It was the summer that changed my life forever.

When I somehow won the golden ticket to a summer spent working for world-famous author Thomas Albertson, I expected him to be a boss and possibly even become my mentor, I didn’t expect he’d become my Master. I didn’t expect the skeletons rattling in his closet either.

I’m Joel Buckley, I’m a Ph.D. student in English Literature, and I was burnt out. I needed a change, and, with the encouragement of my best friend Stephen, I found it. Access to the literary world of a bestselling author and the eternal tropical sunshine of the Florida Keys was enough to make it a summer to remember. Falling in love, vanquishing a long-term adversary, and submitting to the most breathtaking of Masters made it a summer I would never ever forget.