REPRESSED (Deadly Secrets #1) by Elisabeth Naughton-a review

Repressed

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 26, 2016

Hidden Falls is exactly as Samantha Parker left it—small, insular, and prone to gossip. Eighteen years have passed since she witnessed her brother’s murder, but she’s still the talk of the town. Until a handsome child psychologist with haunting memories of his own arrives.

Dr. Ethan McClane isn’t exactly a newcomer. If it weren’t for his latest case, he’d never set foot back in Hidden Falls. Thankfully, no one seems to recognize him as the troubled teen from years past. Not even Sam, the delightfully sharp and sexy high school chemistry teacher he can’t stop thinking about.

When Sam and Ethan work together to help one of her students, sparks ignite. But Sam’s hazy memories of a long-ago night concern Ethan, and unlocking the repressed images reveals a dark connection between them. As the horrors of the past finally come to light, their relationship isn’t the only thing in danger. A killer will strike again to keep an ugly secret hidden, and this time no one will be safe.

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REVIEW: REPRESSED is the first installment in Elisabeth Naughton’s adult, contemporary DEADLY SECRETS romantic, suspense series. This is psychologist Dr. Ethan McClane, and high school chemistry teacher Samantha Parker’s story line.

Told from several third person perspectives REPRESSED follows Samantha Parker on her return to her childhood home in Hidden Falls where her mother has died following an lengthy illness. Eighteen years earlier, Samantha had witnessed the murder of her older brother Seth but a recurring nightmare reveals something more sinister was witnessed that night-something Samantha no longer remembers about the ‘cabin in the woods’. Enter Dr. Ethan McClane, a child psychologist and advocate hired to check into a local student, and a man who knows more about Samantha’s past than our heroine is able to remember. What ensues is the building relationship between Ethan and Samantha, and the threats and attacks against our heroine by an unknown source. Samantha begins to believe that the man with whom she is falling in love, may be responsible for a number of the current attacks.

The relationship between Ethan and Samantha is quick to build. Ethan is on assignment in the town he never thought to return. Samantha is the woman who steals his heart and his love but Ethan and Samantha’s paths crossed years before and Samantha is unaware of their past connection. As Ethan prepares for the inevitable fall out of his secreted past, Samantha begins to doubt the man that she loves. The $ex scenes are intimate and intense.

There is a large ensemble cast of characters all centered in and around Hidden Falls. Eighteen years of secrets involving everyone from the sheriff’s department to the local newspaper editor, and someone running for political office adds a series of twist and turns to a story about one woman and her struggle to move forward following the death of her beloved brother.

The world building focuses on secrets and lies, and a past that comes full circle with the return of Samantha Parker and Ethan McClane. The premise is suspenseful with several easily deduced twists and turns; the characters are animated, colorful and an eclectic mix of small town gossips, bullies and power hungry thugs; the romance is captivating and passionate. Elisabeth Naughton’s REPRESSED is an entertaining story of mystery and romance with a little bit of small town mentality thrown into the mix.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy