Burnout Summer

By: Jenna Ramirez

Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2026-05-12

Four years after graduation, life isn’t going the way Camille Luna expected. Her corporate career is soul-sucking, she's in debt from student loans, and her breakup with her ex has created a serious rift between her college best friends. When her spiraling lands her in jail for the night, it's Danny —the lovable burnout from their college clique— who bails her out and offers the perfect solution to her quarter-life crisis: a summer by the beach.

Cam lets herself be whisked away to Elswick, Rhode Island where Danny, who never had his own life together but was always there for Cam, has taken over his uncle's seaside restaurant and turned it into the spot. Danny, once the designated slacker of their friends, is now a beloved boss and doting dog dad. The hazy summer days start to blur between shifts at the restaurant, dips in the ocean, and a reignited passion for writing, all alongside Danny who makes her laugh like nobody else. Cam can't help but wonder —is it the salty waves that have her feeling so free, or is it the friend she never gave a chance? But summer can't last forever, and Cam's looming student debt reminds her at every turn that the frigid air of corporate office life is waiting.
As Labor Day approaches, Cam must decide between snuffing out the flames with Danny in order to keep her beloved friend group together and return to the corporate grind —or leaning into Danny's carpe diem arms to burn her old life down.