From New York Times bestselling author, Penelope Douglas, comes a new standalone!Three of them, one of her, and a remote cabin in the woods. Let the hot, winter nights ensue…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 … 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 that 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 full length, stand-alone romance suitable for readers 18+.
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The blurb had me intrigued but the story, the story had me enthralled. From the first page to the last I devoured every word like it was my next breath because I just couldn’t put it down. Yes…..it’s taboo, dark at times and it won’t sit well with some but the boundaries were pushed and I enjoyed every moment of this story.
Tiernan is a lonely soul just trying to find her place in life after the death of her disengaged parents. Jake, Noah and Kaleb are at each other’s throats trying to survive until Tiernan joins their family. Tiernan wants to be loved, Jake wants to protect his family, Noah wants to be seen and heard as for Kaleb he wants to forget his trauma and find the one woman who won’t abandon him.
“Snowfall isn’t like rainfall. Rain is passion. It’s a scream. It’s my hair sticking to my face as I wrap my arms around him. It’s spontaneous, and it’s loud. Snowfall is like a secret. It’s whispers and firelight and searching for his warmth between the sheets at two a.m. when the reat of the house is asleep. It’s holding him tightly and loving him slowly. ”
This story is filled with hurt, anger, suspense, drama, laughs, explosive chemistry and sexual tension that I stayed up late determined to know what happens. This book will have you gasping, jaw-dropped and most of all speechless but you won’t be able to stop reading because it seduces you and lulls you in. This is a story that will definitely be on my TOP READS for 2020!
I have mixed feelings about this book; love this authors writing. Have no problem with forbidden / age gap / taboo / reverse harem romances whatsoever. But for me this was a long ass book with a very weak plot. I was expecting darker , more angst, mass revelations, secrets , twists etc. But nothing really happened. Nothing that hasn’t been covered a hundred times already. It felt to me like the author wanted to write a reverse harem book and built a plot round it.
Which leads me into the characters; they just had no substance. There was nothing that endeared any of them to me. I didn’t connect to them, I didn’t buy into their situation. I think it became obvious early on which guy the heroine developed feelings for. Sure there were bumps along the way but nothing you couldn’t see coming. I’m kind of left feeling deflated as I had such high hopes for this book.
Love the author and will continue to read her work but this book just didn’t excite me at all.
Is it too early to start picking my 2020 favorites knowing there will be so many more releases this year? No? Good, because Credence is at the top and it’s going to take something mind blowing to knock it from the number one spot. I love every single one of Penelope Douglas’s books…usually unconventional which makes them right up my alley. I want more JakeKalebNoah Van der Berg in my life! It was dark at times, heartbreaking, funny and everything in between. If you enjoy books that are a bit off the beaten path with characters that have loads of emotional baggage, Credence is definitely worth the ride!
“Loving them has made something inside me wake up, and I don’t want to go back to being who I was. I might wish this change could’ve happened differently, but some of us don’t learn from the heat. We need the fire.”
I wish I could put into words what a journey this book was!! It was everything I didn’t know I needed and MORE!! It was incredibly, intensely, and overwhelmingly hot as all get out, but so much more than that. It was introspective, it made you think, it really brought to life what that transition from being young to growing up sometimes means. Really shone the trials and tribulations of becoming your own person and realizing what love is, and how people fit in your life, and to really appreciate the path you take, even when it isn’t easy. There’s no label I could accurately describe for this book, but it was so incredibly good. I melted right to the floor, my heart jumped clear through my throat, I genuinely cheered and gasped, and just couldn’t look away, even though some parts were clearly making me want to. It pushed my limits, and left me completely and utterly breathless, and I can’t imagine not taking this journey with these characters. It really moved me in every way possible!!
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
I would actually give this 3.5 stars….. There wasn’t anything about the book that I didn’t like. I know there have been some people ripping it apart, but I don’t think that there is any reason for it. Maybe it was all the hype I got swept up in but I just didn’t think that this book was great. I liked it. There was some really great sexual tension with all involved. I spent most of the book feeling really bad for Noah! I liked that there were multiple POV’s but I just didn’t think that there was enough from Kaleb. I mean, I understand that he doesn’t talk (for very serious reasons), and maybe the author wanted us to be just as frustrated as the other characters in the story. But I felt like it was an irritant more than a delayed gratification type thing. The premise of the story was great! Unloved girl trapped for the winter with 3 men (one much older)…..and it was super hot in many spots (and really hot in others). There was a small element of suspense to a couple things that happen, but I think that could have been played up a bit more.
