Calypso's Odyssey

A Star-Crossed Lovers Slow-Burn Summer Romance in this Odyssey Tale Reimagined

De: Arden Hayes

Some loves are meant to stay…some are meant to set you free.

The Summer I Turned Pretty meets Circe in this windswept, emotional retelling of The Odyssey. A stunning story of first love, ancient echoes, and the power of rewriting your own fate.

Eighteen-year-old Calypso Alvarado has never left Catalina Island. Her world is a crumbling cliffside inn, a father who’s more prison guard than parent, and a curse she believes she’s doomed to repeat: every summer brings a boy, a spark—and then a goodbye.

Until the summer everything changes.

A shipwreck. A storm. A boy washed ashore.

Odysseus “Odie” Reyes is secretive, wounded, and desperate to disappear. Calypso offers him shelter, a place to heal, and slowly, something more. But Odie is no ordinary castaway—he’s the heir to a global shipping empire, with a life already written for him: Yale, his best friend-turned-fiancée, and a future as a CEO he never asked for.

On Catalina, Calypso shows him another way to live. A life of freedom, belonging, and self-made purpose. A life where he could be anyone—even himself.

But when Odie’s past crashes back into their world, and the truth is revealed in a betrayal neither saw coming, both must make impossible choices: Odie, between legacy and love. Calypso, between holding on and setting herself free.

A star-crossed, slow-burn summer romance. A contemporary reimagining with mythological roots. A girl who learns that sometimes, the most epic love story is the one you write for yourself.

Perfect for fans of:

• Summer romances with emotional depth
• Mythology retellings with a modern twist
• Star-crossed lovers and impossible choices
• Coming-of-age stories with lyrical prose
• Books like A Thousand Ships, Lore, These Violent Delights, and Lore Olympus

©2026 Arden Hayes (P)2026 HarperCollins Publishers