Review ~ Credence ~ Penelope Douglas

Posted 26 May, 2021 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 0 Comments


Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Review ~ Credence ~ Penelope DouglasCredence by Penelope Douglas
Published by Selfpublished on January 13, 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 485
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
4.5 Stars

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.

*Credence is a new adult standalone novel suitable for readers 18+.

Adult - (un)Conventional Bookviews Contemporary - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Credence blew me away. If my body didn’t require sleep, I would have finished it in one sitting. It’s been awhile since I read PDouglas but I was immediately reminded of how much I admire her writing when she grabbed me by the throat and pulled me into Tiernan’s story. But it isn’t only a story about Tiernan. That’s a reason I love PDouglas. And make no mistake…I loved Credence!

Tiernan is a few months shy of 18 when her parents die suddenly. She’s sent to live in a remote mountain town with her step-uncle and 2 male step-cousins, none of whom she’s ever met before. Tiernan has spent her life being raised by everyone but her parents and as a result has been deprived of basic human needs, like touch, from those who should love her. She, therefore, lacks skill in human interaction and has a difficult time being around people.

Tiernan’s uncle Jake and his sons, Kaleb and Noah, live an interesting life. They have a business building custom motorcross bikes but they essentially live off the land. And they are forced into that since they’re snowed in ~6 months a year. Jake’s ex (the boys’ mother) is in prison and has been for at least a decade so these boys (Jake included) don’t really know what to do with a female in the house. And Kaleb, the oldest son, doesn’t speak because of a traumatic experience when he was very young. So communication with him is challenging, to say the least.

As you can see, these four are all a little broken but together they learn to be a family. A, um, very unconventional family but a family nonetheless.

I understand why this story is a little much for some readers. I admit to mulling things over for a bit before writing down my thoughts. But bottom-line, I loved it. PDouglas created complex and flawed characters, characters who had all been deprived of love in different ways. And their family came together in a non-traditional way – absolutely – but PDouglas made it make sense. To me anyway. They all learned about themselves, about what makes a family and a home, and how to have and keep love in its many facets. I thought it was beautiful.

I moved from Credence directly into Birthday Girl, also a taboo, age-gap romance. Keep an eye out for that review and then a compare & contrast post of the two. I’m so, so happy I picked up PDouglas again!

 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.

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