The Scars I Bare
(By The Bay Book 2)

J.L. Berg

#TheScarsIBare

Available 06.10.2025

About The Scars I Bare

Some scars run deeper than the ones you can see.

After years spent rebuilding her life, Cora is ready to start over. A new job brings her and her young daughter to a quiet island off the coast of North Carolina, where she hopes to leave the past behind. But everything changes when she comes face-to-face with the one man she never thought she’d see again.

Dean Sutherland was once Cora’s patient—a wounded fisherman whose quiet strength left a lasting mark. Back then, she was married, and he was broken in ways no one could see. Their timing was never right. Now, years later, he’s back—and he’s not the same man she remembers.

As Cora and Dean are drawn back into each other’s lives, old emotions resurface, and the bond they once shared begins to grow into something neither expected. But when Cora’s ex-husband returns, determined to reclaim his place in their daughter’s life, everything she’s built is suddenly at risk.

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