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Coming August 11, 2026!

A disgraced celebrity chef lands in small-town upstate New York alongside her youngest sister, no plan, and nothing left to lose—until grief, complicated loyalties, and a forbidden attraction threaten the one thing she didn’t expect to find: a reason to rebuild.

Synopsis:

Rose Sullivan Montgomery. Michelin star, dead husband, ruined career. The acquittal was supposed to end the story, but the court of public opinion doesn’t honor verdicts, and America’s former culinary darling knows exactly what they still call her: a murderer capitalizing on rich people immunity. So she retreats to Millstone Falls with her dog Eamon, her sister Billie down the road, and a talent for kneading the past into shapes almost bearable. The fantasies are harder to manage. They keep circling back to her eldest sister’s husband, the magnetic Mark Mulroney.

Two nights before her birthday, a reluctant evening out yanks Rose from her cocoon of safety, straight into the arms of Cain Hawkings, a developer gentrifying the town. What was supposed to be a fleeting distraction quickly turns sour when his interest grows too intense to stay casual, his knowledge too personal for a fan, his actions too hauntingly familiar to ignore. If the last five years taught her anything, it was to be wary of the things pretty on the outside. She was about to learn she’d been living on less truth and more a carefully plated version of it.

And some things, once exposed to heat, don’t transform. They burn.

The People You Trust is the first novel in the Millstone Falls series, a contemporary romantic psychological suspense. For fans of Tarryn Fisher, Kate Stewart, and Lucinda Berry.

Tropes: slow-burn romance, forbidden attraction, brother-in-law, age gap, small town setting, second chance, sister banter, family secrets.

Note: This novel sits with hard things. Please take care if you’re sensitive to pregnancy loss, suicidal ideation, or themes typical of the genres above.