Losing someone close to you comes with myriad feelings. There's the sense of guilt and loss, of course. But when the person's death comes at the end of a protracted deterioration, there are other things to be taken into account. Losing someone to dementia, for example, is effectively, losing them twice. And as that first loss looms large and the second approaches, we all cope in different ways. Flora Maxwell knows this all too well—and when she attempts to come clean about her own guilt, it causes a storm of emotions in her family.

A British Girl's Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak is a sister book to Laura Taylor Namey's A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, but reading Lila's story isn't essential to understanding Flora's. There is crossover: Flora is the younger sister of Orion Maxwell, and her journey serves as a counterpoint to Lila's. Where Lila was sent from Florida to England by her parents, Flora makes the opposite journey of her own volition... without even telling her family. Between rejecting the romantic confession of her childhood friend Gordon and admitting to her family that she deliberately fled from her mother's final moments, she has a lot of coping to do.

Safely ensconced in Miami among family friends preparing for a wedding, Flora thinks she's spared her family from her immediate turmoil as she steps away to process. But her rash move has caused an even greater rift—one she's unsure she can repair. As she did during her mother's decline, Flora takes solace in photography. And this is how she meets Baz: the handsome son of a renowned local photographer. Baz can't seem to escape his family's expectations for him to get a significant other, and Flora wants to help her friends find a wedding photographer. So the two strike up a deal: if Flora pretends to be Baz's girlfriend for local functions, he'll do photos for the wedding.

The arrangement throws Flora into the world of the Miami elite... and Miami gossip. Slowly but surely, she finds her confidence and reconnects with her family. But just as things are heating up with Baz, Gordon arrives on the scene. And Flora has to decide where her heart really lies... but not before this emotional hurricane of a girl has to face down a real hurricane.

A British Girl's Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak is as emotional and turbulent as its young heroine. And while the "pretend dating" trope is in play, it's not going where you think it will. It's always gratifying to see a book with a healthy assessment of self-care, and this book doesn't shy away from the harder lessons about including your loved ones in that plan. Not every lesson she faces is pleasant, and most are (funnily enough) about how refusing to reach out for help can have negative repercussions for those around you in the long run. The line between selflessness and selfishness is a narrow one, and learning how to ask for what you need when you need it can make all the difference.

Even without its preceding book, this is a powerful read. If you've lost a family member to dementia, it can be an especially difficult one. There is no pleasant version of grief, but that flavor in particular is unpleasantly multifaceted. Namey depicts it with a cathartic accuracy. Best of all, the lesson is not one of changing your entire self for others, but rather accepting yourself in a way that respects yourself and the people around you. While this feels more like a summer read, make an exception and slide it into your autumn reading pile.

A British Girl's Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak goes on sale September 26.