Anna Todd's Brightest Stars trilogy continues the contemporary love story of Karina, a young woman who "grew up military" and is living and working for the first time on her own, and Kael, a 21-year-old soldier now home after two deployments, profoundly scarred by his time in Afghanistan. THE BURNING picks up from the sudden and shocking disruption of Karina and Kael's developing romance at the ending of THE FALLING: their attraction to one another is undeniable, yet the trust they've placed in each other has been traumatically broken. To resolve what may be difficult, or impossible, to repair, Kael's closed off past (a past that unknowingly links him to Karina's family) must be opened and reconciled-demons and all. And Karina must decide whether loving someone she doesn't want to live without is worth the pain and risk of it all.