Today I’m hosting a cover reveal for Lori King – Where the Walls Whisper: Book One of Briar Hollow Dust.
Some secrets whisper…others hunt.
When she stumbles into the labyrinth beneath the city, she uncovers a truth people have killed to keep buried. Now four men bound by loyalty and secrets must decide if she’s a threat… or the one woman they can’t let go.
Beneath the quiet streets lies a hidden world of tunnels, forgotten passages, and a secret society that has ruled from the shadows for generations. No outsider has ever been allowed to see it—until now.
Suddenly she’s caught in the middle of a dangerous game she doesn’t understand. The four men sworn to protect the society’s secrets should silence her… but instead they find themselves drawn to her in ways none of them expected. The deeper she’s pulled into their world, the harder it becomes to tell who she can trust—and who might betray them all.
But someone else is watching from the darkness below. And the truth she uncovered may be powerful enough to destroy the society… or get them all killed.
In the tunnels beneath the city, the walls aren’t the only things whispering.
PREORDER AT THESE STORES!
Here’s a little teaser.
Rowan didn’t breathe. He was taller than she remembered. Broader. The kind of man who looked like he’d grown into his body through hard work and harder decisions.
His eyes stayed on her as he walked toward her, boots quiet against the floor. Every step felt like a countdown.
Rowan’s fingers curled around the strap of her bag as Cole stopped right in front of her.
Close. Too close. Close enough that she could smell him—coffee, soap, and something clean beneath it that made her mouth go dry.
His gaze flicked over her face, then lower, and then back up. It was quick and controlled, but Rowan felt it like a hand.
“You’re back,” he said. His voice was deeper now. Rougher.
Rowan tilted her chin. “Looks like it.”
Cole stared at her for another beat with an unreadable expression, then he leaned in just slightly. Not enough for anyone else to notice. Enough that she did.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” he murmured.
Rowan’s breath hitched. “Good morning to you, too, Deputy.”
Cole’s jaw flexed. His eyes stayed locked on hers. “Rowan.” The way he said her name wasn’t friendly. It wasn’t angry, either, but it sounded like a warning.
Rowan’s mouth curved, sharp and controlled. “Cole.”
A flicker crossed his face. Something that looked a lot like memory. Or hunger.
Rowan’s skin prickled. She forced herself to step around him as if he wasn’t the center of the room, as if she didn’t feel the heat of his body as she passed. She walked to the counter.
Mabel herself stood behind it, older but still solid, her gray hair in a bun, her eyes bright with the kind of curiosity that fed small towns like oxygen.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Mabel said. “Rowan Hart.”
Rowan gave her a tight smile. “Hi, Mabel.”
Mabel’s gaze flicked over her—hair, clothes, the way she held herself like she’d learned how to take up less space. “You look… grown.”
Rowan’s laugh was quiet. “That happens.”
Mabel leaned in. “Coffee?”
“Please.” Rowan slid onto a stool and felt Cole move behind her. Not leaving. Just… shifting. Like he wasn’t sure where to put himself now that she was here.
Mabel poured the coffee and set it down in front of Rowan. She wrapped her hands around the mug as if she could warm herself from the inside out and took a sip. It tasted like home. It tasted like regret.
“Your grandmother…” Mabel said gently.
Rowan’s throat tightened. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, honey.”
Rowan nodded once, not trusting herself to speak.
Mabel patted her hand and moved down the counter while Rowan stared into the coffee. Then she felt it again. Cole’s presence.
He leaned on the counter beside her, close enough that his arm brushed hers. Rowan didn’t flinch, but her body noticed.
Her body remembered.
“I heard,” Cole said quietly.
Rowan didn’t look at him. “You would.”
Cole’s gaze stayed on her face, but she could feel it like a weight. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Rowan’s laugh was soft and humorless. “You’re sorry I’m back or sorry she died?”
Cole’s mouth twitched, but it wasn’t a smile. “Both.”
Rowan turned her head then. His eyes were the same color they’d always been—brown, warm, and dangerous when he let himself feel too much. Rowan stared at him.
“You still wearing that badge like it makes you a good man?” she asked.
Cole’s eyes darkened. Rowan’s pulse kicked.
He leaned closer, his voice dropping so low, she felt it more than heard it. “I wear it because I have to.”
Rowan swallowed. “And because you like being in control,” she whispered back.
Cole’s jaw tightened. “Is that what you came back for?” he asked. “To pick a fight with me?”
Her lips parted. She hadn’t come back for him, but he was here, and he was looking at her like she was something he wanted to touch with both hands.
Rowan forced herself to smile. “I came back because my grandmother died,” she said, sweet as sugar. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
He stared at her for a long moment, then his gaze dropped to her mouth. Her breath caught.
His eyes flicked back up, and his voice went rough. “Don’t do that.”
Rowan blinked. “Do what?”
“Act like you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Rowan’s fingers tightened around her mug. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. In her chest… and lower.
She leaned in just slightly, the way he had, and her voice turned soft. “You’re the law,” she murmured. “You tell me.”
His breath changed, and he didn’t move, but his eyes did. They traced her face again—slow this time. Intentional. It made her stomach flip, and a long second passed.
Cole’s hand came down on the counter beside her. Not touching her, but close enough, she felt it. There was tension in his fingers, and she could feel how carefully he was holding himself back.
“Rowan,” he said again, and this time it sounded like he was trying not to say something worse.
Rowan’s heart hammered. She wanted to say something sharp and clever. Instead, she heard herself whisper, “What?”
Cole leaned closer. So close, his shoulder brushed hers, and she could feel his breath. His voice was barely there. “You have no idea what you’re walking back into.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is that a threat?”
Cole’s gaze held hers. “No,” he said. “It’s a promise.”
PREORDER AT THESE STORES!