Best Kept Secrets by Sandra Brown

 

Title: Best Kept Secrets

Author: Sandra Brown

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing 

In this steamy thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown, a savvy attorney in small-town Texas will stop at nothing to catch the man who murdered her mother.

Alexandra Gaither is a beautiful lawyer who finally has the power to get what she's always wanted: justice. Armed with new evidence that could lead to an arrest and a conviction, Alex revisits the remote Texas town where her mother died twenty-five years ago.

There she confronts the three powerful men who were with her mother the night she died: her former lover, his best friend, and the father figure to them both. Each is charming, each is a suspect, and each has secrets to hide. But none of them can stop Alex's determined search for the truth.

Alex's relentless investigation creates controversy and excitement in this small community. And as she uncovers decades-old intrigues, someone capable of clever lies and remorseless acts decides she must be stopped. Now, with a one-month deadline from the attorney general to either wrap up the case or drop it for good, Alex must work diligently to catch her mother's killer . . . and find a way to stay alive.

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Beware!

Spoilers ahead!

This was a massive disappointment.

I’m a huge fan of Sandra Brown’s work but this book is, by all means, my least favorite. 

To be honest, I can’t believe she wrote this. Although, she did write it in the 1980s.

The Best Kept Secrets is about Alexandra Gaither, a lawyer who comes to her birth town to uncover the truth about her mother’s murder when she was a baby. 

Celina, Alex's mother, was stabbed to death in a barn stable and a man, Gooney Bud, who had a learning disability was blamed for it. Alex is sure this is not the case since the doctor who treated the man said he never showed any aggressive behavior and in his professional opinion, he had no doubt he was innocent. 

Meet the suspects:

Angus, the patriarch.

Junior, his son, the charmer.

Reede, the town’s Sheriff and Celina's ex-boyfriend.

Alex wants justice and she has been given a month to prove it.

I found many things wrong with this book. Let me share a few of my thoughts:

First, the men and the treatment of women:

Angus has sex with his unwilling wife while thinking about his mistress. 

"That she responded to him out of a sense of obligation rather than passion didn't stop him from wanting her; it might even have enhanced his desire. Angus enjoyed a challenge."

"She winced slightly when he entered her. He pretended not to see her grimace. He tried not to sweat or make a sound or do anything that she would consider nasty and unpleasant. He saved all his raunchiness for the widow lady he supported in the neighboring county." 

Junior has sex with his ex-wife in a rough manner and feels elated that he has power over her and that he is hurting her, so basically rape.

"Her dismay, her debasement made him feel powerful. His release came from subjugating her, not from the sex itself."

The hero of the story, Reed, throws disgusting comments at the heroine all the time. Also, he's having sex with the town’s madam while he shows interest in the heroine. Lastly, he was Celina's boyfriend but he has no problem having sex with Alex despite having known her as a baby.

"You thought I was hot enough last night," he sneered.
"Or did you stay a technical virgin this long by going down on all your dates?"

I’m shaking my head. How can anyone think he was romantic? 

Second, the heroine:

Alex is immediately taken by the Sheriff despite his nasty attitude towards her. He’s rude, arrogant, dismissive, and aggressive with her. Yet, she has stars in her eyes from the moment she meets him. Furthermore, Alex is self-serving, immature, and a push-over. 

I won't ever understand the premise that because he mistreats you, he must love you. Alex kept on coming back to Reede and pretty much has to beg him to tell her he loves her. Give me a break! 

Third, the mystery surrounding Celina’s death:

The killer was a no-brainer. It was spelled in big letters if you ask me.

I have no idea how I was able to finish this book. So many times I wanted to DNF it. 

I’m glad I’m done with this backwoods place and all these cruel men. 

Cliffhanger: No

1/5 Fangs

One Day in December by Josie Silver

Title: One Day in December

Author: Josie Silver

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Release Date: October 16, 2018

Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.

Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.

Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.

What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.

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Can you fall in love with just a glimpse?

Laurie is on a bus when she stares at the green eyes of the young man at a bus stop. For a second, she believes he's going to jump into the closing doors of the bus to be with her but the second passes and as the bus retreats, she blows him a kiss.

