Renowned author Delphine Larue needs a haven. A crazed fan has gone over the deep end, and she’s not safe. Her security team has suggested a house by a lake. Secluded. Private. Far away. In a beautiful area of the Northwest close to the sleepy town of Misted Pines. It’s perfect. So perfect, Delphine has just moved in, and she’s thinking she’ll stay there forever.

Until she sees the girl in the mist.

After that, everything changes.

Delphine quickly learns that Misted Pines isn’t so sleepy. A little girl has gone missing, and the town is in the grips of terror and tragedy. The local sheriff isn’t up for the job. The citizens are up in arms. And as the case unfolds, the seedy underbelly of a quiet community is exposed, layer by layer.

But most importantly, girls are dying.

There seems to be only one man they trust to find out what’s happening.

The mysterious Cade Bohannan.

Titles in the Misted Pines series include — The Girl in the Mist –

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  The Girl in the Mist
Series:  Misty Pines #1
Author:  Kristen Ashley
Published:  January 4, 2022
My Rating:  5 stars

I am convinced that Kristen Ashley can tackle any genre, rock it, and have you feeling as if she’s written in that genre for years – even though it might just happen to be her first foray into it.  She’s just that good of a storyteller.  If I hadn’t read her various works for years and knew that this was her first Thriller/Romantic Suspense I could have easily believed that she was simply starting a new series, creating a new world in a genre she’s comfortable with… but I do know better, and what an intense, intricate web The Girl in the Mist turned out to be.

Delphine and Cade as a couple clicked for me from their first appearance together.  Told from Delphine’s point of view we’ll discover that she has a crazed fan who is endangering not only Delphine but also her co-stars on a show they’d all once starred in, and the violence is escalating so they’ve all been sent into hiding at different locations… Delphine to this small remote town that she instantly falls in love with and plans to make it her permanent home (even before meeting Cade).  She’s moved on from being a famous actress, to even more of a famous author, she has two adult daughters, two divorces behind her, and she’s living the life she’s chosen for herself or was until a crazed man and the FBI got involved in that life.  She’s somewhat obsessed with the perfect closet, which gave me a few chuckles along the way.  But then she’s earned that ability to go for the absolute best with hard work so why shouldn’t she work hard at getting the ideal closet?  It was a quirk of the character and I happen to love those for unusual quirks make characters more real to me as I dive into their lives, their stories.

Just as we’re settling into an obsessed fan’s actions resulting in Delphine being protected by the FBI, and more… an eight-year-old girl goes missing from a birthday party — and Delphine sees something, someone in the mist of the lake that shouldn’t be there.  And suddenly everything in Delphine’s life is about to take one of those life-changing turns when it seems that a killer is focusing on her as well.  And Cade Bohannan and his family step into her life.

I love when KA’s characters from other stories, other series show up in the current one, those crossovers make her worlds a little more relatable with the connections.  So I was not surprised when a few of those characters showed up in Delphine’s and Cade’s story, and they were a perfect fit for those roles.

I was captured by The Girl in the Mist from the start right through to the ending.  It’s a rollercoaster of an emotional ride with tense moments, dangerous situations, secrets hidden, and the discovery that not everyone in this small sleepy town is as they appear.  I loved the interaction between Delphine and Celeste (Cade’s daughter), as well as the growing affection for his twin sons, Jace and Jess.  Their bonding may have been under extenuating circumstances but it felt real nonetheless. This is a new family in the making, being tested by fire – and watching that happen through tender moments and intense danger was emotionally captivating.

And… I have to give credit to Kristen Ashley for being true to her vision of this story, which might make some readers uncomfortable for a moment.  Don’t deprive yourself of the experience of a well-written, scary, intense book because one part made you uncomfortable.  You’ll be missing an incredible experience if you do that, in my opinion.  If I could give The Girl in the Mist ten stars, you best believe I would.

I own a Kindle edition of this title.

Available in print, audio, and your favorite e-reader