Southern Secrets is live!

Some secrets have a way of coming back and haunting us, no matter how much we try to bury them.

 

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Blurb

Amelia

Never make the same mistake twice is my motto.
After being left in the dust of an old pickup truck, I promised that I would take care of myself and never trust another man with a sexy smirk and cowboy boots.
Then he showed up, and he’s everywhere I turn, making me want something I shouldn’t.

Asher

I grew up in foster care, and on my eighteenth birthday, I was set free.
I spent years coasting from town to town.
Staying wasn’t a part of my plan and neither was love, but somehow, I found both.
This was all supposed to be temporary.
I’m just hoping my secret doesn’t destroy the only family I’ve ever known.

Buried secrets are never buried for long.

 

 

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Review

4 stars

The latest book in the Southern series continues the stories of the second generation of Southern characters, and this is Amelia’s book – a sweet and emotional small-town romance with a touch of drama and suspense, and a gorgeous love story.

Amelia is the daughter of Jacob and Kallie (from book #1 in the series, Southern Chance, and she is a strong, stubborn and determined young woman who refuses to repeat the mistakes from her past – especially where love is concerned. She is single and working hard to create a good life for herself, with no intention of letting a man in to mess with her plans.

Asher is new to town. He had a heartbreaking childhood in the foster care system, and has lived a mostly solitary, unsettled life, drifting from town to town. Now he’s found himself working on a small-town ranch, and he has been welcomed with open arms right into the middle of a huge big family group. For the first time in his life, he has found acceptance and contentment in his new home, but he’s still only planning on a temporary stay.

There’s clearly something between Asher and Amelia. There is an attraction there, but it’s something that neither of them have even thought of acting on. But when Asher is suddenly left homeless, he ends up moving in with Amelia, kicking their chemistry up a notch and setting the scene for the emotional ride to come.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between these two. You’ve got shy and quiet Asher who feels undeserving of the love and acceptance he has received from Amelia’s family, and he definitely feels unworthy of her. And then you’ve got Amelia who doesn’t want to let a man into her life. But despite all of that, they are wildly attracted to each other, and the sexual tension is insane!

“No matter how much I tell myself to get my shit and leave.” He steps one step closer to me. “There is always something that stops me from leaving … And that someone, Amelia…” His finger trails my cheek. “Is you.”

There is some back and forth as they work through their feelings, but the pull between them is too strong to resist, and they are eventually swept up into an intense and passionate romance that consumes them both.

“I want to worship you,” I finally say, my voice trembling. “I want to worship every part of you.”
I look into her eyes as she takes the step to close the distance between us. Two words is all it takes for me to finally snap.
“I’m yours.”

Holy hot damn, these two are sizzling together! It turns out that when you get shy and quiet Asher naked, he turns into a filthy talking sex god with all the moves! And Amelia is right there with him with the mad lust and dirty talk. Their passion for each other is intense, and reflects the deepening connection between them, and their romance progresses beautifully.

“I fell in love, and I didn’t even know it was happening until it did.”

There is some drama as they both work to overcome the issues from the past. They deal with it together, and there are some beautifully tender moments between them. And when it becomes clear that one, or both, of them is the target of a dangerous threat, Asher proves that he is just as alpha and protective as the rest of the men in the family, and that is lots of fun to see. It also brings in the suspense storyline, which had me madly theorising. And as we have previously seen in this series – secrets don’t stay buried, and this one is a gamechanger. I saw it coming, but the reveal still made my heart race. I was fully invested and I love the direction that it took the story. The feels are intense, and though I thought there was a bit of an overreaction to it all from certain characters, watching it all play out was fantastic.

As with the previous books in the series, there is a whole lot of character crossover, which I loved! It’s great being able to catch up with this huge group of family and friends, and to see where they are all at. It’s such a big group now, and there are fantastic dynamics between them. Though this is technically a standalone story, I wouldn’t recommend reading it without having read the earlier books, as there’s a lot of different characters to piece together, and a lot of history that’s gone down, and you may get a bit lost without it.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved being back in this world, Asher and Amelia’s story is a great addition to the series, and I love their story.

4 stars.

An Advanced Reader Copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

Southern Series

 

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About the Author

When her nose isn’t buried in a book, or her fingers flying across a keyboard writing, she’s in the kitchen creating gourmet meals. You can find her, in four inch heels no less, in the car chauffeuring kids, or possibly with her husband scheduling his business trips. It’s a good thing her characters do what she says, because even her Labrador doesn’t listen to her…

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