For a full year, she looks for "bus boy", the man she is falling in love with. Then, her best friend, Sarah is throwing a party and she is bringing her boyfriend who she is madly in love with and you might guess who it is...yes bus boy is Sarah's boyfriend, Jack.

Over the next decade, nothing is easy for this trio. 

And now, my unpopular opinion ahead

Did I like Laurie? Absolutely. My huge problem was with Jack. The way he behaved with both women rubbed me the wrong way. He was hurtful to Laurie and I never felt like he demonstrated his love for her in a romantic way. I never believed she was his "100%" while Laurie was all in and pining for him for years. Where was his grand gesture?

In addition, Sarah, Amanda and Oscar deserved better.  

Lastly, I listened to some parts of the book and Jack came out as a womanizer, arrogant, selfish guy.

I know many loved this book but I'm not one of them. Disliking the main character in a romance book is a complete downer for me. How can I root for their happiness when I don't think the hero deserves this heroine? 

Cliffhanger: No

2/5 Fangs

In the Deep by Loreth Anne White

 

Title: In the Deep

Author: Loreth Anne White

Publisher: Montlake

Release Date: October 27th 2020

I hope you don’t find him. And if you do, I hope he’s dead and that he suffered…

Real-estate mogul Martin Cresswell-Smith is the best thing that has ever happened to Ellie. After her daughter’s devastating death, a divorce, and an emotional breakdown, he’s helped her move as far as possible from the grief, the rage, and the monsters of her past. Ellie imagines her new home with Martin in an Australian coastal town will be like living a fairy tale. But behind closed doors is another story—one that ends in Martin’s brutal murder. And Ellie seems almost relieved…

Naturally, everyone thinks Mrs. Cresswell-Smith is guilty.

Senior Constable Lozza Bianchi has reasonable doubt. She sees evidence of a twisted psychological battle and a couple who seemed to bring out the worst in each other—adultery, abuse, betrayal, and revenge. If anything Ellie says can be believed, that is. As the case takes twist after spiraling twist, Lozza can’t shake the gut instinct that she’s being manipulated. That Ellie is hiding something. That there are secrets yet to surface. Lozza has no idea.

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First off, I love Loreth Ann White's books. She is a must-buy for me. Her books always flow naturally and take me to a big reveal that inevitably leaves me with my mouth wide open.

In the Deep, Mrs. White brings to life a very broken female character, Ellie. 

Ellie Tyler is the well-known heiress of the Hartley empire in Canada. When the story begins, she has been invited to dinner by her father at their hotel. After having a blow-up with him, she and her friend Dana, decide to start drinking at the bar. After Dana leaves, Ellie is going to the lady's room when she meets a man that makes her feel alive again. After a short courtship, Ellie marries Martin Cresswell-Smith and move to Australia to start a new life. 

Ellie's past has not been a bed full of roses. Her mother committed suicide when Ellie was nine. Her father lacked empathy. Her daughter, who was just three years old, drowned at sea. Her first husband cheated, sending her into the path of benzodiazepines, alcohol, and a very public mental breakdown which ends with her being institutionalized. 

After meeting Martin, Ellie believes she can finally achieve some well-deserved happiness.

But just a few months into their marriage, Martin is found tortured and murdered and the prime suspect is none other than Mrs. Martin Cresswell-Smith. The jury must decide if she is guilty or not.

__

Ellie frustrated me. Between her lorazepam and her drinking, she was a lost cause. It irritated me to no end that she was never sure of what was happening around her or to her since she repeatedly was in a benzo and booze stupor. She was unreliable, I wanted to shake her and scream at her: "pay attention, you dimwit."

As always, between a masterful scenery description and a hard to put down storyline, Mrs. White has created another excellent book with an OMGosh twist.

In my opinion and If I want to be hypercritical, I would say that the last scene with Senior Constable Lozza Bianchi was unnecessary.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger

Title:  Confessions on the 7:45

Author: Lisa Unger

Publisher: Harper Collins | Park Row

Release Date: October 6th 2020

From master of suspense Lisa Unger comes a riveting thriller about a chance encounter that unravels a stunning web of lies and deceit.

