Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆☆
M/F Romance and Thriller
Triggers: Cult living, Murder, Suicide, Mental Health Issues, Attempted Murder, Stalking, PTSD

Whew! This book was fast paced, riveting, and didn't disappoint at all. I didn't read the first book in this series, but never felt that I was lost or didn't know what was happening.

There are a lot of people involved in this story. Cabot and Virginia grew up for their first few years together in a cult that was led by Quinton Zane. He was a man who was charismatic and insane. When the worst happens, Virginia and Cabot are separated until they are adults and Virginia seeks out Cabot for help.

The twists and turns in this book were exciting and unexpected. I enjoyed the fact that the story kept the reader moving through the story, but threw in historic pieces too. The pieces fit together well and when they didn't, Krentz didn't leave the answers until the end. The answers came in bits in pieces, but it never felt that they were trickling in.

While I really enjoyed the mystery immensely, the romance was nothing to sneeze at. While it was much more subtle, the connection between Cabot and Virginia was very strong. Because of their shared history, they simply got each other. It's rare to find someone who can accept the quirks of PTSD right off the bat.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story – more for the mystery than the romance, but still, it was enjoyable all around.

As I was reading When All the Girls Have Gone, I was very intrigued by Max Cutler and his foster brothers who were rescued from a cult fire. I thought the backstory was captivating and was interested to learn more about their time in the cult and their life afterwards. So I was very interested in this second installment where both of our main characters were cult survivors.

Despite suffering from PTSD, Virginia Troy has made a somewhat successful living as the owner of an art gallery in Seattle. Through the gallery, Virginia maintained contact with some of the older cult survivors who lived on a smalltown island off the coast. When one of the women dies under suspicious circumstances after leaving a series of cryptic painted messages, Virginia is determined to learn the truth. Luckily, she discovers that her savior, Anson Salinas, has opened a private investigation firm with his three foster sons, who were rescued from the same fire. The PTSD plus a crime connected to her past certainly was not easy for our heroine, but I thought she handled herself quite well. She was somewhat awkward, but much of that was due to the coping mechanisms she had developed over the years, and they made her character more interesting.

Cabot Sutter is one of the broody heroes that I typically love. He is gruff and straightforward and is totally wrapped up in his conspiracy theory about the former cult leader. Between Virginia's beauty and the opportunity to further investigate his cult theory, Cabot was immediately invested in Virginia's case. The investigation turns hairy very quickly and Cabot and Virginia find themselves dodging danger at every turn. I thought they made a great team. Also suffering from PTSD, but perhaps a milder case, Cabot was understanding of Virginia and her quirks. They had great communication and their awkwardness was sometimes cute.

The relationship between Cabot and Virginia built as they investigated the case, but it was not a hot and heavy affair. Both of our characters are awkward and quirky and have had problems with intimacy and dating in the past. So while they didn't have a lot of chemistry, they did fit together very well. The romance in this series takes a backseat to the suspense plot, which was fine with me. I have really enjoyed the backstory of the cult and the mystery about the survival of the former leader. This installment continues that storyline and I was just as intrigued. After the epilogue to this one, I can't wait to see where we are going next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Berkley.

First line: "<i>Hannah Brewster splashed the accelerant around the inside of the small cabin, working feverishly because time was running out.</i>"

What a way to finish off the reading year!

I began reading this book with a sense of deja-vu. The first couple pages stirred up a feeling of having read this exact part of a novel previously, practically word for word. That is when I put into place that this was the second novel in the Cutler, Sutter & Salinas series and I began to wonder if I had read the first one. I realized that I had, in fact, started off 2017 by reading the first book in this series!

I really like Krentz's writing style. I was captivated from early on and struggled to put together the pieces that would lead me to the killer, and I was actually quite shocked at the result as it was not entirely who I suspected.

The chemistry between Victoria and Cabot was definitely there from the beginning and added an extra touch to the novel.

I am excited to read the next part of the series, as this ended with somewhat of a cliffhanger!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me the opportunity to read this novel!

Promise Not to Tell opens in a troubling fashion: a reclusive artist is convinced that the villain who ruined her life is still alive. No longer can Hannah Brewster believe the claims that the monster Quinton Zane is dead, because she senses she’s being watched—and then she spots Zane on the remote island where she lives.

She had known then that she could no longer deceive herself into thinking that she was hallucinating. The truth was always shatteringly clear at night.

At midnight she had picked up a brush, her hand firm and steady, and begun to paint her final picture. She had continued painting every night until her creation was finished.

And then she had waited for the demon to return.

When Zane returns, Hannah makes the decision to die rather than risk coming under Zane’s spell again:

She could not risk getting sucked back into his web. She had a duty to protect the children. She was the only one left who could warn them.

Hannah torches her cabin, the “wild flames” illuminating “her final painting in a hellish light.” Her last thought before throwing herself off the cliffs into the deep sea below is that although she had momentarily defeated him, “others” would have to continue the fight for which “she had sent the warning.”

Seattle art gallery owner Virginia Troy seeks the services of a private detective agency because of the inexplicable death of her client Hannah Brewster. In the wake of Hannah’s suicide, Virginia fears that Quinton Zane, the cult leader behind the horrific fire that killed her mother and haunted Hannah, may still be alive. Troy has a deeply personal reason for choosing Cutler, Sutter & Salinas—Anson Salinas saved her life years earlier.

“I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me this long to track you down so that I could thank you. Embarrassed to tell you that I came looking for you now only because I need your help.”

“No need to apologize,” Anson said. “I was just doing my job that night. You were a little kid caught up in the craziness. There was no reason you should have come looking for me as an adult.”

The last time he had seen Virginia Troy she was a child of nine, one of the eight children trapped in the blazing barn. He’d used his vehicle to crash through the locked doors, tossed all eight kids into the SUV and reversed out of the inferno; a hound out of hell. Shortly after he had gotten them all to safety, the barn had collapsed in on itself.

Anson not only saved eight children from a fiery death, he adopted “three teenage boys who were all carrying a few scars,” orphans of the inferno. Virginia Troy’s grandparents raised her, but like the three orphaned boys, she was forever changed by the fire that killed their mothers. One of Anson’s partners in the agency is his foster son, Cabot Sutter. He remembers Virginia Troy, as she does him.

“Virginia,” he said. He spoke very softly. “I remember you. Little kid. Dark hair. Big eyes. You had a book that night. You wouldn’t leave it behind.”

[…]

“And I remember you,” Virginia said. Her voice was equally neutral. “You were the one who told the rest of us to go low to avoid the smoke.”

Cabot Sutter and Virginia Troy join forces to suss out the mystery behind Hannah Brewster’s silent scream of suicide. Promise Not to Tell is a conventional thriller to the extent that the various deaths and recurring mayhem are investigated and ultimately explained. But what elevates the story to another level is the relationship between Virginia and Cabot. Their shared past is something they have in common, but it goes beyond that. Their lives have been changed in imperceptible ways—ways that only a fellow survivor can fully understand.

Cabot and Virginia work together to understand why and how Hannah died. They travel to a bed and breakfast on Hannah’s island, but as always, even with a private investigator standing guard, Virginia’s sleep is broken. Cabot softly raps on her bedroom door.

“It’s one thirty in the morning.” She glanced at the clock. “Make that one forty-five.”

“No kidding.”

“That’s the time that Zane torched the compound.”

“Sure is. Damn. You think there might be a connection?”

“Call me insightful.”

“My nighttime habits ruined a lot of relationships,” Cabot said.

“I know what you mean. I’ve given up on what people like to call relationships.”

As Cabot succinctly states, “Sounds like we have a few things in common.” The conjoined wisdom of Cabot and Virginia is the realization that only people who are unafraid to examine their past are the ones who can break the shackles tying them to it. Virginia and Cabot solve the mystery behind Hannah’s death, but more importantly, they give each other the mutual acceptance to move past their tortured early years. Ultimately and courageously, they give each other permission to embrace a future full of possibility and promise.

