"The One I Trust" by L.N. Cronk

Brafford Odell Reid carries a considerable amount of personal baggage. His marriage turned into something of a disaster before it turned tragic. His wife, with some serious mental health issues, killed herself and their son by drowning in the ocean. Their bodies were never found. She arranged their deaths to look like murder by Reid, and he was suspended from the Raleigh Police Department and investigated. He was cleared only through the efforts of his mother-in-law, who was able to describe her daughter’s serious mental problems. 

He’s been holed up for a year in the basement of his best friend’s house, mourning his son and what he’s lost. He gets by on unemployment, but that will eventually end. His friends keep trying to get him to date, but he’s not interested. When he does go out, he’s quiet and withdrawn. That’s how his first date with Emily goes, until there’s a second date. He’s shocked to learn she’s interested in him; shocked that she’s 10 years younger than he is; and shocked that he’s strongly attracted to her.

L.N. Cronk

Their marry, and for a short time, things are almost idyllic. And then Emily begins to act and react much like Reid’s first wife. And he has to answer a question – does Emily need to be under a doctor’s care, or perhaps even institutionalized?

The One I Trust by L.N. Cronk tells the story of Reid and Emily. It’s a story about romance, about love, and about trust – and then it turns into a story of suspense. Not all is at it seems in Reid’s world, and never was. She lives in the mountains of western North Carolina. 

Cronk, a middle-school teacher, is the author of the eight-book Chop, Chop fiction series, standalone novels, and a historical novel, The Pirate’s Revenge, co-authored with Heather Frey Blanton. 

The One I Trust is envisioned to be the first book in a new series. It’s a gripping story, surprising in that a romance turns so quickly into rather nail-biting suspense.