A cult survivor escaping her past finds unexpected love—and newfound fears—in a heart-stopping dark romance by USA Today bestselling author Jenika Snow.

After escaping with her life from a terrifying cult, Violet Santos has reinvented herself in the quiet mountain town of Sweetwater Lake. But when bodies turn up in the woods bearing the same ritualistic markings carved into Violet’s traumatic memories, she knows that the hell she fled from has followed her here.

Enter Grayson Iverson, a criminal psychologist working with the FBI to investigate the crimes. He meets Violet and is immediately drawn to the vulnerable young woman with the haunted eyes. And for the first time since Violet can remember, she no longer feels alone. She’s met someone she can trust. But as their intense connection deepens into a passionate romance, the murders in Sweetwater Lake escalate—and so do Violet’s fears. Grayson is more than a protector. He is obsessed.

Maybe Violet doesn’t know Grayson at all. But if the man she loves is not her salvation, then who is he? And what does he want of her?

© 2026 by Jenika Snow. ℗ 2026 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.