Three Rules, by Marie Drake

In Marie Drake’s, Three Rules, Hope is a young and capable adult who has finally gotten away from the one person who has tortured her for most of her life. With two loving parents who have done everything to make her life perfect, what could be so wrong? Luther, has done everything a loving stepfather could do to make sure Hope knows she is loved, especially making her mother happy after a bad break with Hope’s real father. But Luther has a brother, and Uncle Lucas is too loving, cornering Hope alone, manipulating her fear and using it against her to get just what he wants. His coin phrase, “A promise is a promise,” haunts her even after he is gone. After Uncle Lucas’s luxury boat is found with no sign of him on board, it is assumed he is dead, and a funeral ensues. Hope is finally released from the manipulation that tortures her, but memories of the past have engraved blueprints of inappropriate intimacy on her soul, something she can’t erase to share a normal loving relationship with her lifelong friend Joey. Two families who share a business and friendship are intertwined, but spikes of distrust, lies and secrets wedge between them, scattering their alliances and their lives. A pregnancy, a suicide, random attacks and a feeling that someone is watching Hope, keeps her nerves frazzled and her heart racing. After Lucas’s death, things were supposed to get better, but nothing is quite what it seems. A page turning thriller with a hint of romance. Don’t miss this twisty tale of a woman’s journey to leave a predator in the past and heal herself for a real chance at forgiveness and love.