Black Widow
Ari’s wedding should be the happiest day of her life, but the ghosts of her past are uninvited guests.
Three lovers. Three tragic endings. One nickname whispered like a curse: Black Widow.
With her sister and childhood best friend by her side, Ari is desperate to believe this marriage will finally break the deadly cycle. But in a town swallowed by shadows, she must navigate a life where trust is a weapon, love is a liability, and the line between devotion and danger is razor-thin.
- Liam - Ari's husband
- Ari - Liam's wife
- Brad - Ari’s best friend
- Gianna - Ari’s older sister
- Jordan - Ari’s first love
- Marcus - Ari’s college sweetheart
- Krilas - Ari’s first fiancé
- Carl - Detective
- Ari and Liam are getting married.
- Ari sees someone in the tree line just outside the ceremony site. She’s felt like someone has been following her for a while.
- Twelve years earlier: Ari is in high school and dating her first love Jordan when he is killed in a car accident.
- Present: Ari thinks she sees someone moving in the shadows outside the reception tent.
- Nine years earlier: Ari and Marcus have been dating for two years when he goes missing and is never found.
- Eventually police find Marcus’s journal, which grows dark near the end and reads as though he may have taken his own life.
- Present: Ari and Liam are on their Caribbean honeymoon when Ari sees the man who has been following her.
- Ari approaches the man and asks why he’s following her. He says his name is Carl, an off-duty detective, and claims Ari killed her last three lovers and that Liam is not safe.
- Carl has been following Ari since Marcus disappeared.
- Six years earlier: Ari and Krilas go on a camping trip to celebrate their engagement.
- Krilas is missing when Ari wakes the next morning. Police later find his body at the bottom of a drop-off near their campsite.
- Present: Ari and Liam go scuba diving.
- Liam’s oxygen tank empties too quickly and he dies.
- The investigation shows Liam’s tank had a slow leak and it’s ruled an accident.
- Ari buries Liam under the suspicion of Carl, Liam’s parents, and the town.
- Eight years ago: Ari grows suspicious of Brad and snoops, finding keepsakes from Jordan’s death and Marcus’s disappearance.
- She realizes that Brad was killing the men in her life because he loved her more than they did, and she likes it.
- Epilogue: Brad tampered with Jordan’s brakes, planted ‘Marcus’s’ journal so Ari would stop wondering what happened to him, pushed Krilas off the drop-off, and tampered with Liam’s air tank.
- Brad will continue to kill anyone who tries to take Ari away from him.
Holy cow! For a book that is only 58 pages, Black Widow was incredibly exciting. The author did an amazing job of keeping the suspense and mystery high the entire time. I really loved the format of multiple timelines because it added layers you don't usually get in a novella. I felt like I had the twist figured out right away, but that final chapter had me shocked. It is impressive how much tension was packed into such a quick read. This book is perfect for anyone who loves an incredibly well-written, suspenseful short story.
- Suicide
- Murder
Publisher: Bookouture
ASIN: B0G67KKYZQ
Publication Date: January 30, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
