Dark Horse

Dark Horse is the first book in a dark romance series set in the fictional small town of Blackwood, Montana, with subsequent installments following different characters. The story alternates between the perspectives of Sienna and Sterling Hayes.

The novel opens with a prologue in which Sienna attempts to flee her home during a storm, aware that her abuser has been released and could return. She creeps through the darkened house armed with a kitchen knife. A voice calls her name, and she runs into the yard. He catches her, but a neighbor's intervention loosens his grip long enough for Sienna to seize the knife. A strange calm overtakes her, and everything goes black, implying she attacks him.

The narrative then shifts to the present. Sienna, nearly thirty, is driving cross-country from Boston toward California in a failing Prius after leaving a violent marriage that cost her everything: her job as a lawyer, her savings, and her sense of self. A severe thunderstorm on a mountain pass forces her off the highway, and she follows a dark road into the remote town of Blackwood. She crashes her car into Big Hank, a large metal steer statue serving as the town mascot.

Sterling Hayes, a thirty-year-old wealthy rancher, witnesses the crash from The Hollow, Blackwood's main bar. He catches Sienna when she collapses from a concussion and brings her to the Blackwood Inn, where he watches over her through the night. Sienna wakes to find Sterling sitting in a chair in her room, and intense attraction sparks immediately between them, though she internally resists, having sworn off men.

Sienna meets Hattie Bloom, the exuberant innkeeper, who gives her an enthusiastic tour of Blackwood's eccentric features, including the Serial Killer Museum. Hattie explains that the town has the highest per capita serial killer origin rate in the state, a fact the residents treat as civic pride. Meanwhile, Sterling visits the local mechanic and learns Sienna's car could be repaired in days. Wanting more time with her, he secretly removes critical engine components, then tells Sienna the repairs will take at least a month. She reluctantly agrees to stay.

Sterling's chapters reveal his double life. He is a serial killer who targets violent criminals, marking them with a hot iron stamped with his ranch brand before disposing of the bodies in a lye bath. His closest friends share his tendencies: Ryder Boone, the town sheriff, collects teeth from their victims, and Jett, a bounty hunter, severs his victims' Achilles tendons. Their bond formed in adolescence when they killed Jett's abusive stepfather after discovering him attacking Jett's sister. Sterling's mother had the same violent urges but directed them at innocent people; the resulting guilt led her to take her own life. Sterling channels his darkness against predators instead.

Sienna cycles through several failed jobs before landing a position at the Blackwood Historical Society. She and Sterling grow closer at a rodeo and carnival, where they ride a Ferris wheel and she opens up about David, her ex-husband, a Boston lawyer from a powerful family who was charming at first but became controlling and physically abusive. Everyone in her life took David's side. Sterling tells her she is brave for leaving and brushes his lips against hers.

Sterling follows Sienna on a hike after learning a dangerous drifter has been spotted in the area. She pepper-sprays him when he appears on the trail. They discover a hidden waterfall, swim together, and their physical relationship begins. Afterward, Sienna discovers someone has broken into her inn room: the window is unlatched, a drawer is open, and her underwear has been folded and placed on the toilet lid. She receives a phone call with only steady breathing on the line. Sterling insists she move to his ranch, physically carrying her to his truck over her protests.

At the ranch, Sienna discovers a closet stocked with clothing Sterling bought for her and meets Marvis, his longtime cook and former nanny. Their sexual relationship intensifies. Sterling explains that Blackwood sits above old mine shafts that periodically release gas pulses, which trigger violent urges in people like him. After one such pulse, he handcuffs himself to a bed to maintain control. Sienna stays despite his warnings and initiates sex; his violent impulses quiet in her presence. Sterling's narration reveals he monitors Sienna obsessively through hidden cameras at the ranch and a listening device he planted in her inn room, all without her knowledge.

While sorting death records at the Historical Society, Sienna notices a recurring pattern: certain victims are missing all their teeth or have had their eyes removed, and all had criminal backgrounds. She does not connect this evidence to Sterling and his friends. She then accepts a position at the local law office, rediscovering her legal skills and professional identity.

At a celebratory gathering, Sienna finds a threatening note in her pocket: "Have you told him about Boston?" Someone in Blackwood knows her secret. She becomes withdrawn and haunted by nightmares about David.

On a work assignment at the Serial Killer Museum, Sienna discovers David's photo displayed on a previously empty section of the Victim Wall, alongside a Boston newspaper headline reading "Wife Hacks Lawyer Husband to Death." A flashback reveals the full truth: Sienna did not act in spontaneous self-defense. She planned David's murder, hid behind the bedroom door with a knife, stabbed him when he entered, tied him to a chair, and tortured him for hours before killing him. She carved out his eyes last. A single juror's vote at trial secured her acquittal on grounds of self-defense.

Sienna bolts from the museum, retrieves her car, and tries to flee Blackwood. The car dies on the road, and Sterling catches her. Standing in the rain, she confesses everything. Sterling is not horrified; he tells her David deserved it and calls her perfect. They have sex against the car in the rain, and Sienna promises she will never leave him again. She tells him someone in Blackwood has been taunting her with the note and the museum display.

The threat is revealed to be Harvey, the town's seemingly harmless elderly bar regular. While Sterling is away investigating the disappearance of Daisy, a local vet tech, Harvey arrives at the ranch, attacks Marvis, and drugs Sienna. He takes her to an underground lair in a converted mine shaft, where she discovers the skeleton of Emmy-Lee, Harvey's wife, whom he has kept dressed in a floral dress for a decade. Harvey forces Sienna to watch as he tortures and kills a captive woman, then approaches Sienna with a spiked chastity belt.

Sterling finds a map at Harvey's house marking the mine and races there with Ryder. They break through the reinforced door. Sterling knocks Harvey aside and, with Sienna paralyzed but watching, reveals his own secret to her: He is a serial killer who targets people who deserve it. He asks if she wants to watch him punish Harvey. She says yes. Sterling mutilates Harvey, then guides Sienna's hand around a knife so they can slit Harvey's throat together. Sienna declares she is no longer broken, and Sterling calls her "unbreakable."

An epilogue set six months later depicts Sterling and Sienna's wedding on the ranch. Ryder officiates, Jett stands as groomsman, and Hattie walks Sienna down the aisle. Daisy, who was found alive in Harvey's house, attends with her wife. Sienna reflects that every wrong turn led her to Blackwood and to a man whose darkness matches her own. She feels safe and whole for the first time, certain she is no longer surviving love but living it. A preview of the sequel, Devil's Knot, follows Ryder's story, in which a barefoot, terrified woman runs in front of his cruiser bearing bite marks and warning of "the Feeders," a cannibalistic cult whose members have been lurking around Blackwood throughout the story.