Unlucky-in-love zoologist Zoe King has had enough of Sydney. Seeking a fresh start, she moves to the small sugar town of Kiawa to take up an exciting new role in marine science. Zoe is immediately charmed by the region’s beauty – its rivers and rainforests, and its vast cane fields – and by the people – the farmers and fishermen, unhurried and down to earth, proud of their traditions.
Her work at the Reef Centre provides all the passion she needs and Zoe finds a friend in Bridget, the centre’s director. The last thing she expects is to fall for her boss’s fiancé, cane king Quinn Cooper. Zoe focuses on her research and tries to ignore the growing attraction between them. But things aren’t quite adding up at the Reef Centre, and when animals on the reef begin to sicken and die, Zoe’s personal and professional worlds collide. She faces a terrible choice. Will protecting the reef mean betraying the man she loves?