Everyone has a secret… Now she knows yours.

Selena Murphy is commuting home from her job in the city when the train stalls out on the tracks. She strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat, and their connection is fast and easy. The woman introduces herself as Martha and confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.

But days later, Selena’s nanny disappears.

Soon Selena finds her once-perfect life upended. As she is pulled into the mystery of the missing nanny, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, Selena begins to wonder, who was Martha really? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover.

Expertly plotted and reminiscent of the timeless classic Strangers on a Train, Confessions on the 7:45 is a gripping thriller about the delicate facades we create around our lives

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Unpopular opinion ahead!!!!!!

I didn't feel like this novel delivers in comparison to the hype. Confession on the 7:45 had good parts but some other ones that were not so good. 

Maybe my problem was that I guessed E.V.E.R.Y. single twist they threw at me. It was way too easy.

So what is the story about?

Thanks to a nanny cam, Selena Murphy has found out her husband, Graham has been cheating with her with the children's nanny, Geneva, at least on two separate occasions (What a huge cliche you might say).

Selena has been the sole breadwinner since her husband was laid off. She wishes she could spend more time with her kids and for her husband to find a job but instead he is betraying her. Selena is angry and sometimes she feels like she hates him. 

When she takes the 7:45 train. She sits next to a woman, Martha and they start talking. Martha confesses she is currently involved with a married man and she doesn’t know what to do next. Selena confides that she believes her husband is cheating. A confession she’ll come to regret when she starts getting texts from Martha wanting to meet again and when the police come knocking because the nanny has disappeared. 

What happened to the nanny? Does Martha have to do something with her disappearance? 

Confessions on the 7:45 has multiple narrators and timelines. Most of the characters are unreliable and unbelievable to me,  yet I did like Annie the best. Geneva and Selena were not too bad either.

Some of the situations that brought Pearl and Gracie together were too far fetched for me to believe them.

Like I said in the beginning, I'm in the minority. 

Cliffhanger; no 

3/5 Fangs 

Certain Prey by John SandfordLucas Davenport #10

Title: Certain Prey

Series: Lucas Davenport #10

Author: John Sandford

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Attorney Carmel Loan is beautiful, intelligent, ambitious - and used to getting what she wants. When she becomes infatuated with fellow barrister Hale Allen, she isn't going to let a little thing like his being married get in the way. So, through the contacts of an ex-client, she hired professional killer Clara Rinker to get rid of Allen's wife. Smart, attractive Rinker is the best hitwoman in the business - but things go wrong, and the shooting of a witness, a cop, brings DI Lucas Davenport into the case. Carmel Loan and Clara Rinker team up to clean up the loose ends - which includes getting Davenport off their backs by whatever means necessary.

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Back in Lucas Davenport's world, two women are going to make his life quite interesting.

The assassination of attorney Hale Allen's wife and subsequent police officer's death will bring Lucas and his squad to dig deeper. At first, everything points to Hale Allen but there is just one problem, the man is too dumb to have planned it. 

Allens wife's murder is a perfectly executed hit with a 22 by Clara Rinker, a professional hitwoman and when the FBI comes calling and wanting a piece of the action, Lucas knows this case is bigger than he thought. He also suspects that attorney Carmel Loan is involved in all this and he will do everything in his power to prove it. Although this time, the brains and the beauty might get away with it.

I have come to enjoy Lucas et al. Yes, he breaks the law and does dubious things and might be a psychopath himself but he entertains me throughout. The secondary characters are by now so well known to me that is like visiting family. I want to know what they are up to since the last book.

I love seeing how Lucas's mind works, how he unfolds the mystery for the reader to follow. As for his personal life, he's a mess. He's still a womanizer but I have come to terms with his douchery.

My thoughts on the ladies: Carmel was not very likable but she was all sorts of smart. On the other hand, I really liked Clara. She was a perfect antagonist. Too bad she can be a Lucas' love interest since he might not last long with such a professional next to him and also there is the little issue of her having killed quite a few people already. Pfft. 

On to the next....

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

The Perfect Father by Charlotte Duckworth

Title: The Perfect Father

Author: Charlotte Duckworth

Publisher: Quercus Books

Release Date: December 1, 2020

THE PERFECT HUSBAND . . .

