When Elena fled her past, she thought Hollow Creek would be her escape. But the letters followed her. The shadows watched her. And the only man who makes her feel safe is the one she can't trust. Every secret leads back to Damian Blackwood. Every warning points to Detective Moreno. And every step closer to the truth pulls her deeper into a deadly obsession. Love can protect you. Or it can kill you. Welcome to Hollow Creek.

Trust no one. Not the man who swore he'd protect her. Not the detective who promised her safety. Not even the shadows that whisper her mother's secrets in the dark. Elena thought she escaped Hollow Creek's nightmare. But when a second body surfaces and the town's secrets unravel, she's forced into a deadly choice: Damian Blackwood, the man who burns her alive with obsession, or Detective Moreno, the woman who swore to save her. One choice will bind her. One choice will betray her. And in Hollow Creek, love is never salvation. It's a trap.

When love leaves, it doesn't always slam the door. Sometimes it lingers soft, unfinished, like breath fogging up a window. Ari thought she had found something lasting with Malik: a man who made the ordinary feel holy, who knew how to turn silence into comfort and ritual into tenderness. But when cracks begin to show missed calls, half-truths, and the ghost of an ex who never really left Ari is forced to confront the hardest question of all: what do you do when love is present but no longer enough? Told with lyrical prose and aching honesty, What We Keep After the Fire is a story about beginnings disguised as endings, the slow unraveling of intimacy, and the quiet resilience it takes to walk away. More than a tale of heartbreak, it's a meditation on what remains after the fire: the rituals, the lessons, and the courage to begin again. Perfect for readers of modern romance and contemporary fiction who crave raw emotion, soulful storytelling, and the bittersweet beauty of letting go.