This HaBO is from Ananya, who wants to find this romance. Trigger warnings for the description below:
It’s a contemporary novel. The heroine is on the run from her abusive ex fiance. She has a new ID made up and has moved over a dozen times because her ex keeps finding her. One time, she was working in a cafe when she discovered her ex has left her a box. She moves again where she found a job listing for a housekeeper, but the job was already filled. The hero asked her to stay and provided her a job elsewhere.
Later in the story, you find out she has circular scars all over her body due to her abusive ex. He also kidnaps her and her friend, drugging her friend to the point of overdose, and then buries her in a flower garden in a grave, because he had, at some point, promised her he would bury her in a beautiful place even if she betrays him. The hero remembers that and finds her.
Wow wow wow. This reminded me a little of Adriana Anders’ Under Her Skin, but there aren’t enough matching details.
Part of this sounds like Buried Lies by Kaylea Cross but it doesn’t completely match. The heroine with a traumatic past is starting a new life in a small town and becomes the target of a killer, who buries her alive in a flower garden. The villain isn’t an ex fiancé, however and the hero doesn’t give her a job, she is starting up her own bookstore/coffee shop and they meet/bond while he’s helping her renovate.
I’ve read this book. I’m positive that it is book 1 in Josie Jade’s Resting Warrior Ranch Series: Montana Sanctuary. Everything lines up from the multiple identities, the circular scars, the burial and her friend’s overdose.
The only difference is that she doesn’t move from the town. She moves to the Resting Warrior Ranch where the hero lives. It’s a ranch of ex-military helping people with PTSD by raising emotional support animals among supporting each other.
I hope it is the book that you’re looking for. It’s a great series with some heavy topics.
Seconding Montana Sanctuary – that’s the one!
You’re 100% right with Montana Sanctuary!