Credence (2020) by Penelope Douglas is a taboo romance and fantasy novel about a young woman, Tiernan de Haas, who, following the death of her parents, is sent to live with her estranged step-uncle and two older step-cousins, Noah and Kaleb. As Tiernan enters the strange, wild world that her uncle Jake Van der Berg and his sons inhabit in the snowed-in Colorado mountains, she explores a growing sense of belonging and a forbidden attraction to the three men. While she bonds with all of them, she falls hardest for Kaleb. The rest of the narrative tracks whether Kaleb will prove himself worthy of Tiernan’s love and if Tiernan will get her happily ever after in the end.

Atmospheric and dark, Credence is intended for a mature audience. The novel contains graphic sexual scenes and provocative themes, such as forbidden attraction and elements of coercion in romance. While popular with readers, the novel is also polarizing because of its presentation of violence against the female protagonist and her interpersonal dynamics with three older men who are also legal relatives.

Penelope Douglas is The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of dark and taboo romance novels such as Punk 57 (2016) and Birthday Girl (2018). Her books have been translated into 20 languages and include popular series such as Fall Away and Devil’s Night; they are also widely discussed on the online BookTok community. A graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, Douglas now lives and works in New England with her husband and daughter.

This guide follows the Kindle Unlimited 2020 edition of the novel.

Content Warning: This novel contains discussions of death by suicide, pedophilia, incest, sexual exploitation and assault, emotional and physical abuse, and violence.

Plot Summary

One summer morning, 17-year-old Tiernan de Haas awakens to find her wealthy actress mother and producer father dead by suicide in their sprawling LA home. Tiernan is more benumbed than devastated, since her parents were neglectful, leaving Tiernan to be brought up mostly by Mirai Patel, their kind housekeeper. Left without a suicide note from her parents, Tiernan desperately wants to escape the media attention that is bound to follow the shocking event. She gets a reprieve in the form of a phone call from the step-uncle she has never met before: Jake Van der Berg. He is now Tiernan’s temporary guardian until she turns 18 in a few weeks, and he invites Tiernan to his secluded Colorado home.

At Jake’s ranch in the Colorado mountains, Tiernan discovers that she may have entered a situation far more intense than she bargained. Jake and his sons, 20-year-old Noah and 22-year-old Kaleb, are wild, difficult, and controlling. Jake—unrelated to Tiernan by blood—has a lifelong grudge against Hannes and Amelia, Tiernan’s parents, while Kaleb has not spoken a word since the age of four because of an unknown trauma. Despite the controlling behavior of the Van der Berg men, Tiernan feels a romantic and sexual pull towards all three. Soon after her 18th birthday, she enters into a relationship first with Jake, and then Noah and Kaleb. As she picks up survival skills in the wintry landscape and works alongside the Van der Bergs, Tiernan begins to find the sense of belonging that she has always lacked.

Matters take a turn for the worse when Kaleb and Tiernan’s relationship becomes complicated. While Tiernan loves all the men, she is in love with the silent and aggressive Kaleb. Kaleb grows jealous of Tiernan’s closeness to his father and brother and attempts to thwart Tiernan’s freedom in increasingly dangerous ways. Tiernan discovers the reason for Kaleb’s silence: His mother—who is now incarcerated for life—left him locked inside a car for four days when he was a small child, an event that affected Kaleb terribly. Moved by the revelation, Tiernan forgives Kaleb and the two reignite their relationship. However, when Kaleb crosses boundaries once again, lashes out at Tiernan, and seizes her birth control pills, she leaves the Van der Berg ranch with Mirai.

Back in LA, Tiernan applies to colleges and is accepted at a design school in Seattle. Though she misses Colorado and Kaleb badly, she tries to move on. The narrative takes a turn toward a romantic happy ending when the three Van der Berg men turn up in LA to meet Tiernan. Kaleb speaks up for the first time in 18 years, apologizing to Tiernan. He confesses his love for Tiernan and clarifies that his place is with her. At the end of the novel, the narrative jumps five years into the future. Tiernan has finished her degree in design, and Tiernan and Kaleb are happy parents of 18-month-old Griff and are ready to settle down in Colorado.