Raised in a run-down house on the supposed wrong side of the tracks in North Carolina, Isabelle "Izzie" Scott has always loved her less-than-charmed life by the beach. But when the grandmother she lives with needs to move into a nursing home, a social worker places Izzie with a politically prominent long-lost uncle and his preppy, privileged family, taking her away from everything she's ever known.

Unfortunately, inserting Izzie into the glamorous lifestyle of Emerald Cove isn't going so well. Her cousin Mirabelle Monroe isn't thrilled to share her life with an outsider, and in addition to dealing with all the rumors and backstabbing that lurk beneath their classmates' Southern charm, a secret is unfolding that will change Izzie's and Mira's lives forever.