Over all I think this is a good book. This was my first book by this author and I will totally try to read from her again. I was not at all turned off my the content of the book, I really just felt like it wasn’t as GREAT as others thought that it was. (but then again , I may have expected more because of all the hype)
You know that feeling when you read a blur of a book and you know it’s going to be amazing?, that when you got it on you’re kindle or PB you are so nervous and excited that you want to start reading it but at the same time you don’t want to finish it?…well this is how I was when Credence arrived on my device.
The three days that took me to read it I was in constant doubt, “it’s going to be Jake” , “no, it’s Noah definitely Noah”, “Nope, Kaleb it’s perfect for her” and until the last page I was on my toes. All the characters developed their story and all of them got a happy ending.
Penelope Douglas wrote a beautiful book. Every time I read one of her books Is like getting a breath of fresh air, nights with little sleep and a few days of mourning of the story that ended.
Thank you PD for another master piece!
This book is not for the faint of heart. It is twisted, steamy and has a great story line. This is a must read and I believe I read it in a day. I could not put the book down because I wanted to know the ending;
No one does chemistry, anticipation, and tension better than Penelope Douglas. Set in a land of snow and isolation, which sounds like heaven to me. You get sucked into a tug of war of the mind and the heart, the body and the soul. You’re going to feel this one for hours possibly even days after.
What made this a five-star book for me, is the fact that Penelope went to places that yes maybe we think we’ve been before. However, she’s always going to throw that Douglas factor into the mix and for someone who has been feeling unsurprised and blasé about the books I have read recently, she threw for a loop and had me guessing! I love that more than anything in the book world!
Thank you Penelope Douglas for never going “that route”, not playing it safe and still giving me the butterflies and temple sweats.
Wow!! What a wild and taboo ride!! Fantastic book!!
I don’t think I have the right words to say how phenomenal Credence was!!! I’m blown away!! Another masterpiece by Pen Douglas.
From the first sentence to the last, I could not put this book down!
The characters are just perfect! And the point of view it was written in – love love love!!! Definitely a top book for me this year and it deserves way more than 5 stars!
Such a good read
Credence by Penelope Douglas, I don’t know where to start. Some people will certainly have issues with this book, it’s taboo a couple of times over but I got so lost in her writing, her characters and her story that I read the whole book in one day. Ms Douglas certainly knows how to write and her experience and maturity as an author shone through. It’s cringe-worthy in places, emotional in others but for me, this is one of the best reads I’ve read for a while.
This story is refreshingly different. I went into it not knowing what to expect and I was totally overwhelmed. Once I started, I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what happens next. The characters have baggage and the story goes into places that made me a little uncomfortable, yet I couldn’t stop reading. Wonderful!
This is my first Penelope Douglas novel. I can’t believe I haven’t read something of hers before her writing is incredible. Credence isn’t a love story for everyone. The actions of Jack, Kaleb, Noah and Tiernan are going to be too extreme for some people. But for others who have long since learned life is complicated often existing in a moral grey area Credence is a revelation of what love can be when everyone let’s what family should be go and instead become what they need their family to be. I absolutely loved this story. It was a five out of five stars. When I looked at for far I’d read and realized I was almost done with the book I almost cried. I wanted to live in their world just little bit longer. Have the wonder of the story happen for the first time still with me. This is one of those books you wish you could read for the first time again. But since I can’t do that I will live in rereads!
I don’t not have the words to properly and thoroughly describe how incredible this book was! Once again, Penelope Douglas creates this alluring, unique, sexy story that readers lose themselves within its pages. From page 1 I was extremely intrigued to see where this story was going to go. I was constantly on my toes wondering what would happen next, where the story was leading to, what would happen to who.
Each character compelled me, made me think about the story from a different perspective. Each character bringing something unique and thought provoking to the story. Whether it be Tiernan, who I loved so much, and I felt that no matter your life circumstances everyone could connect with on some level. Or Noah, the happy boy on outside, surrounded by those who love him, but lonely. Or Jake, the single, hardworking dad, who has been through a lot but has come out making the best of things on his terms. And lastly, Kaleb…our lost boy. Each character made me fall in love with them, connect with them, invest in them.
