First published 2026
Thora Williamson arrives at her family's abandoned mountain cabin expecting crisp leaves and cozy bonfires. She gets Lee Halliday instead. Her ex's best friend parks in her driveway, ready to help renovate the place she hoped would give her a fresh start. Lee becomes her unwanted partner as they tackle repairs together. The cabin fights back with mysterious phone calls and the persistent feeling that someone watches them work. Each creaky floorboard and chilly evening reveals that this place holds secrets neither Thora nor Lee anticipated. The building seems determined to force them into close quarters during long autumn nights. As they strip wallpaper and fix broken windows, old tensions between them surface alongside the cabin's strange behavior. Thora begins to wonder if the house wants to bring them together or trap them permanently within its walls. The renovation becomes a battle between fixing what's broken and confronting what they've both avoided.
Genres: romance, horror, supernatural, contemporary, psychological-thriller, contemporary-romance
Vibes: atmospheric, eerie, haunting, intimate, suspenseful, tension-filled
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, haunted-house, second-chance-romance
Setting: Mountain Cabin
Period: Autumn
288 pages · Paperback · Afterglow Books by Harlequin