Not Her Fault

by Shevaun Delucia

One moment. One tragic accident. Kelsey Jennings’ entire life was altered that fateful day. The day Justin Jamison lost his life, and she got to walk away. Nothing in life has been easy for Kelsey. She lost her mother, lived with a neglectful father, and after losing her teenage love, the people left in her life turned against her. Kelsey made a vow to never step foot in Builtmore again – but one phone call left her with no choice but to go back to the one place she swore she would never return to.

Once back in Builtmore, nothing could have prepared her for what would happen next. All she wanted was to take care of her father, work, and keep her past behind her, but life had different plans for her. Preston Jamison, brother of Justin, blamed her for his brother’s death, still haunting her all these years has now become her boss.

Now Kelsey has no choice but to face her past – and face him head on. Tension rises while working in such proximity, but what Kelsey didn’t know was that Preston Jamison has always had eyes for her. Past mistakes, secrets, and lies could destroy his chance of winning her heart, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. Will she finally open her eyes and choose him, or will his secrets ruin his chance forever?

324 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 5, 2026

About the author

Shevaun DeLucia lives in upstate New York with her husband, and two boys while also enjoying spending time with her two grown children who have already left the nest. As a stay-at-home mom while her children were young, she fell in love with reading. She indulged in the small moments that took her away from the reality of her loud, overly rambunctious household, bringing her into a world of fantasy. When reading wasn’t enough to satisfy her, she turned to writing, determined to create the perfect ending of her own.

Reviews

[Lauryn Munro · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review

I don’t think I’ve read a read that has given me whiplash so strong as Preston did. Just when things would settle, BAM, another bomb would detonate.

Kelsey must have a great cardiovascular system from all of the running away from her problems. I’m happy it worked out in the end for them. She’s a stronger one than I. I would have been longgggggg gone.

I’m curious to see if we will get a story for each of the other couples!

[Jenna Lundberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

💔 She Returned to the Town That Broke Her 💔
⭐ 4 Stars | 🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3 Chili Peppers

Not Her Fault was such an emotional journey! This story has grief, guilt, complicated history, second chances, suspense, and a heroine who has somehow found the strength to rebuild herself after losing almost everyone she once believed would be there for her. Kelsey's story pulled me in because there was so much more happening than simply falling in love.

Kelsey Jennings hasn't had an easy life. After losing her mother and growing up with a father who wasn't there for her when she needed him, she experiences another devastating loss when her boyfriend Justin dies in a tragic accident. Instead of having people surround her with support, Kelsey is blamed and pushed away by the very people she once cared about. She eventually leaves Builtmore behind, builds a successful career for herself, and vows never to return.

Until life gives her no choice.

I really admired Kelsey's strength. Returning to take care of the father who failed to support her during the darkest period of her own life says so much about her character. She's been forced to put herself back together without the people who should have helped her, and now she's walking straight back into a town filled with memories, grief, and people from a past she worked incredibly hard to escape.

And one of those people happens to be Preston Jamison, Justin's brother, someone with whom Kelsey shares a very complicated history and who is now also her boss. 😬 There is so much hurt sitting between these two, and their interactions carry all those years of unresolved emotion. Preston has his own mistakes to answer for, which made their road back to each other anything but simple.

Their relationship has plenty of tension and chemistry, but I liked that there was more going on than the romance. As pieces of the past began falling into place, the suspense kept me wondering what else I was going to discover. There are secrets, misunderstandings, and moments that make you reconsider things you thought you understood earlier in the story. I definitely don't want to give those away because discovering everything alongside Kelsey is part of the experience.

Another highlight for me was Kelsey's friendships. ❤️ After seeing how alone she's been during some of the hardest moments of her life, I loved watching her form relationships with people who genuinely care about her. Those friendships added warmth to a story that deals with some pretty painful subjects and reinforced that healing doesn't always come solely from romantic love. Sometimes the people who stand beside you and choose to stay become just as important.

