Midnight Secrets/Midnight Lies (Wildefire Series 1&2) by Ella Grace-a review
4.5 out of 5 for this reader folks!
I love nothing more than discovering a new author and anticipating the remainder of a series. A contemporary romance (with a side of mystery, humour, hot smexy chemistry and suspense) called The Wildefire Series by Ella Grace sure fits that’s description.
The series is based on the lives of triplets that were born and bred in a small southern town called Midnight. Savannah, Samantha and Sabrina have a scandalous and defined family history when at the age of 10 they are lead to believe that their father murdered their mother and then hung himself in the backyard. This tragic event (as well as one heck of an amazing grandpa) shaped them into the successful, strong willed, beautiful woman they are today.
Shall we meet the first two then???
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BOOK 1 – Midnight Secrets
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DESCRIPTION: Release Date April 30, 2013
For fans of Maya Banks, Allison Brennan, and Lori Foster, a thrilling new romantic suspense novel from Ella Grace
AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT, THE HEAT BEGINS
On a hot southern night, with a storm on the horizon, a family is shattered. Three beautiful daughters—Savannah, Samantha, and Sabrina Wilde—go on with their lives, each significantly changed, as they bear the memory of the murder-suicide that killed their parents. For years, they have stayed away from Midnight, Alabama. Until Midnight calls them home.
Savannah is the first one back, when a grueling case in Nashville leads the young prosecutor to seek shelter in the quiet of the once grand Wilde mansion. But when she finds letters casting doubt on her family’s dark, shameful past, she realizes that peace in Midnight is a shallow façade and sinister secrets lurk beneath the surface. Zach Tanner, once the town’s bad boy, is now the new police chief and still has a wild hold over her. Zach can feel it, too, but he hurt Savannah once. As teenagers, they broke every rule together. Now it’s his job to keep her safe, even though he isn’t sure who her enemies are—or which ones might be his own.
REVIEW
BAM! Right away we are in the middle of a tragic event that involves the death of our triplets parents. We are set to believe that there is malicious intent by a third party and the supposed murder suicide is in fact just good ole fashioned murder. This is an absolute set up, and it gets your mind rolling, suspicious of all characters that are about to be introduced.
Midnight Secrets by Ella Grace is the first book and centers around Savannah Wilde. Savannah is our quiet girl with a heart of gold. While attending her prom, she finds herself in a dangerous situation until the handsome town bad boy Zach Tanner comes to her rescue. These two embark in a young romance filled with future promises. However, future promises are broken (along with Savannah’s heart) and she leaves Midnight to pursue her career as an attorney.
Flash forward several years, and we meet Savannah again in a court room after she wins a big case. It has come to her attention however that the her safety is in jeopardy and she must take leave and hide for a while. Before she knows it she is back in Midnight taking care of selling the mansion that she once lived in with her sisters and her now deceased grandpa. She also learns that Zach Tanner is not only back in town, but he is the police chief that has been sworn to watch over Savannah while she is hiding.
These two have so much unresolved and while their hearts are heavy, the attraction and chemistry remains FULL FORCE! Both are now forced to face one another and find out why the promised future they once believed they had is no longer. Secrets are revealed, heart break is cut wide open and sexual desire is entertained. While all this is going on, Savannah comes to find letters that her grandfather had written that imply her parents death was NOT as she believed. Zach and Savannah find themselves knee deep in a dangerous mystery with many more attempts to silence their suspicion.
OH MY HEART! I ached for these two and quite frankly got a little peeved and wanted to yell at both of them to SMARTEN UP ALREADY! They are so meant for each other .. one zigging to the others zagging! Together they end up solving a mystery that will change the course of their lives as well as revealing heart breaking secrets to the other. Will they be able to not only live through these secrets but sacrifice once more to be together?? READ ON! 😉
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BOOK 2 – Midnight Lies
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* STOP READING IF SPOILERS DRIVE YA CRAZY! I CAN’T AVOID SOME IN MY REVIEW HERE! *
DESCRIPTION: Release Date September 24, 2013
The Wilde sisters of Midnight return in this thrilling novel of romantic suspense, perfect for fans of Maya Banks, Allison Brennan, and Lori Foster.
