The Secret She Keeps (Whitaker Island #2) by HelenKay Dimon-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 30, 2019

No matter where you run to…

Connor Rye seeks solace on remote Whitaker Island. When his first quiet evening ends with a blow to the head, it’s clear that nothing—and no one—is as it seems. Still haunted by his sister’s murder, he’s buried himself in work while trying to hold his family together. Now, when he has a minute to breathe, he knows better than to get involved with a stranger, but it might be too late to keep his distance.

Desire will find you…

For years she’s pretended to be someone else, but Maddie Rhine is done living in the shadows. Old habits are hard to kick however, and when her past follows her to Whitaker she’s forced to hide once more. Except with Connor. Effortlessly sexy Connor makes it difficult to ignore him. He sees right through her…and senses her fear.

Someone is watching her. And waiting for the right moment to strike. This time Connor vows to be ready.

•••••••

REVIEW:THE SECRET SHE KEEPS is the second instalment in HelenKay Dimon’s contemporary, adult WHITAKER ISLAND romantic, suspense series. This is businessman Connor Rye, and Maddie Rhine’s story line. THE SECRET SHE KEEPS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from three third person perspectives including Connor and Maddie, THE SECRET SHE KEEPS follows businessman Connor Rye as he escapes to Whitaker Island for some mandatory R&R, the same island where his brother Hansen (Her Other Secret #1) fell in love with his future wife. But from the outset Connor finds himself targeted by a woman who believes she is being stalked for sins of the past, sins that are about to be exposed on Whitaker Island. Enter Maddie Rhine, the woman with whom Connor will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship and romance between Maddie and Connor, and the potential fall-out as Maddie’s secrets are about to be revealed.

Maddie Rhine is in hiding but someone has found our story line heroine, sending letters that are now threatening the man with whom Maddie is falling in love. An unidentified body, and an assault against an elderly neighbor find Maddie face to face with a man who was once responsible for Maddie’s life. Connor Rye has struggled since the death of his sister months before, a struggle that forced his family to intervene for Connor’s mental health but Whitaker Island, for all of its’ quietude, has found itself on the receiving end of too many murders and questionable happenings.

The relationship between Maggie and Connor begins as a case of mistaken identity when Maggie believes Connor is someone from her past. Connor finds himself attracted to a woman whose secrets are dark, secrets that are about to pull Connor into a web of murder and obsession.The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are reintroduced to Whitaker Island’s colorful and eccentric residents including the head of the Whitaker Board and lodge owner Sylvia Sussex, old man Paul, Whitaker’s self-appointed guardian Dom, Jenna Hughland, law enforcement officer Ben Clifford, and Maddie’s former handler Evan Williams.

THE SECRET SHE KEEPS is a story of secrets and lies; obsession and betrayal. The premise is intriguing and captivating; the romance is seductive; the characters are energetic and spirited.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one HER OTHER SECRET

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy