Credence

When Tiernan’s famous parents die, they leave their daughter not a note, not a plan—just the life they always had on camera and a step-uncle in the mountains who wants nothing from her. On a high, isolated Colorado peak with Jake Van der Berg and his sons—Noah, the sun-drenched charmer, and Kaleb, the mute and wild older brother—she has to learn to chop wood, shoot, cook, and stay warm. But it’s the quiet that finally forces her to hear herself. The winter seals the road, and with it any easy escape. Grief snarls into desire. Boundaries shift and break. Secrets spill, and the past the Van der Berg men never speak about tightens like a noose. Through fights, firsts, and the kind of love that terrifies, Tiernan learns to stop living as a reaction to people who never showed up—and start choosing the life she wants. Credence is a coming-of-age survival romance: raw, wintry, and full of isolation, family wounds, and inconvenient heat. It asks what happens when the only way out is in, and whether the home you make at the end of the world can be the beginning of everything.

• Romance listeners who like their love stories raw, wintry, and complicated
• Fans of character-driven coming‑of‑age arcs with found‑family warmth
• Listeners who enjoy survival settings, small‑town drama, and taboo tension

Penelope Douglas is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author whose romances mix heat with heart and often push at the edges of what feels safe. Known for The Fall Away and Devil’s Night series as well as standalones like Birthday Girl and Punk 57, Douglas writes complicated people learning to love harder and live braver.