OMG. OMGOMGOMG.

I went into this book thinking it was going to be a smutty romance. I went in blind purely based on recommendations. AND WOW. 1) I’m glad I did, but also 2) I was SO wrong.

This book is romantic suspense. It is rooted in trauma and a bit of women’s fiction too, but there is a strong element of suspense throughout the book that pulls and tugs characters both together and apart. Their traumatic pasts bring heavy baggage to the present and working through it means deciding whether or not to trust one another.

Everly’s father when she was a kid made her part of the most hated family in town. That’s at least how she sees it – and it seems to be how Hayes sees it too, since he was the brother of the girl her father kidnapped.

And while returning to the scene of the crime to breathe new life into it, Everly refuses to back down from the toxic welcoming that greets her – until she realizes that most are happy to see her in town again … that is, besides her own family members.

This book presented a world unlike anything I could imagine, but I know places like this exist. It was artfully done and I just wanted to hug and befriend Everly while giving a swift smack to the back of Hayes’ head until he recognized what he had in front of him.

I’m mad at myself for taking so long to read this and I cannot wait to devour the rest of the series. Don’t put it off as long as I did – move this one to the top of your TBR ASAP!!