Meagan Brandy’s sports romance novel Say You Swear was originally self-published by Brandy in 2021. The novel is set in contemporary Southern California and written from the first-person point of view. While the protagonist, Arianna Johnson, primarily narrates the novel, some chapters include narrative sequences written from Chase Harper’s and Noah Riley’s first-person points of view. After Arianna and her twin brother, Mason, graduate from high school, they take a trip to their beach house to celebrate the end of the summer. Their best friends, Chase, Cameron, and Brady, join them too. One night, Arianna and Chase have sex on the beach. Arianna is thrilled that her crush might soon be her boyfriend, but Chase insists that they can’t be together. Arianna feels like her world is falling apart when she and her friends start school at Avix University. However, when she starts spending time with the football captain, Noah, Arianna wonders if she might overcome her heartbreak and find true love in the process. Throughout the novel, Arianna and Noah’s developing romance challenges how the characters see themselves and relate to one another. Their college experiences inspire the novel’s exploration of themes such as The Healing Power of Love, The Importance of Friendship and Family, and The Journey Toward Self-Discovery.

This guide refers to the 2024 Bloom Books paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss miscarriage, the deaths of friends and parents, and a car accident.

Plot Summary

Eighteen-year-old Arianna Johnson and her twin brother, Mason, graduate from high school and head to their beach house for the summer. They invite their closest friends, Chase, Cameron, and Brady, to join them. The five friends have grown up together, and Arianna is desperate to make this summer count. They’re all attending Avix University in the fall, but Arianna is afraid that college life will change their relationships.

Arianna also hopes that being at the beach house with her friends will make something happen between her and Chase. She’s been in love with him since he moved into the neighborhood when he was 12 and can’t stop imagining their future together. When they have sex on the beach one night, she thinks that she might have everything she’s ever wanted. However, Chase immediately dismisses their encounter and assures Mason that nothing happened between them.

Arianna starts her freshman year at Avix feeling heartbroken. She avoids her friend group, terrified of letting them see how upset she is over Chase. However, Cameron and Brady miss her and encourage her to attend the boys’ football games and party with them. One night, they go to a bar, and Arianna ends up dancing with Noah Riley, the handsome football captain whom she met briefly while at the beach at the end of the summer. She and Noah spend the rest of the night drinking and talking, and Arianna can’t deny that she feels attracted to him.

Over the following weeks, Arianna and Noah start spending all their time together. One evening, Noah invites Arianna over and cooks her dinner. He tells her about his close relationship with his single mother, Lori, and explains that she taught him everything he knows. Then, he invites Arianna to come and meet Lori, revealing that she has been living in a rehabilitation center ever since she had a stroke two years prior. Arianna is immediately drawn to Lori and moved by her and Noah’s bond.

Meanwhile, Arianna realizes that she’s over Chase and doesn’t expect anything else to happen between them. However, on Thanksgiving break, Chase confronts her and insists that he wants to be with her. Arianna feels confused and overwhelmed, as she’s now in a serious relationship with Noah. However, Noah feels insecure when he sees Arianna and Chase together and thinks that Arianna doesn’t want to be with him.

Arianna and Noah take some time apart. The longer they go without seeing each other, the more they realize that they need to be together. At a party one night, Arianna races away from the football house to find Noah. She is hit by a car just as Noah is approaching. She’s hospitalized and put into a medically induced coma. When she wakes up, she has no memory of her relationship with Noah and thinks that she’s still in love with Chase.

Over the following weeks, Noah waits for Arianna to remember him. Meanwhile, his mom’s condition worsens, and she passes away. Shortly after her funeral, Arianna finds a letter that Lori wrote to her. She suddenly realizes that she and Noah are in love.

Arianna and Noah take the rest of the semester off to recover from everything they’ve gone through. They temporarily move into Arianna’s parents’ house. On Valentine’s Day, they celebrate all the holidays they missed when Arianna was recovering from her accident. After Arianna gives Noah a scrapbook that she made of Lori’s recipes, Noah proposes to Arianna, and she accepts.