escape slowly becomes something far more meaningful as Glory finds herself embraced by people who see her not as damaged, but as someone worth loving.

For the first time in years, she begins to imagine a future beyond fear.

But healing is never simple.

Especially when it comes in the form of Ellis.

Quiet, guarded, and carrying scars deeper than his rough exterior reveals, Ellis has spent years distancing himself from attachment after tragedy shattered the life he once planned for himself. He understands pain too well to believe happy endings last, and he wants nothing to do with the complicated new woman who suddenly disrupts the careful emotional walls he has built around his life.

Yet the more time they spend together beneath the blazing Keys sun and endless coastal skies, the harder it becomes to ignore the connection growing between them.

As attraction slowly gives way to trust, Glory discovers that Ellis may be the only person capable of understanding the darkness she carries. And Ellis begins to realize that Glory's strength, vulnerability, and determination to survive are awakening parts of himself he thought were long gone.

But just as Glory starts believing she may finally have found safety, the past she fled begins closing in.

Secrets buried beneath fractured memories threaten to unravel everything she has rebuilt. Old wounds reopen. Dangerous truths emerge. And the closer Glory and Ellis grow, the more they are forced to confront the painful realities of identity, forgiveness, trauma, and the sacrifices love demands.

With tensions rising and lives hanging in the balance, Glory must decide whether she will continue running from the past-or finally face it head-on before it destroys the future she never believed she deserved.

Set against the vivid and atmospheric backdrop of the Florida Keys, Until the Tide is an emotionally charged romantic suspense novel filled with mystery, healing, found family, survival, redemption, and unforgettable twists. Blending slow-burn romance with high emotional stakes and page-turning suspense, Christopher Kent delivers a story about the power of human connection and the courage it takes to begin again.

Perfect for readers who love emotional romantic suspense, coastal settings, layered characters, found-family dynamics, and stories where love and resilience emerge from even the darkest storms.