Shelf guide
Credence
Standalone
Penelope Douglas
After the death of her parents, Tiernan de Haas is sent to an isolated Colorado mountain home under the guardianship of Jake Van der Berg, her father's stepbrother. Living with Jake and his sons, Noah and Kaleb, turns grief, dependence, and desire into something far more complicated than a fresh start.
How spicy is Credence?
Slow to open, then increasingly recurring as the isolation and the multiple relationship dynamics intensify.
How dark is it?
Clocked.
if "we're not really related" has ever done real work for you
Kink & Spice
Relationship structure
Tropes
Pacing
Narrative focus
Content notes
Erotic practice
Reader fit
This book is great for
One of dark romance's biggest family-adjacent taboo titles: snowed-in isolation, unresolved grief, and no clean emotional exits once Tiernan reaches the mountain.
- already knows family-adjacent taboo is their genre
- wants multi-partner tension without a formal why-choose label
- likes isolation doing the plot's heavy lifting
- needs grief and desire tangled up, not politely separated
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