Before You

Hart debuts with a steamy romance about affirming love. Faith Watters, 18, returns for her senior year in Oviedo, Fla., after a year in rehab that no one knows about except for her family and best friend, Melissa. Ever since Faith was abandoned by her drug-addicted mother 10 years earlier, she has felt compelled to act the part of her pastor father's perfect daughter. Every aspect of Faith's life feels stifling, including her relationship with her bland boyfriend of four years that resembles an "arranged marriage." When she's assigned to be a "peer helper" to cocky new student Diego Alvarez, the physical attraction between them is immediate. Their inaccurate assumptions about one another and defensive personalities cause conflicts, yet as trust builds, Faith reveals her family history, and Diego confesses his involvement with a drug cartel. As Hart alternates between Faith and Diego's self-aware and expressive first-person narratives, readers will be invested in the couple's intense cross-cultural relationship as they persevere despite an onslaught of personal and societal pressures. Ages 14%E2%80%93up. Agent: Beth Miller, Writers House. (Aug.)