Chapter Seven: Quiet Obsession

The phone rings. A shrill, slicing sound that rattles through the silence. You don’t remember picking up, but suddenly the receiver is pressed to your ear. The line crackles. A voice slithers through the static—low, measured, almost gentle.

“I see you.”

Your throat tightens, a lump catching and refusing to budge. The room around you feels too dark, the air too thick. You try to swallow, but my mouth is dry, parched like I’ve been stranded in the sun for hours.

“You don’t see me,” you whisper, voice is barely there, a ghost of a sound swallowed by the receiver. Your fingers grip the phone tighter, nails digging into the plastic.

A soft chuckle. “Oh, but I do.”

Goosebumps prickle along your skin, a wave of cold sweeping up your spine. You want to move—to throw the phone, to run—but can’t. Your limbs feel distant, foreign. A realization crawls up your throat like bile: Can’t move. Can’t scream.

You try to take a breath, but it’s like inhaling through soaked cotton. The voice hums, pleased.

“I wonder… how long will it take?”

The static swells, consuming the voice, devouring the space around. Your heartbeat pounds in its skull. The pressure builds, builds—

And then you snap awake.

A cold sweat clings to your skin, pulse hammering against your ribs. Hands trembling as you shove back the covers. The room is real again, but the lingering grip of the dream holds tight. You strip off my damp clothes, the air hitting my feverish skin like ice, and launch yourself into the shower without testing it. The water is scalding, blistering, but you let it burn away the remnants of sleep, of fear, of him.

And then—wrapped in a towel, breath still uneven—you reach for the book. Sacred Sins by Nora Roberts.

You need to finish it. Now.

Quiet Obsession: A Review of Sacred Sins by Nora Roberts

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (8/10)

Suspenseful, gripping, and tinged with just the right amount of romantic tension, Sacred Sins hits all the proverbial buttons of a thrilling romantic suspense. Nora Roberts weaves a fast-paced narrative that keeps you on edge while drawing you into a slow-burning attraction between two dynamic leads.

Detective Ben Paris is hunting down a fanatical serial killer targeting women who resemble someone he once lost—to sin. Driven by his own demons, Ben resists the very idea of bringing a psychologist onto the case, but Dr. Tess Court is determined to prove her expertise. She reminds him too much of the psychologist who once failed his brother, deepening the friction between them. But as the investigation intensifies, the killer takes notice of Tess—and fixates on her.

Is she next?

With tension simmering both in the case and between the leads, Sacred Sins delivers an enthralling blend of psychological suspense and romance. And while I won’t spoil the ending here, I will say—it’s worth the read.

For those who want to dig deeper into the twists and turns, stay tuned for our extended discussion in the blog section!

Until the next chapter, stay cozy.

 With Warmth,

 Mrs. Lady

🫖📖❤️