This story was so unique and original! I didn’t want it to end, but I was also desperate to see what happened. Penelope Douglas, time and time again, surpasses all expectations in stunning, outstanding fashion. She is a phenomenal writer that I will continue to go back to without question. Give me a release date for a book and nothing else, if it’s by Penelope Douglas, I’m reading it.
Omg this book is everything. Once I read the blurb, I was hooked. I absolutely love this book and the characters. Tiernan and Jake, Noah and Kaleb are characters you will never forget. Their story is unputdownable. My heart hurts for them all especially Kaleb, but that ending omg it was PERFECTION.
This book consumed me! This book is going to be making babies all over the country. Oh Lordy! This unconventional, taboo, kinky, insane journey with have you TURNING THE PAGES! I couldn’t stop reading. I can’t stop thinking about it. I thought a night’s sleep and I’d be able to come back fresh with a bunch of words to express my jealousy and want for the forbidden, but blabbering. That’s what you’ll have to get from me. You should definitely go in blind and you will definitely have to keep an open mind. But that’s what I love about it. I had no clue what I was getting myself involved in, and the journey keeps you guessing throughout the majority of the book. Falling in love, and lust, throwing caution to the wind. Healing mixed with uncertainty.
“Something about this house—these people—lend credence every day to what I always knew I needed. Not sex. Not a guy. Just a place. Somewhere or someone to feel like home.”
What a whirlwind of taboo fuckery! I LOVED EVERY SINGLE WORD! I’m lost to what I’m going to do with my life now. It’s bittersweet to think, it’s only January, yet I have a favorite book of the year already. I can’t go in detail because this path is best walked alone, but make sure you carry your gun, never know what could sneak up on you!
GO READ THIS BOOK! You’ll thank me later. And keep your partner close, because like I said, this book is a baby maker!
That had to be the fastest I’ve ever read a book, I simply couldn’t put it down. Right from the first page, having not read the synopsis (it’s not something I do), I knew this story was going to be something special and boy was it.
The characters didn’t just talk to me in this book, they screamed out their story. Yes, it’s a forbidden romance and yes, my sensibilities were screaming that this is just wrong, but somehow, all the wrongs just made one huge right!
From start to finish I was captivated and wondering just how the story was going to play out. With a 17-year-old who had recently lost her parents moving to her step-uncle’s house to live with him and his 2 sons in the mountains which became totally cut off during the winter, you couldn’t help but wonder just what would play out in those dark, cold, lonely days but jeez, I didn’t see that coming.
But despite the erotic nature of this book, there were also some serious and moving messages. Tiernan may have taken an unusual route to understand her upbringing but when she got there it was a really poignant moment. Kaleb’s story was also incredibly emotional and you just wanted to reach out and hug him, despite him being an ass for most of the story. Noah seemed to be the only unaffected person in the story but that also left him lonely and looking for something more. Jake, ahem, the “uncle” was a bit trickier to understand but he too found solace from his time with Tiernan, in a bit of an unusual fashion.
The story was extremely erotic at times and as I said emotional at others. You almost felt like you were climbing a mountain without ropes and safety gear and when you reached the top, you had no option but to freefall towards the story’s conclusion all the whilst hoping that Tiernan and everyone else found happiness from their past, future and present selves.
This will be definitely a book to read again, in part to savour the complexity of the characters more slowly but also to treat myself once again to an extremely well thought out and written book.
This will be hard to beat as a top book of 2020 and it’s only January. The pressure is on authors!!!
This book was everything! I’ll admit that I had no idea where we were headed, but I loved every minute of the ride. I loved where it ended, and yea now I want to know what happened to her underwear… dang it. I mean how could it not go there. I loved how they changed one another. Kaleb coming to her… I can’t believe it’s over! I want the bonus scene! I want Jake and Mirai story. Noah’s story! There’s too much story we need!
Gosh, this book sucked me in! Usually I can read a book in one day, but this took me over 4 days! I wanted to savor and I wasn’t ready for the ending to come. Penelope knows how to write some tension and the ending totally wasn’t what I expected. I love Pen’s work!!! It’s so gritty and raw and her stories had excellent substance. I can’t wait to see what is next!
I wanted to see what the buzz was all about!
It’s not a feel good story but it’s gripping nonetheless
It’s a story filled with sad and lonely people and a lot of twisted emotions to say the least.
It’s death, grief, pain,suffering, lust,sex,friendship, loyalty and love all wrapped together in this story that Penelope Douglass named Credence.