Ms. Krentz starts off 2018 with a bang with her second book in the Cutler, Sutter and Salinas series. Art gallery owner Virginia finds herself revisiting her horrific past as a child in a cult when one of the former members throws herself off of a cliff after sending Virginia a piece of art. Virgina kept in touch with a select few from that time in her life, a life that was almost cut short when the cult leader locked all of the cult children in a barn and set it on fire. When Virginia, gets Hannah's picture, she goes to a detective to follow up on her suspicions that cult leader Quinton Zane might still be alive and up to no good. Detective Anson Salinas was the man who rescued Virginia and the others the night of the fire and he has his own suspicions about Zane. His partners include two men who were in the cult and he decided to take them in and raise them. One of them, Cabot, starts to work with Virginia and the two become close.
Cabot is a serious, dangerous guy who doesn't suffer fools easily. As things get more twisted and Virginia is targeted, Cabot is the perfect man to protect her and understand her suspicions.

This book is a thrill ride from front to back with twists and turns throughout. Just when you think you know what is going on, bang, something happens to blow that idea out of the water. Virginia and Cabot's romance builds slowly because of their natures but it is solid and realistic. Just to keep you on your toes, Ms. Krentz throws in a hook that can only be addressed in future books. I can't wait to see what's next!

Promise Not to Tell is a real page-turner. It’s fast-paced, interesting, and has some great twists and turns without ever losing sight of the main couple. I absolutely hated it whenever I had to put Virginia and Cabot’s story down, and quite honestly, by the end of the book nothing could have torn me away.

Virginia and Cabot were children living in a cult until one fiery night where they lost their mothers and were rescued by the local police chief. It’s been over twenty years since the fire but both Virginia and Cabot are still haunted by the past. And when another cult survivor plunges to her death after sending Virginia an urgent message with hidden clues, she and Cabot will have to team up and face the demons of their past. Without sounding too vague, that’s about as much as I can say about the plot of Promise Not to Tell without giving away anything. Jayne Ann Krentz did an excellent job of combining mystery, suspense, and romance in this story. Cabot and Virginia may not have seen one another since they were kids, but their shared experiences and invisible scars give them an instant bond and help them easily open up to one another in a way they might not do with strangers. They’re both interesting, intelligent characters and it was easy to root for them to fall in love because they just plain fit. They had an easy chemistry that came off the page and their connection – not to mention the heightened drama around them – made their fast-paced romance work really well.

Intertwined with Virginia and Cabot’s romance is the suspense plotline involving the cult that was first mentioned in When All the Girls Have Gone, though you don’t have to have read the that book in order to follow this one. Ms. Krentz delves deeper into the history of the cult and Virginia and Cabot’s time there. The past is coming back to haunt Virginia, Cabot, and Cabot’s family in a very real way. As I said above, I’m hesitant to go into much detail for fear of spoiling the story. Suffice it to say Ms. Krentz has a lot of excellent twists and turns planned for readers and I was as taken with the cult plot as I was with the romance. While the ending of Promise Not to Tell left me a well-satisfied reader, I cannot wait to see what happens in the next Cutler, Sutter & Salinas book!

Jayne Ann Krentz continues to dazzle with the follow-up to ALL THE GIRLS HAVE GONE in PROMISE NOT TO TELL. A burgeoning romance develops during the course of an intriguing investigation into the death of a former cult member. Krentz is at the top of her game as she pits two child survivors, now adults, against a mastermind who's eluded justice for far too long.

Virginia Troy, a gallery owner, was one of the children who escaped death in a horrendous fire while living in a cult. Cabot Sutter, another child who survived the same horror, is now a private investigator who's never forgotten the man who nearly killed them all. Virginia seeks help investigating the suspicious death of one of her artists. Because that artist left behind a painting that asks more questions about the past than it answers. 

Along with Cabot, Virginia will seek answers. The two grow closer, but so does the danger. And someone doesn't like the questions Virginia is asking.

Another winner from Jayne Ann Krentz, though this one is more of a suspense than a true mystery (the bad guy is a given from the beginning). The suspense rides seamlessly alongside the romance, and the tension amps as the intrepid heroes try to figure out what's really going on and what that painting really means. A must-read for JAK fans, and a thrill-ride for those seeking equal amounts of romance and intrigue.

