A slow-burning, emotionally charged suspense story…
A heartbroken veterinarian finds herself drawn to a haunted diver, tangled secrets, and the stormy depths of love in Keene’s steamy, suspense-filled series starter. Maddie Carter isn’t like the other newcomers to Maverick Key. A veterinarian and former Juilliard-bound pianist, she’s not looking for adventure, romance, or reinvention. She just needs a place to grieve. After her brother Nathan dies in a solo cave dive, she trades her old life for the weathered seaside cottage he left behind, hoping the island’s quiet rhythms will help her make sense of the loss. But her peace doesn’t last long. Nathan’s journals, filled with strange symbols and unfinished thoughts, leave Maddie increasingly certain his death was anything but accidental. Then she meets Scott Rickter, the reserved, widowed diver now leading the expedition into Carter’s Drop, and despite herself, finds him hard to ignore. Things get messier when Wes Harrington, a cocky internet explorer with millions of followers and a talent for chaos, arrives with a camera crew and dreams of buried treasure.
Keene skillfully balances grief, suspicion, and longing against the island’s postcard-perfect charm. Readers are quickly pulled into Maddie’s slow-burning emotional unraveling. She isn’t a firebrand heroine but a steady, deeply human one. She quietly unpacks her brother’s coded journals while trying to figure out how to keep her heart open to Scott, whose stoicism hides a grief of his own. Their romance, built on shared silence, steady glances, and a mutual need to find footing in the aftermath of loss, simmers rather than sparks.
The real tension comes both from overt threats and from what lurks in the periphery: rumors of a lost artifact, the steady escalation of competing dive agendas, and the slow encroachment of a literal storm as Maddie inches closer to truths someone may not want revealed. Wes brings flair and friction, his viral charisma and treasure-hunter’s ego clashing with Scott’s tightly controlled methods. It’s a classic alpha-versus-antihero setup, but Keene wisely lets Maddie steer her own compass.
While the thriller elements remain restrained, the emotional stakes are high throughout. The deeper Maddie dives into her brother’s past, into the caves, and into a life she’s not sure she’s ready for, the more the novel becomes a meditation on trust, legacy, and the fear of truly being seen. Readers who enjoyed the emotional intimacy of Robyn Carr’s Virgin River or the atmospheric suspense of Christina Dodd’s Strangers She Knows will find plenty to sink into here.
A smart, slow-burn suspense novel that trades high-octane twists for emotional depth—and wins.
Gulf Stream Fiction
Pub date August 29, 2025
ISBN 978-1967133000
Pages 285
Price $4.99 (USD) Kindle edition