Beautiful Greer Clovelly is in love and determined to wed Jesse Behenna. After all, a marriage between them would join together two dynasties of Cornish fishing families to make a very prosperous one. For her friend, Loveday Carter - plump, freckled and unpretentious - living in Greer's shadow has become a way of life. Loveday adores Jesse too, even though his best friend Mickey is in love with her; but she knows that what Greer wants, she usually gets. Jesse is desperate to break away and see the world, but his father wants him to marry Greer and cement the family partnership. Jesse's decision will touch everyone in ways that they could never foresee, and soon the four friends find themselves weathering a storm - one that has the power to sink them all.