After a difficult pregnancy, Esther is grateful that her husband Robin offers to put his career on hold so that she can return to the job she loves.

But Esther finds leaving her daughter Riley behind more challenging than she'd thought. And soon the new imbalance in her relationship with Robin brings old tensions to the surface.

OR A PERFECT LIE?

Then one day Esther arrives home from work to find Robin and Riley are missing. As the police investigate their disappearance, it becomes clear that nothing about this modern-day family is what it seems...

Is Robin the perfect father everyone thinks he is? Or was it all a perfect lie?

Amazon

Sorry.

No, it's not a quote from the book. It’s me wishing this book had snatched my attention but regrettably, I had a hard time liking this one. 

My main problem with The Perfect Father is that I disliked both main characters. They were selfish, egotistical, and to a point not quite believable. 

The novel begins with a successful businesswoman, Esther, receiving a cryptic message from her husband, Robin. Ester immediately knows something is wrong. She hurries home to talk to her husband, to see her 2-year-old baby, Riley, and to reassure herself that there is nothing wrong. 

Robin is a stay at home dad. After Riley was born, Esther returned to work as the sole breadwinner which is nothing new, since Robin has not had a stable job since Esther met him.

When Esther arrives home, there is no sign of Robin or Riley.  Her husband has taken her. Why and for what purpose? Esther doesn't know. She's desperate but she has no clue where to start looking. 

Then, the police come knocking.

Through past and present passages, and with Esther and Robin voicing their parts, we learn about all the lies, deceits, and unforgivable behaviors. 

I didn’t like Robin from the very beginning. I thought he was despicable. In my opinion, there was not a trace of antihero or a drop of redeemability in him. 

Cliffhanger: No

2/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Quercus Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Stalker by Robert BryndzaDetective Erika Foster #2

 

Title: The Night Stalker

Series: Detective Erika Foster #2

Author: Robert Bryndza

Publisher: Bookouture

Release Date: June 2, 2016

If the Night Stalker is watching, you’re already dead…

In the dead of a swelteringly hot summer’s night, Detective Erika Foster is called to a murder scene. The victim, a doctor, is found suffocated in bed. His wrists are bound and his eyes bulging through a clear plastic bag tied tight over his head.

A few days later, another victim is found dead, in exactly the same circumstances. As Erika and her team start digging deeper, they discover a calculated serial killer – stalking their victims before choosing the right moment to strike.

The victims are all single men, with very private lives. Why are their pasts shrouded in secrecy? And what links them to the killer?

As a heat wave descends upon London, Erika will do everything to stop the Night Stalker before the body count rises, even if it means risking her job. But the victims might not be the only ones being watched… Erika’s own life could be on the line.

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"I’d rather get a call from a serial killer than my own sister."

DCI Erika Foster and her team have a new case. 

While spending an uncomfortable dinner invitation at her friend's house, forensic pathologist Isaac Strong and his boyfriend, Steven, Erika is called into the scene of a new crime. A man has been murdered. He was found by his mother naked and asphyxiated with a bag around his head. The deceased was a well-known doctor. 

At first, it looks like it could be a hate crime when pornographic male magazines are found by his bedside table but a closer look give chills to Erika who begins to think there is something evil surrounding the death.

When a second body is found murdered in the same way, Erika and her team start to believe that it could be the work of a serial killer. Furthermore, Erika believes it could be a woman serial killer. Without fighting (too much) with her superiors while avoiding endangering another investigation, Erika will have to walk a fine line to try to get to the bottom of the mystery of the Night Stalker.

I liked this one quite a bit. I love that we are getting to know the other members of the team. We get more details about Isaac (maybe a little too much), Peterson, and Moss, too.

Erika is a great character to follow. She is dealing better with her unresolved grief. The death of her husband and team still affects her dearly despite almost two years have gone by. She is broken but starting to repair.

Erika has gained the respect of her team. They support her and want to help her. I'm still not sure about Marsh. I didn't particularly like his wife in this one. We shall see what happens.

I'm excited to continue with this series. So far, I have 4 more to read. 

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs