The Lover's Secret by J.C. Reed

When a sexy encounter comes like a dream and leaves like a nightmare…

Brooke Stewart thinks she’s finally safe. After witnessing the crime of a killer, she can move on from her past. But after one night at the Trio Hotel and meeting the sexy stranger with the green eyes that can steal one’s soul, her life is changed forever. Passions run deep. The game is supposed to be for one night with no strings attached.

What she doesn’t know is that the sexy stranger has an agenda of his own. Brooke Stewart has something he desperately wants, something he can't admit to the woman he tries to get to surrender. A secret so deep it would upend her life if she found out too soon. He’s almost reached his goal, and then she gets a letter she was not meant to read. Suddenly, secrets get a completely new meaning.

Is the past really ever the past?

I’ve got to say that I spent most of the time reading this book feeling like I was missing vital information. I kept waiting for things to be cleared up … for misunderstandings to be explained … for a freaking clue. But it never happened. Once I finished the book, I went back online and pulled up the description on Goodreads to confirm that it was indeed the first book in the series. And yes it was. On a whim I pulled up the book on Amazon and finally the missing piece clicked into place. This is related to Ms. Reed’s Surrender Your Love series and even though it states they are stand-alone series, there are far too many references in The Lover’s Secret about previous incidents for me to believe this to be true. So I’m kind of annoyed because I think this would have been a much better read had I read the other series first.

While I enjoyed the author’s writing style. I found Brooke to be indecisive to the point of being an annoying character. She redefines the term flip-flop. Again, not having read the previous series I don’t know if this is characteristic of her or not or if it was due to Jett’s referenced betrayal (which is why I don’t believe this really is a stand-alone series). The references to the first series make it clear that Brooke’s trust issues with Jett are well-placed, but her paranoia seemed a bit over the top … until it wasn’t. As the story takes place over two days and is told from Brooke’s perspective, with a good deal of it being her thoughts, the storyline moved quickly. Despite my confusion, I enjoyed it enough that I will likely go back and read the Surrender Your Love series before even considering reading book two, The Lover’s Game. My recommendation, don’t read this unless you’ve read the other series first.

Amazon US