A girl with a fierce will to prove herself and nothing to lose, Bunny O'Kelly doesn't arrive in Alaska so much as storms into it. It's 1984, and cut out of her family's farm, she is determined to make her own way. She talks herself onto Buck Miller's horse ranch in the Alaskan wilderness, but the welcome is cold, the work is brutal, and a resentful ranch hand only makes things worse. That all changes when Bunny lifts a tarp in the garage to find a beat-up truck. Two years earlier, Buck's daughter Katie was killed in an accident. Everyone has moved on. But Bunny learned to trust her instincts long ago, and something won't let her leave this alone. As the story moves deftly between 1982 and 1984, the truth of what happened to Katie begins to surface. And with it comes a danger that is still very much alive.

Releasing the Reins is a gripping suspense novel set against the raw expanses of rural Alaska, spanning twin timelines that are separated by two years and connected by one death. The first book in the Tundra Secrets series, it explores what it could cost a woman to trust and stand up for herself in a rural 1980s community – and what happens when she finally does.

This is a novel for readers who love atmospheric mystery with a fierce female protagonist. Told across dual and interwoven timelines, it builds toward a reckoning that you won't see coming. As you follow Bunny deeper into the area's recently hidden past, you'll be taken on a suspense-filled journey that navigates, step by step, toward justice and belonging. In Alaska, secrets have a way of staying buried… until someone stubborn enough begins to dig.

Multi-Award Winner

• Gold Medal: American Writing Awards 2024 for Thriller/Suspense
• Gold Medal: American Writing Awards 2024 for Western
• Winner: Pencraft Fall Awards Book of the Year 2024 for Women's Fiction
• Winner: Bookfest 2024 for Women's Fiction