Books like Whispers at midnight by Karen Robards

Carly Linton, tired of living by the rules after a bruising divorce, relocates to Benton, Georgia, and opens a bed‑and‑breakfast in the family home she inherited. The town still remembers her as the town’s good girl, but Carly’s determination to forge a new life puts her on a collision course with the woman she once love‑tied. Matt Converse, now Benton’s sheriff and a pillar of the community, was once the town’s bad‑boy and still carries the memory of a wild senior‑prom night with Carly. When Carly’s dog uncovers a dead body on her property, Matt is compelled to protect her as she uses her newfound confidence to lure him in. Their volatile chemistry is cut short when a mysterious intruder breaks into her house and tries to take Carly away—forcing Matt to step in as her only ally against a threat that threatens to undo everything she hopes to rebuild.

First publish date: 2002