Publication date: January 13th, 2020
Pages: 485
Synopsis:
Tiernan de Haas doesn't care about anything anymore. The only child of a film producer and his starlet wife, she's grown up with wealth and privilege but not love or guidance. Shipped off to boarding schools from an early age, it was still impossible to escape the loneliness and carve out a life of her own. The shadow of her parents' fame followed her everywhere.
And when they suddenly pass away, she knows she should be devastated. But has anything really changed? She's always been alone hasn't she?
Jake Van der Berg, her father's stepbrother and her only living relative, assumes guardianship of Tiernan who is still two months shy of eighteen. Sent to live with him and his two sons, Noah and Kaleb, in the mountains of Colorado, Tiernan soon learns that these men now have a say in what she chooses to care and not care about anymore. As the three of them take her under their wing, teach her to work and survive in the remote woods far away from the rest of the world, she slowly finds her place among them.
And as a part of them.
She also realizes the lines blur and rules become easy to break when no one else is watching.
One of them has her.
The other one wants her.
But he...
He's going to keep her.
*Credence is a new adult standalone novel suitable for readers 18+
Available at:
Review:
With the various recommendations all over BookTok it was not surprising that I dove head first into this book. Even with the unusually taboo romantic interests referenced in the synopsis, I am not the type to shy away before actually giving the book a try (that was very evident by the fact I actually finished Skeleton King previously). I have read a few Penelope Douglas books and she's not one to shy away from a hot romance even when unconventional. I was curious to know whether Douglas has been able to continue to tear at the heartstrings of her readers or if the hype was less than deserved.
Tiernan was cold and aloof when her parents died. She had never truly existed in their eyes and for that reason feeling sadness over the loss of them was an emotion just out of reach for her. Her life was one of solitude and indifference. Her socialite parents loved each other with the entirety of their hearts which left no room for their young daughter. She was used to simply existing amongst people without interacting with them, never being seen and never needing to prove she was anything beyond a beautiful ice queen. When her parents committed suicide and recommended Tiernan be shipped off to her father's aloof stepbrother, she went if for no other reason but to leave the silence of her unhappy family home.
Tiernan thought her life with her step-uncle, Jake, and two step-cousins, Noah and Kaleb, was going to be similar to her life with her parents. She was a ghost not used to affection or anger directed her way. Jake thinks very little of her detached personality other than thinking she is just another spoiled rich brat bucking against the need for manual labor and simple living. Soon Tiernan's skepticism of Jake's motives taking her in and pushing her to contribute turns into a desire unlike any she had experienced before. It is only after she is caught in an forbidden act that the desire she has for him is returned in a blast of heat and passion she never could have imagined possible.
But amongst this confusing exploration of emotions with Jake, she also must come to terms with her lust for Noah's carefree friendship and Kaleb's dark brooding. For a girl who has never felt anything but invisible everything is very confusing. Especially when one of the men she lives with takes it upon himself to make her life as difficult and miserable as he possible can. But is this a misplaced hatred of her past or a carefully disguised passion unlike any she had ever experienced before?
The taboo nature of this book was purely an afterthought as I flipped the pages and delved deeper into their world. It is one of those situations where you either accept that its a little weird but no less hot or it completely turns you off and makes the story cringy beyond reason. I was able to remind myself that the relationships between Tiernan and her 3 men had zero blood relation so the unconventional relations didn't strike me as odd beyond the brow raise when reading the synopsis.
This book was beautifully written and the heat just radiates off the pages. I danced between the men and knew from the synopsis one was going to win out over the others. There was a time when I wanted each of the men to end up being Tiernan's final decision, but I am always a sucker for a dark broody asshole so Kaleb stole my heart. Just as much as he made me swoon he also made me ugly cry with the cruelty of some of his treatments of Tiernan.
Credence is a mix of a taboo inferno of lust and a heart-wrenching tale of self-discovery.
