Beyond the Break

For fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han, Beyond the Break is a funny and gorgeous paperback original about a girl experiencing her first love. Well, second, if you count her faith... and that's where things may get complicated.

Manhattan Beach native Lovette has two rules in life. One: no surfing. Not after her brother's accident. Two: absolutely, no dating. And going into her junior year of high school, she's pretty happy with that arrangement. She has friends, her church youth group, and God to fall back on when things get dicey. But after Jake Evans walks into her life, following these two simple rules gets a lot more complicated.

Jake is the boy from Lovette's childhood who grew up. Handsome and sweet, he unlocks the part of Lovette that wants nothing more than to surf the waves again. And as their relationship grows, she begins to question what it means to be faithful: to her family, to God, but mostly, to herself.

Told with humor and heart, Heather Buchta delivers a sparkling debut that asks the question: Can you fall in love, be a teenager, and also be a good Christian?

Heather Buchta is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, where she majored in Communications and learning how to pay bills. Today, she enjoys obstacle-course racing, rock-climbing, and snowboarding in warm weather. She lives Manhattan Beach-adjacent, in the not-as-sexy Lawndale, California where she dotes on her dog and writes stories from her indoor porch. Beyond the Break is her first novel.