When seventeen-year-old Olivia Hawthorne's mother becomes the American ambassador to a small, old kingdom, Olivia isn't thrilled about moving there and leaving her old life behind. But at least she has her best friend and president's daughter, Vanessa Bennett, and their bodyguard, Russell Donahue, to navigate the strange new land. The people of V—on an isolated island in the Indian Ocean—are cryptic, brooding, and secretive. They've wanted no contact with other countries for centuries...until now.

As Olivia begins to fall for the handsome, irresistible Prince Christian—and he falls for her just as hard—her intuition tells her something is off about him and his people. And the fact that a young, handsome guard named Dante has been ordered to train her in the art of combat from the King himself with a dagger called the Slayer only makes her more suspicious.

When the new embassy is attacked and the President—who was supposed to arrive days ago—is declared missing, Olivia and her family find themselves embroiled in a game of mystery, lies, and subterfuge. It isn't until Oliva starts seeing ghosts of the past—warning her to get out—that she finds there's more to this small island than its people claim. Who are the strange people of V? Are they as harmless as they appear...or is their identity bloodier than Olivia and her mother can possibly imagine?