by Sandra Brown
First published 2005
Lilly Martin drives through the mountains to Cleary, North Carolina, planning to finalize the sale of her cabin and leave town behind. A brutal blizzard transforms the roads into sheets of ice. Her car skids out of control and strikes Ben Tierney as he steps from the woods. With Ben injured and the storm intensifying, Lilly brings him to her cabin to wait out the weather. The mountain town harbors a dark secret. Five local women have vanished without explanation. Each disappearance left behind a single clue: a blue ribbon found where the woman was last seen. Now Lilly finds herself snowbound with a man she knows nothing about. Ben's stories about himself don't quite add up. His behavior shifts between helpful and unsettling. Hours stretch into a long night as the blizzard rages outside. Lilly begins to question whether Ben's appearance on that isolated road was mere coincidence. She realizes the storm trapping them together may be the least of her dangers. Trust becomes a luxury she cannot afford.
Genres: adventure, suspense, mystery, contemporary, thriller, action
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cleary, North Carolina
Period: Contemporary
400 pages · ebook · Simon Schuster
Content warnings: violence