At three chili peppers, there is definitely some heat once Kelsey and Preston start crossing those lines, but the emotional history between them is what really drives their connection. Their past makes everything between them feel more intense because there's so much they have to confront before they can figure out what a future might look like.

Not Her Fault gave me romance, suspense, heartbreak, friendship, healing, and a heroine I genuinely wanted to see find happiness. Most of all, I loved watching Kelsey return to the place associated with some of her worst memories as a completely different woman. Builtmore may have been where her life fell apart, but Kelsey proved that it didn't get to decide who she became. ❤️‍🩹

Thank you to Shevaun Delucia and Beyond The Story PR for the gifted advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Meg (fantasybook.adventurer) · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨Not Her Fault✨

I just LOVED this billionaire dark romantic suspense! It’s not often I venture outside of fantasy, but when I saw this I was so excited and Shevaun did NOT disappoint! It easily turned me onto seeking more dark romance and I’m sold for more from Shevaun!!

NHF follows the POV of Kelsey, currently a realtor living her best life in Arizona as she tries her hardest to forget her past. But when the poor health of her father calls her back home, Kelsey finds herself not only having to face a broken relationship with her dad but also working under the twin brother of the man she used to love. And he wants her to be his assistant. But he also hates her.

As Kelsey navigates the feelings of her past, the death of the man she thought she loved and all his secrets, as well as the man who blamed her for his brother’s death… Kelsey finds much more to the past than she ever knew. Mistakes and lies that shaped her past, present, and future. And a man who has sought her all along.

I had so much fun in this book. It flowed so well, was easy to read, kept me glued to my seat with the tension and suspense, and had me giggling and swooning. From the first page, I was hooked in a painful way, desperate to find out more, and Shevaun kept me on the line all the way to the end. And boy was it such a perfect ending! I just loved these two and their flaws, the yearning, and slow rebuilding of their relationship. And the supporting cast was top tier! Can’t wait to reread!

Tropes you may find in NHF are forced proximity, billionaire boss, workplace romance, ex boyfriends twin brother, suspense, plot twists, found family, medium high spice, tension, yearning, he falls first and so hard, banter, and a HEA.

Shevaun, thank you so much for letting me beta read NHF. I loved it and can’t wait to read it again!

[Ciara · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STARS for me!! 🥹🩵

I loved watching Kelsey experience the girlhood she never got to have growing up, but as an adult. Seeing her finally allow herself to have fun, make friends, fall in love, and just live was honestly so beautiful. I felt her inner emotions and the battle she was constantly having with herself SO deeply. Kelsey deserves all the happiness she never got to have, and watching her finally get the closure she needed was everything. 🥹

I also loved how much this book explored Kelsey’s grief and everything she had been carrying with her. Between losing her teenage boyfriend, Justin, and her complicated relationship with her dad, she had SO much to work through emotionally. Watching her finally get that closure and realize she deserved happiness was one of my favorite parts.

Kelsey & Preston… YES PLEASE 😭❤️ I loved Preston from the moment I met him, BUT I really wish he had been honest with her from the beginning because I FELT that bomb coming from a mile away. 😂 I knew things were a little too good to be true, and I was just waiting for the mic to drop.

Once I started this book, I genuinely couldn’t stop reading. I was so invested in Kelsey’s journey and needed to see how everything would unfold.

And that ENDING?! 🥹 Definitely my favorite part. I’m so happy that all the girls were able to get their happy endings because they truly deserved them. ❤️

Kelsey deserved her girlhood. She deserved her love story. She deserved her closure. And most importantly, she deserved her happy ending!!!

