SERIES: STARLIGHT GROVE #1
AUTHOR: CATHERINE COWLES
GENRE: SMALL TOWN ROMANCE
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 03RD, 2026
Synopsis
He spent a lifetime trying to escape his dark past…but to save her, he’ll wade back into the shadows.
Braedyn Winslow never expected to return to Starlight Grove—the town that took everything from her. Not after her best friend, the one who’d sacrificed so much for her, vanished without a trace. But with a young son to raise and a past that won’t stay buried, Brae is back…and determined to uncover the truth.
She just didn’t count on the brooding, reclusive mountain man living next door.
Dex Archer is the stuff of local legend—silent, rugged, and surrounded by whispers of his and his brothers’ violent father. But Brae sees through the scowl and his parentage to the man beneath: fiercely loyal, unexpectedly kind…and just dangerous enough to protect her when someone starts warning her off her search.
The closer she gets to the truth, the harder it is to stay away from Dex. And as things get more perilous, Brae realizes the only person she can rely on is the one man who swore never to trust again.
Only someone isn’t happy that Brae has been digging, and they’ll do anything to stop her. But Dex? He’ll do anything to save her, even slip back into the dark.
Meet The Author
Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she's not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching for her next book boyfriend.
My Review
☀︎ ACROSS THE VANISHING SKY ☀︎ Is the first full length small town romance book in the (Starlight Grove) series by author Catherine Cowles. In this you'll meet Dex & Braedyn..
Tropes:
❥ Hacker Hero
❥ Grumpy | Sunshine
❥ Small Town
❥ Big Foot
❥ Single Mum
❥ Missing Best Friend Mystery
I've just recently ducked my head out from under my rock and discovered this author. I've only read two of her books, but those two books made such an impression on me so when I saw this one doing the rounds I instantly grabbed it and I'm excited to dive in.
Straight away you’re pulled into a strong best friend bond which got its hooks into me from the get go, a girls day of appreciation of hiking a scenic trail and looking forward to the massages later, and all it took was a split second for Braedyn to step off the trail to take some pictures of wildflowers for her best friend to disappear into thin air without a trace. The only evidence that she existed was her water bottle left discarded in the parking lot.
Braedyn knows deep within her heart that someone took her, she didn't fall into the river, she didn't get mauled by game, she was taken.
Falling pregnant at nineteen Braedyn is a single mother to an eight-year-old little hipster Owen, and their adorable search and rescue dog for live human beings and human remains detection, Yeti who more often than not stole the show and melted me to smithereens. Braedyn has only ever had Nova in her life, from helping her raise her wee boy to a shoulder to lean on when everyone else turned their backs on her when she needed them the most. It’s always been Nova in her corner.
Three hundred and seventy-two days since Nova had been missing. Braedyn is on the local police stations backs constantly seeking updates and getting nowhere with them. But she’s not one to give up easily. Even when one year goes by and Novas disappearance turns into a cold case.
She’ll move heaven and earth to find her, even uprooting and moving to the small township of Starlight Grove where she disappeared.
It’s here where she meets Dex, one of the five Archer boys, a hot slightly unhinged naked guy with a towel wrapped around his waist, in her cabin when whoopsies Yeti snatches it away.. Apparently there was a mix up when they got their keys from the rental in town. Everything's swiftly sorted out and he becomes her neighbour renting out the cabin next door to hers. Dex is a hacker who was arrested in his teens and spent ten years working for the FBI as part of his sentence honing his skills even more. His past is dark, he believes he'll turn into his father since his DNA runs through this bloodstream.
This book was phenomenal, a well balanced romance and mystery all in one. Moments of swooning, moments of giggling, moments when a tear escaped. These brothers were so broken and damaged carrying their pasts of armour, with the battle wounds scaring them deeply and I can't wait to dive into the next book on release day, because I am hooked..
Tropes:
❥ Hacker Hero
❥ Grumpy | Sunshine
❥ Small Town
❥ Big Foot
❥ Single Mum
❥ Missing Best Friend Mystery
I've just recently ducked my head out from under my rock and discovered this author. I've only read two of her books, but those two books made such an impression on me so when I saw this one doing the rounds I instantly grabbed it and I'm excited to dive in.
Straight away you’re pulled into a strong best friend bond which got its hooks into me from the get go, a girls day of appreciation of hiking a scenic trail and looking forward to the massages later, and all it took was a split second for Braedyn to step off the trail to take some pictures of wildflowers for her best friend to disappear into thin air without a trace. The only evidence that she existed was her water bottle left discarded in the parking lot.
Braedyn knows deep within her heart that someone took her, she didn't fall into the river, she didn't get mauled by game, she was taken.
Falling pregnant at nineteen Braedyn is a single mother to an eight-year-old little hipster Owen, and their adorable search and rescue dog for live human beings and human remains detection, Yeti who more often than not stole the show and melted me to smithereens. Braedyn has only ever had Nova in her life, from helping her raise her wee boy to a shoulder to lean on when everyone else turned their backs on her when she needed them the most. It’s always been Nova in her corner.
Three hundred and seventy-two days since Nova had been missing. Braedyn is on the local police stations backs constantly seeking updates and getting nowhere with them. But she’s not one to give up easily. Even when one year goes by and Novas disappearance turns into a cold case.
She’ll move heaven and earth to find her, even uprooting and moving to the small township of Starlight Grove where she disappeared.
It’s here where she meets Dex, one of the five Archer boys, a hot slightly unhinged naked guy with a towel wrapped around his waist, in her cabin when whoopsies Yeti snatches it away.. Apparently there was a mix up when they got their keys from the rental in town. Everything's swiftly sorted out and he becomes her neighbour renting out the cabin next door to hers. Dex is a hacker who was arrested in his teens and spent ten years working for the FBI as part of his sentence honing his skills even more. His past is dark, he believes he'll turn into his father since his DNA runs through this bloodstream.
This book was phenomenal, a well balanced romance and mystery all in one. Moments of swooning, moments of giggling, moments when a tear escaped. These brothers were so broken and damaged carrying their pasts of armour, with the battle wounds scaring them deeply and I can't wait to dive into the next book on release day, because I am hooked..
