Credence

Credence

by Penelope Douglas

4.25/5

“People may live different realities, 

but the truth is always the same.”

     Let me start by saying that this author is one of my favorite authors. Why you ask? Because she can literally make me love a book with a trope that I tend to avoid because... well I just don't like it! The summary for this book I guess read different for me then most people because some reviews I've seen so far knew what was going on before reading it. I did not, I simply thought that our main heroine was just having her choice of mountain men... not that she would have all of them.... some at the same time? Read to find out! Like I said though Penelope Douglas writes beautifully because I was addicted!

    Tiernan de Haas doesn’t care about anything anymore. The only child of a film producer and his starlet wife, she’s grown up with wealth and privilege but not love or guidance. Shipped off to boarding schools from an early age, it was still impossible to escape the loneliness and carve out a life of her own. The shadow of her parents’ fame followed her everywhere.
    And when they suddenly pass away, she knows she should be devastated. But has anything really changed? She’s always been alone, hasn’t she?
   Jake Van der Berg, her father’s stepbrother and her only living relative, assumes guardianship of Tiernan who is still two months shy of eighteen. Sent to live with him and his two sons, Noah and Kaleb, in the mountains of Colorado, Tiernan soon learns that these men now have a say in what she chooses to care and not care about anymore. As the three of them take her under their wing, teach her to work and survive in the remote woods far away from the rest of the world, she slowly finds her place among them.
And as a part of them.
    She also realizes that lines blur and rules become easy to break when no one else is watching.
One of them has her.
The other one wants her.
But he…
He’s going to keep her.

   Wow.. So now that I'm rereading the summary it's kind of obvious that it's a reverse harem, which like I said before isn't usually my cup of tea. PD's writing however IS my cup of tea. Do I think this book will be everyone's cup of tea? Absolutely not! I'm pretty sure the reviews are going to be very 50/50 about this book.
    Some of the things I really loved other then the writing was our main character Tiernan. She's not the usual snobby rich girl, and we get to see her as she grows throughout the story and slowly sheds her layers. It was tough seeing the abandonment she faced from her parents, I think the author handled her story very well! Some scenes I wanted to cry out and shake her parents and be like, "look at this sweet baby you have here, PAY ATTENTION TO HER." The freaking tire swing had me blinking away tears!
    I also really loved the setting. I really want to move to Colorado in the forrest with a bunch of mountain men now! Seeing Tiernan adapt to her surroundings and learn to love everything about the mountains almost had me wishing for a fresh breath of air and some cute farm animals!
    Now let's get on to the good stuff, those mountain men! I knew going into this book that she ends up with one of them, and I guessed pretty quickly although the author does a good job of confusing you! I knew who she wouldn't end up with right away, no heroine in a New Adult book ends up with a nice guy when there is a bad guy in the picture!!

    So that leaves us with two others, and the author has previously done both tropes in her other books so I couldn't decide who she was going to pair Tiernan with right away! I had already chosen who I wanted her to end up with, but I had a feeling it was going to be the other one, and I was right! Did I still enjoy their story? YES! I did feel a little hesitant about how the other guy just dropped it like it was nothing, and moved on by the end of the book. I guess the author does it on purpose to solidify the relationship between Tiernan and the guy she chooses. 

    So there lays the reason why this book received a 4 star instead of 5. Some scenes were VERY iffy on the consent line, and some of the things one of the guys does throughout the book had me second guessing this book all together. Other then that I really did love this book, and the addicting factor definitely had something to do with the final rating! I'm glad I was a little blind going into this because I wouldn't have gone into it knowing it was a RH, but I did enjoy it and it makes me wonder what other RH books out there I would enjoy! Also this is free on Kindle Unlimited, and so are most of Penelope Douglas's books! If you did read this and loved it then you should definitely check out Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas! Also if you have any (NOT BRAYSHAW) recs let me know!