IT’S ALWAYS HOTTER AT MIDNIGHT.
The winds of fate have blown cruelly on a family that once had it all: money, power, prestige. The lives of three beautiful daughters were forever changed when, on a sultry night in Midnight, Alabama, a murder-suicide shattered the Wilde family. The girls grew up to live separate lives but now have returned home, each to face a danger no one can see coming.
Former homecoming queen Samantha surprised everyone by going into law enforcement, but beneath her tough façade lies a wary heart. The tragedy that struck her family is an ever-present reminder that nothing is ever as it seems. When the man she loves, Quinn Braddock, a doctor and Iraq war veteran, is accused of murder, Samantha assumes the worst. Brokenhearted, her confidence shattered, she returns to Midnight. Though exonerated, Quinn still feels the sting of Samantha’s doubt, but he can’t forget his feelings for her and follows her. Soon after his arrival, a shocking murder terrifies the town, and once again, Quinn is under suspicion. This time, Samantha will not turn her back on the man she loves—even if it means walking into a killer’s trap.
REVIEW
LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! LOVED! 🙂
This book centers around perky, down to earth, homecoming queen Samantha Wilde. Sam pursued a career in law enforcement (she just made detective) and returned to Midnight in the first book (to help out Savannah and Zach), and there was implication that she was withdrawn and most definitely hiding something. This book reveals she is hiding heartbreak.
We are introduced to Samantha a few months before she returns to Midnight (just before the murder of her parents has been solved). Samantha is head over heals in love with Dr Quinn Braddock and all is happy go lucky in her world. That is until Quinn is accused of butchering his ex wife and Samantha is not convinced he is innocent. Keep in mind at this time she is still lead to believe that her father killed her mother, so she has some serious trust issues. Quinn is flabbergasted that Sam doesn’t believe his innocence and this leads to a very heartbreaking break up.
Samantha returns to Midnight (she knows that Quinn is innocent now and tries to make amends but he won’t have her) to join a security business that her sisters and her have established in Midnight. As the first case lands on their desk (a nasty drug lord and what I perceive to be the plot for Sabrina’s book), Samantha begins to investigate. While this is going on, Quinn realizes he made a big mistake and he can’t live without Samantha. So he high tails it to Midnight with the intent of winning her back. Samantha does all she can to avoid Quinn and is pretty upset that he has decided to settle in Midnight (he ends up purchasing a place that Samantha once told him was her dream home), but her heart begins to warm to Quinn once again. The chemistry flies but the rawness is still at the surface. When another woman is murdered (a Midnight local) in the same manner as Quinn’s ex it is clear that someone has a grudge. This time Sam stands by her man, but she is placing herself in serious risk by doing so.
As the mystery unfolds a realization that the future they once hoped for may never come to be. Will Samantha dig deep and uncover the truth and will she and Quinn be able to live with that truth together?? READ ON!
So … WOW! Ella Grace writes beautifully. I found my heart racing, my suspicions peeked, my e-reader getting steamed up and my own mystery solving skills tested. Then Ella Grace throws a punch and I am left wondering why I didn’t see it coming. I felt warm and fuzzy when crimes are solved and the bad guys get their day, as well as our hero and heroine getting their love story. Our ladies are written strong willed and completely believable. The secondary characters of this town called Midnight add that dimension of humour, idiocy, old lady smarts, and the small town folk stereotypical characteristics. Mess with one .. mess with them all! 😉
Ella has set up Sabrina’s story as well, leaving me to curse the release date! I WANT MORE! 🙂 😉
HAPPY READING! 🙂
Reviewed by Rachel T.
Copy supplied by Netgalley
