KEPT HIDDEN (The Hidden Series #2) by Leigh Fleming-Review & Guest Post
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 6, 2019
Recently fired from a Dallas TV station, reporter Vanessa Barczak’s career languishes in a small West Virginia town until she witnesses an abduction—a child is snatched directly in front of her. She desperately wants to get back to the big time, and this story might be the one to do it. But the crime stirs up past memories she’d hoped were long buried.
Up for a promotion in Chicago, FBI Special Agent Bo Azar needs to solve this case. Vanessa Barczak gets in his way, insinuating herself into the investigation and into his head. After she witnesses a second abduction, he realizes she knows more than she’s letting on. Now he’s forced to depend on her to help catch the kidnapper, but she’s not talking.
Determined to get justice for the young victims, Vanessa and Bo grow closer as they unravel the truth behind the crimes. Through the mountainous terrain and surrounding forests, they stumble onto a scenario neither could’ve imagined, forcing them to open up to emotions they’ve Kept Hidden.
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REVIEW: This is an exciting crime/romance story by Leigh Fleming. This author is very talented and builds an exciting story quickly and yet develops the romance naturally and slowly. It’s very well written with a page turning plot.
Vanessa Barczak is a reporter for a local paper in West Virginia. She’s doing articles on old courthouses and other mundane things to have a job. She was fired for exposing a Senator’s ring of sexual favors for hire in Texas without enough proof. She hopes to get back to the big city and more exciting assignments someday.
When a young girl is abducted right in front of her, the FBI is called in to help the local police find the girl. While she was filming the courthouse, she inadvertently caught the abduction.
Special Agent Bo Azar is supervising the investigation. The attraction between the two characters is immediate, but neither of them wants to admit it or handle the complications of a relationship, at this time. They verbally spar and the sparks begin to fly.
The case continues and then the plot takes an unexpected turn, in true Fleming style!
That’s the setup, I won’t spoil this wonderful story for you. Just be sure to grab a copy to read for yourself. You won’t regret it, it’s thrilling and marvelous with a lot of unexpected revelations! Enjoy, I certainly did!
Click HERE for Georgie’s review of book one-STAY HIDDEN
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Georgiana
The Secret Behind The Hidden Series
The Hidden Series is a romantic suspense trilogy set in my home state of West Virginia, in which each book features a heinous crime, an FBI special agent male protagonist, and a strong, determined female protagonist.
I wish I could tell you I’m a former FBI special agent with working knowledge of law enforcement and mad crime-solving skills. I wish I could tell you I’d spent months holed up in my office sweating and eating chocolate, meticulously planning the characters and plots of each novel in the series. I wish I could say that I had witnessed at least one of the crimes mentioned in the stories. Nope—nada—nix. There was no special sauce to making these books compelling, hard-to-put-down reads. The secret was my vivid imagination and luck.
I write the contemporary romance Whatever series. Each of the books’ titles begin with the word Whatever, which I later learned was the least favorite word in the English language. (Perhaps I should research titles more thoroughly in the future.) There is a minor character in the first three books—Derek Bronson—for whom some of my readers became fixated. In one day alone I had five different readers tell me that Derek needed his own book. Maybe it was because he is a hunky, blond Adonis who happens to be an FBI special agent. A big, bright light flashed in my mind. Good suggestion readers! I had a new hero for my next book. Now I needed a heroine.
In the third book of the series, Whatever You Say, I introduced Riley Smith—a quiet, unassuming young woman who lives next door. She had a small part, but I’d always wondered about her backstory. (Yep, my characters come alive when I’m writing.) So, when I decided to write Derek’s story, Riley was an easy choice for the heroine. They just fit together in my mind. I had my protagonists! However, I had a problem. Up until that point I’d only written lightly-steamy, contemporary romance, but Derek was a special agent. I had to show him doing special-agent-y things. Thus, Stay Hidden was born.
In Stay Hidden, Derek works on a team with two other agents, hunting the man who killed his father in a bank robbery. He meets Riley, to whom he is very attracted, and they spend a passionate week together until he sees her face in a convenience store surveillance photo that identifies her as an accomplice in the murder.
I hadn’t immediately set out to write a series, but as I developed the other agents, Alex and Bo, I knew I had to give them their own stories as well. Plus, I’d entered Stay Hidden in a writing contest (this is where the luck part came in) and it won! One of the judges offered me a publishing contract with Soul Mate Publishing and immediately asked about the next book in the series. Thankfully, I had the rough draft of Kept Hidden handy. It features Bo and Vanessa, a broadcast journalist recently fired from a Dallas TV station who witnesses a child abduction that conjures up painful memories.
Openly Hidden, the third book in the series, will be released in September 2019. Its hero is Alex and its heroine is Olivia. Olivia comes to West Virginia to investigate the disappearance of a college student and finds out there are three others who have also mysteriously vanished.
It’s possible that all of these books were inspired by something I’d heard in the news or on a talk show, or simply came to me in a dream (which has happened to me before.). I can’t specifically point to how the stories were born. I have no expertise in police work or journalism or private investigation or floral design, the careers of the main characters. What I do have knowledge of is small town West Virginia—the lifestyle, the mindset, the food, and the interesting people that make up the fabric of a close knit community.
So, there you have it. I confess there’s actually no secret to my writing process. My stories are a mix of captivating characters, unique settings, and my lively imagination. So far, Stay Hidden and Kept Hidden have been well received by several people in the publishing industry, as well as my core fan base, and I hope you get a chance to read them. Thank you in advance if you do!
Twenty years ago Leigh Fleming vowed to write a book someday and her goal finally came to fruition in 2013. Since the day she first sat down at the computer to write, she has been hard at work creating unique characters facing life’s challenges, but who are always rewarded with their happy ending. When she’s not writing in her windowless office, she enjoys reading, travelling, scrapbooking, and spending time with friends.
Leigh is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Washington Romance Writers chapter. She lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia, with her husband, Patrick, and her deaf French Bulldog Napoleon, and is mom to adult children, Tom and Liza.
Contact Leigh at leigh@leighfleming.com. Follow Leigh on Facebook at www.facebook.com/leighhflemingauthor and on Twitter www.twitter.com/leighhfleming1
