You're Next

You’re Next is the third book in the Devil’s Backbone series, which follows university student Ashley Layne as she navigates a polyamorous relationship with four wealthy and powerful men: Nate, Royce, Carter, and Heath. The series is set against the backdrop of the prestigious Nevaeh University, in which a secret society operates with its own set of rules, wields significant influence, and often engages in activities outside the law.

In the first novel, Dear Reader, Ashley attends Nevaeh after her mother remarries a wealthy man. She is quickly preyed upon by members of the Devil’s Backbone Society, an elite and dangerous organization that performs increasingly risky hazing rituals on students. The group includes her new stepbrother, Nate, and his friends, Royce, Carter, and Heath. All develop complicated dynamics with Ashley fueled by forces like class, power, and attraction. As she investigates the death of a student who went missing at the hands of the Devil’s Backbone Society, she further endangers herself, risking her reputation, her scholarship, and her life. The society causes widespread harm and scandal at the school, and the novel ends with Ashley trusting no one.

In Watch Your Back, Ashley struggles with the loss of Heath, who supposedly died by suicide at the end of the previous novel. Nate, Royce, and Carter balance their overwhelming guilt over their actions with the society in Dear Reader and their competing attraction to Ashley. However, Heath is revealed as alive, having been in rehab after attempting to die by suicide. The group hesitantly reconciles, but they feel they lack control over their actions. They discover a university psychologist has been altering their medical records and hypnotizing them. Eventually, amid the conflict, they confront each other and explore the potential of polyamorous relationships with Ashley. After killing and covering up the death of the psychologist, Dr. Fox, they try to move on, but Ashley is secretly kidnapped and committed by Nate’s mother, Jocelyn. It ends on a cliffhanger, immediately after which You’re Next picks up.