Where the sea laps the coast at Clamshell Bay in the Pacific Northwest, four women meet in a baking class. They’re as different as salt, flour, yeast and water–yet when they combine, the results are as strong and unbreakable as the best friendships.

Cleo Duvall is a middle-aged baker who runs the Clamshell Bay Bakery and Cafe in the pretty tourist town on the Washington State coast, and her cinnamon buns are Instagram-famous. The coffee shop is the heart of the village—neighbors gossip over coffee and pastries, and if you want to know anything about anyone, the cafe is the place to ask.

As a way to share her love for the art and craft of baking, Cleo teaches a weekend class. Her students this time include Brooke Mattson, a former supermodel who dreams of being a mom but is struggling to have a baby; Libby Brown, a proud homemaker whose happy family isn’t as perfect as it seems; and Megan Alexander, the local painter who may be free-spirited—or a commitment-phobe.

Cleo survived her no-good husband running out on her three years ago with a young neighbor. She lived down the humiliation and is satisfied with a life so predictable she knows exactly how many loaves of French bread to bake on Thursdays. Then a man who looks strangely familiar strolls into her cafe and upsets the balance of her carefully ordered world.

While the four women bond over bread dough, their lives begin to change, too. On the surface, Clamshell Bay is as calm as a sunny day in August, but anyone who’s lived by the ocean knows that one good storm can change everything. There are secrets buried in Clamshell Bay, and they are about to be exposed by a tide no one can stop.

Treat yourself to a cinnamon bun and lose yourself in the utterly charming world of Clamshell Bay–you won’t want to leave. Fans of Firefly Lane, Pamela Kelley and Nancy Thayer will adore the Clamshell Bay series.