Secrets and Lies (A Hearts of Braden Book) by Susanne Matthews-a review

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About the book: Release Date November 16, 2015

DEA agent, Emily Shepherd, is after the Chef, a crystal meth cook, who sets up labs for the Mexican cartel and walks away—the same man responsible for the deaths of her husband and unborn child. Her search leads her to Braden, Iowa, a small town just right for the Chef’s specialty. But identifying her quarry won’t be easy when she’s up against a woman who sees her as a threat, a male chauvinistic deputy sheriff, and an attractive school principal who might just be at the center of it all.

Jackson Harris has sworn off women. Life is satisfactory, if lonely, until he meets a hazel-eyed damsel in distress who gets under his skin, and triggers that protective instinct of his. There’s a killer in town, one who may or may not be a notorious drug lord. Finding him, and keeping his town, his students, and Emily safe, may be harder than he thinks.

Love is breaking out in Braden, Iowa. Follow all the romance with this collection of stories. Secrets and Lies is part of the Hearts of Braden Series, a multi-author series Secrets and Lies stands alone for your reading enjoyment, but the story doesn’t need to end there.

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REVIEW: Secrets and Lies is Susanne Matthews’ newest in the Hearts of Braden series. This is a mystery/crime/romance novel.

Emily Jacobson Shepherd is a special agent for the DEA, just physically recovered from a failed operation that killed her husband (Alex), her unborn son, and left her with one leg and a newly restored face. The criminal who did this (aka the Chef) is back and she wants to be on the team that stops him. The Chef is a meth cook and sets up labs and uses others to produce drugs for the cartel, then leaves, killing everyone who has any idea of his identification.

Her cover for this mission is a nutritional expert starting a program for healthy meals in the school system, a federally funded program called the Healthy Living Initiative. This takes place in the small northern Iowa town of Braden, a small farming community, with issues from a recent large tornado. Her romantic interest will be the local principal, J. J. Harris (Jackson). His story is interesting as well, sorry no spoilers. This is a thrilling ride, with the good, the bad, and the funny…a good measure of danger thrown in.

What did I love? The set-up is well done, but I truly loved the way the author handled her handicapped issues. She didn’t gloss over it, or glamorize it…she handled it with realism and talentedly wrote the issues into her dialog and daily narration. Author Matthews gives a very realistic look into the physical issues and the emotional ones as well. She does this with several characters, giving you their insecurities from life as well as their strengths. You get to know the people of the town, their quirks and some of their personality.

What didn’t I love? Nothing…I did figure out who the Chef was pretty quickly. However, for me the story is in the intricacy of the journey…not the destination.
This is a marvelous story and I look forward to more from Susanne Matthews, in Braden and elsewhere.

Enjoy everyone, I loved it and hope you will too!

Copy supplied by author for an honest review.

Reviewed by Georgianna