[Megs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my oh my y’all this book is everything… what to expect:
Open door spice
Childhood trauma
Second chance romance
Forced proximity
Billionaire workplace romance

Let me tell you … the way I could not put this book down. Kelsey is the fmc who starts off in a small town and is essentially pushed out after a traumatic accident involving her now deceased boyfriend. Her whole friend group and the people she cared about push her away, she leaves and starts over. She completely rebuilds her life and thrives as a top real estate agent and makes a killing. She gets pulled back to this home town after a family issue comes up. That’s when Preston enters into her life or should I say re-enters because he is her deceased ex’s brother now boss. Preston is by no means friendly and on a missions to make Kelsey face her past head on. Their connection is so emotional and intensive that you can FEEEL it all with them. This author also does an incredible job of making you TRULY love or hate characters through at the story. The twists and turns will have you on the edge of your seat and Preston will yearn until he earns. 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

There is love after loss, there are gut wrenching and heart breaking moments, there is friendships that everyone should aspire to have, and the truest form of girlhood through and through. Sometimes it isn’t just the love of a romantic partner that saves you, sometimes it’s our best friends too.

[Savannah N · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Not Her Fault had a good mix of romance and suspense, and I liked that both parts of the story got equal attention. Watching Kelsey return to Builtmore and deal with everything she left behind kept me interested. There was a lot of history between Kelsey and Preston, so every conversation between them felt like it mattered. I also liked that they didn't move past everything right away. They had to work through it, and that made their relationship feel more believable.

As more pieces of the story came together, I found myself looking at things differently than I had earlier in the book. I liked seeing how everything fit together by the end. Kelsey's friendships were another part of the story that stood out to me. They added a lot without taking the focus away from the romance or the suspense. Overall, this was an enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to reading more from Shevaun Delucia.

What to expect:
✨ Open door spice
✨ Childhood trauma
✨ Second chance romance
✨ Forced proximity
✨ Billionaire workplace romance
Thank you to Chapter 3 PR and Shevaun DeLucia for the ARC!

[Kimberly Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelsey was in a car accident when she was younger where her boyfriend died. She blames herself and his family blames her too. She moved away shortly after and doesn’t come home until she needs to take care of her dying father. Kelsey goes to work for a new real estate firm and her new boss is Preston, the brother of the boyfriend who died.

Preston may have had feelings for Kelsey before everything happened but after the accident, he can’t forgive her. The two of them work together on a project which forces them to talk and get the truth out in the open.

This story has so many twists and turns all the way to the end. I loved the relationship between the two main characters and how they dealt with a serious moment in each other’s lives. The side characters also brought a lot of fun conversations and helped Kelsey and Preston realize what was really in their hearts. I absolutely loved the ending and I would read this book again.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!!! First of all, I have to say that I met the author at a local bookstore during a signing event, and Shevaun is the sweetest! I picked up Not Her Fault and her other book, His Little Ballerina, after she told me about some of the tropes in each, and I was immediately intrigued.

There’s also something so fun about reading a book by a local author and suddenly recognizing the name of a bar you actually frequent in real life! I loved the balance of being transported into the story while still getting those little moments of hometown familiarity.

As for the story itself, I was hooked instantly! There was never a dull moment, and I ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. And that plot twist at the end?! WILD.

Overall, this was such a fun read without feeling overly serious, while still touching on real-life hardships that add depth to the characters and bring them together. I had such a good time with this one, and now I’m even more excited to read His Little Ballerina!

[Kimberly S45 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second Chance at love or friendship?

Kelsey the FMC had left her home town after high school due to tragic circumstances along with parental issues.

She’s currently a top tier realtor in Arizona, but when her father turns ill she heads back to the one place she never thought she’d see again-home!

In comes Preston he’s rich, handsome, and mysterious. When Kelsey arrives back home and begins a new job at the realtor company she transferred to -a realization hits. Preston knows Kelsey very well and could be the reason she left in the first place!

Fast paced story , loved the side characters some great banter and something very unexpected-a bit of BDSM at play 😈 very nice and spicy 🌶️

Thanks so much to the author as well as chapter 3 pr

I’ll definitely be reading Shevaun Delucia again!

[Andrea G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first read from Shevaun, and she did not disappoint! I will be buying other books from her because OMG this was amazing! She did a fantastic job at keeping the readers on their toes.

The main characters and their chemistry was HOT HOT HOT! I loved how Shevaun kept it real with her characters; one can easily see themselves in any of the characters she chose to shine throughout this book. I loved the banter between our main characters, the tension, the yearning, the relationship rebuilding, and the confessions…AHH!

This book can easily be a palate-cleanser book if you are in a slump and need to get back into the swing of things! Such an easy read, and the flow was perfection!

[L.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelsey is a high level real estate agent that leaves her home town after a tragic accident when she was a teen. Preston is a former friend from that same home town.
Fast forward, Kelsey has a new job and Preston is her boss.
This story reveals old secrets, childhood feelings, and a few hidden twists.
It’s a passionate and emotional tale with its share of angst. I enjoyed the characters and found them well-developed and believable.
Kelsey and Preston’s story, from their teen years to the present, kept me engaged. It’s a real page-turner!


**Thank you to the author and PR team for this opportunity to read this Advanced Copy**

[Jessica Aranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second book by Shevaun Delucia and it did not disappoint. It was filled with so many emotions that was beautifully conveyed in the writing. My heart broke for Kelsey and everything she endured since that fateful night. Oh my but Preston, Preston walks in on Kelsey’s life again and things aren’t what they seem. I was
not expecting those twists and turns! I can’t wait to read more from this Author!

[Nancy Gennes Metsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so damn good!!!!!
That's the thing I love most about Shevaun Delicia's books they are always amazing. But this one was a smidge more amazing.
Kelsey is just awesome. I completely loved her straight away. Everything about her proved how brave a person she truly was. It showed in every chapter of this book.
My heart broke for Preston more times then I could count. He is truly one in a million.

[Nancy Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Advanced reader copy Review

Another 5 star read for the books, Not Her Fault was such a good book, i had all the emotions you can think of it was so good! Definitely would recommend Not Her Fault, You won't regret it!

[Brittany Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC REVIEW. When I tell you I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN, I mean it! Billionaire romance, small town vibes in the big city, and spice! The teasing and denial of feelings was just right. And the gasps that escaped me during this wild ride!! Just read it!

[Nisma B]

Beta read 🫶🏼 full review after publication.

[Emma :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love this book!! I don’t want to give too much away, but you’ll be hooked to every page!

I got to arc read it and couldn’t recommend it more!

[Alix Bliffen · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the pain of losing someone you love to the pain of losing your best friend and being forced to start over, there is nothing else like it.

But there is. The pain of having a parent be absent and make you face all of it alone. I couldn't have been as strong, I don't think I would have made it. Kelsey shows such strength when she moves back home to take care of her father who was never there for her when she needed him the most.

Preston has so much to atone for but he ignores all of that and acts like he did nothing wrong and just wants his best friend back and that he didn't shatter her broken pieces further when he asked her to show up.

The emotions this book pulls from you are intense. You get so invested in Kelsey making it through her grief and depression, that you hope she makes Preston grovel so hard.

To me Preston didn't have to work hard enough to earn the forgiveness needed. There was no work done on his part just bulldozing his way back into Kelsey's life. I didn't think that was the right way to do things after what he did to her.

Overall, good story, it flowed well and the relationships that Kelsey formed with her coworkers were amazing. I would love to see books about her best friend and her new coworker and the client that came to town.

Thank you Shevaun Delucia and Chapter3PR for letting me read an early copy of this book for my free and honest review.

[Bianca Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

ᴘʀᴇsᴛᴏɴ & ᴋᴇʟsᴇʏ ғᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ

ᴛʜɪs ᴡɪʟʟ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs ʙᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏғ ᴍʏ ғᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ sᴛᴏʀɪᴇs! sʜᴇᴠᴀᴜɴs ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ɪs ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs sᴏ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪғᴜʟ. ɪ ʜɪɢʜʟʏ ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴅ ʜᴇʀ ʙᴏᴏᴋs!