He warns her to leave his town's ghosts alone. She presses record anyway.
When a relentless true-crime podcaster collides with a rule-bound small-town sheriff, a twenty-year-old disappearance stops being a whisper—and starts a war.

Investigative host Ellie Marlowe comes to Pine Bluff chasing a case the locals wrote off as a runaway. Sheriff Logan Hart is sworn to hold his crumbling town together—and the last thing he needs is a mic in his face and old bones dug up. But threats, break-ins, and a trail of scrubbed reports prove someone powerful wants the truth buried. Ellie won't back down. Logan can't ignore her. And the chemistry sizzling between them turns enemies into uneasy allies as the search tightens.

Fog-soaked back roads. Locked-door secrets. Stakeouts that burn into sleepless nights—and heat that won't stay holstered. As Pine Bluff closes ranks, Ellie and Logan risk reputations, badges, and hearts to expose a predator hiding in plain sight.

High-tension romantic suspense with grumpy-sheriff/provocative-outsider vibes, forced proximity, and a fiercely protective hero—perfect for readers who like their small towns dangerous, their mysteries twisty, and their happily-ever-after hard won.