A woman’s temporary escape turns into a permanent reversal of fortunes in this slightly irreverent yet charming debut.

Protesting Hollywood exploitation, Cole Lavetsky storms away from her executive-level career. She decamps to a rent-free condo on Ambergris Caye, Belize with her vintage guitar, the beginnings of a revenge novel, and a timeline to reinvent herself—outside the shadow of her golden-boy twin brother, a former child star.

During her first seaside stroll, Cole becomes captivated by the ruins of a fantastical, pink-painted resort. When she meets Elias, a seven-year-old prodigy living there, she feels oddly compelled to help. Anything—even if it means cozying up to the island’s infamous (and annoyingly good-looking) expat, the educational philanthropist Thatcher Ames. Though Cole chafes at his suggestion to leave well enough alone, business beach walks somehow segue to sunset dinner dates. She tells herself there’s no harm in having a little fun. Until the child’s grandma, an elderly Mayan wisdom keeper, delivers an unwelcome prophecy, and Cole begins to fear that in denying her past, she’s put Elias’s future—and the hearts of everyone involved—in jeopardy.

At turns lighthearted and achingly candid, Little Pink Houses is a journey… To an island, yes. But ultimately to the astonishing possibilities that open up when we grant our loved ones—and ourselves—the grace to be imperfect.