Valetine Getaway
Three friends. One Anti-Valentine’s weekend. Screams from the cabin next door.
Victoria, Megan, and Shawna went off-grid to escape their problems, but they found a nightmare instead. Trapped by a relentless storm, their girls' trip turns deadly when they hear a scream echo from the "empty" cabin next door.
With the power out and the roads gone, the trio realizes that a killer is hunting in the rain. They wanted a weekend without love—but they didn't bargain for a weekend full of terror.
- Victoria - Protagonist
- Megan - Victoria's friend
- Shawna - Victoria's friend
- Natalie - Victoria’s best friend
- Jennifer - Victoria's college friend
- Victoria, Megan and Shawna arrive at the cabin for their anti-Valentine's weekend.
- Victoria admits she’s been sad since Natalie ghosted her.
- A rainstorm hits, leaving them without cell signal.
- The next morning Victoria thinks she sees a figure in the neighboring cabin even though they were told it was empty.
- They hear a person crying next door and find a padlock on the outside of the door and someone inside saying, ‘help me.’
- They break the lock and find Natalie inside.
- Photographs of women who had also been held captive in the cabin are pinned to the walls.
- They hear a car arrive as a man enters the cabin.
- They run back to their cabin with Natalie.
- Natalie says the man's name is Peter and she met him at a Valentine’s party the previous year that Victoria was supposed to attend but skipped, sending Natalie instead.
- Peter kidnapped Natalie, claiming he and Victoria had a past connection and that he needed to finish what he started.
- Peter breaks into the cabin and the girls run into the woods.
- The girls find a ranger station to hide in.
- Natalie recalls Peter mentioning that Victoria was involved in a past incident in the area, when a girl went missing.
- Victoria sees the words “Jennifer Miller – Missing since February 14, 2015” written on the wall and begins to remember.
- Victoria recalls a college girls’ trip in the area when Jennifer was present; they were caught in a storm, and Jennifer drowned.
- Ten years earlier: Jennifer and Victoria go to the lake during a storm at night.
- Jennifer ran, slipped, and fell into the lake, and Victoria saw her go under.
- Victoria remembers seeing a man standing by the water as lightning struck.
- Present: The girls return to the lake to help Victoria recover more memories of that night.
- In the lake they discover the bodies of the missing girls shown in the photographs - including Natalie.
- Natalie had never actually been with them; she was dead the whole time.
- Peter emerges from the shadows, admitting he killed Jennifer and the others “to save them from themselves.”
- Peter attempts to stab Victoria, but a gust of wind blows water onto the deck, sending him into the lake.
- The next morning police start pulling bodies from the lake.
- One week later: All the bodies are recovered from the lake and Peter is presumed dead.
- Victoria briefly sees Peter’s soaked body in her home, but the vision vanishes - for now.
This was just okay. Even for a short book, there was zero character development—I couldn't tell the girls apart aside from them being friends. The suspense fell flat because the characters kept announcing how creepy things were or saying "we are all going to get murdered" instead of letting the atmosphere actually be scary. I also wasn't a fan of the twist, though I can't explain why without spoiling it. The writing felt too forced for my taste, but it's a short book, so you should give it a try. Maybe you will enjoy this author's writing style more than I did.
- Murder
- Kidnapping
Publisher: Independently published
ISBN: 9798278634287
Publication Date: January 16, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
