At a luxury cliffside retreat meant for rest and renewal, detective Rowan Hale expected nothing more dangerous than artisanal tea and group trust exercises. What he gets instead is a body, a storm, and a maddeningly irresistible writer who complicates everything.
Everly Locke came to Vesper Isle to expose the retreat's shallow self-help gurus-not to stumble into a murder scene or fall for the brooding detective assigned to "keep her safe." She's supposed to stay focused on her article. Rowan is supposed to stay focused on the case. Neither of them is doing a great job.
When a second body appears, marked with a cryptic chess symbol, Rowan and Everly are forced into an uneasy partnership. Someone in the mansion is playing a deadly game, leaving pieces behind... and the next move has Everly's name written all over it.
As the storm traps everyone inside, tensions rise, suspects multiply, and the killer turns the investigation into a personal challenge. Rowan may be the only one who can protect her-but Everly isn't the type to sit quietly while danger closes in. And the closer they get to the truth, the harder it becomes to ignore the heat between them.
With the mansion falling into chaos, the killer closing in, and emotions Rowan can't shove aside any longer, the final reveal on the cliffside will test everything-courage, trust, and the fragile, undeniable connection growing between them.
A closed-circle mystery, a slow-burn romance, and a whip-smart heroine meet a brooding detective in this addictive romantic thriller that will leave you breathless until the last page.