SJ, Romance Junkies
4 Hearts

This was a great read combining just the right amount of suspense and intrigue into the story. I have not read the other book in this series, but I didn't find it necessary to enjoy this story. I won't get into the full plot points because you can read a synopsis anywhere but I really enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone.

Review in podcast episode to be published this week. I will email the link to Erin once it is live.

Web Exclusive – January 01, 2018

BEYOND THE SMALL-TOWN ROMANCE
BookPage feature by Lois Dyer

It’s a new year, and we’re excited to share three terrific contemporary romances for those looking for something a little different. If you’re ready to branch out from the sweet small-town tales so common to the genre, look no further.

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE
First up is Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz. The master of romantic suspense has set her latest novel in moody, rainy Seattle, a setting that perfectly suits her central mystery. Art gallery owner Virginia Troy and private investigator Cabot Sutter shared a horrific experience as children. Their mothers were members of a cult whose charismatic, sociopathic leader burned the compound down and disappeared. Both of their mothers died that night, and Virginia and Cabot barely escaped with their lives. Both were left with memories that scarred them.

When Virginia’s client and fellow survivor commits suicide, she turns to Cabot’s detective agency for help. She’s not convinced her artist’s death was truly a suicide. Cabot joins her to seek the truth, but they’ve barely begun the investigation when a woman is murdered in Virginia’s art gallery, someone breaks into her condo, and shots are fired at Cabot. As the level of danger ratchets higher, Virginia and Cabot search for answers while dealing with a growing attraction that draws them ever closer. Just as both begin to hope for a future together, the monster from their childhood threatens them once again. Is it possible the cult leader is alive and well—and has returned to finish what he started all those years ago? And if he’s back, will Virginia and Cabot survive?

Krentz dives into sociopathic psychology and complex characterization to great effect in this twisty story, whose plot clips along at a terrific pace. Readers will look forward to the third novel in this ongoing series of books connected through the Cutler, Sutter & Salinas detective agency and the destroyed cult.

When a friend and artist sends Seattle art gallery owner Virginia Troy a photograph of a painting, then burns her house down and throws herself into the ocean, Virginia isn't willing to accept that there isn't more to the story. Hannah's paintings always showed the nightmares of the past, a fiery inferno with a group of children watching a demon walk out of the flames. Virginia was one of those children. She turns to private investigator Cabot Sutter, another one of those survivors, for answers. Cabot and Virginia quickly find themselves involved with embezzlement, murder, and arson as past and present come together to create a mystery just as deadly today as it was all those years ago.

Promise Not to Tell is the sequel to last year's When All the Girls Have Gone, as Krentz follows three brothers who escaped a fiery death at the hands of cult leader Quinton Zane. All three- Max, Cabot, and Jack along with their foster father Anson- are convinced that Zane is still alive. In Promise Cabot is brought firmly into the hunt for Zane as former cult members/victims keep popping up- then dying. Virginia is convinced that her friend Hannah saw, or believes she saw, Zane shorty before her death and tried to warn Virginia through a painting. What might seem like a string of coincidences to someone else looks sinister to anyone who survived Zane's cult. The coincidences keep piling up when a woman shows up dead in Virginia's art storage room with Hannah's paintings. Jayne Ann Krentz keeps the suspense going throughout Promise, ensuring that even when the reader thinks they know what is happening they are still caught by surprise.

Virginia and Cabot are well-written, likable, and complex characters written in Krentz's normal style of hero: each has some flaws and hang-ups from their past, each deals with them in different ways. Virginia isn't content to hire Cabot and then sit back and let him do all the investigating, but is right in the mix with him the whole way and isn't afraid of saving herself when she needs to. The writing is fast-paced, full of Krentz's trademark dry humor, quick wit, and suspenseful twists. Secondary characters are as well fleshed out as the main characters and provide some fun alternate view points.

While I would recommend reading When All the Girls Have Gone before Promise Not to Tell in order to get the most out of the series, both are stand alone books and a new reader doesn't have to have read one to enjoy the other. But since Krentz is clearly setting up the next book to follow brother Jack and (hopefully) conclude the Quinton Zane mystery, and since both books are wonderful reads, I definitely recommend rereading Girls and Promise before next year's book comes out!

Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz is a promising read. The novel instantly gives way to a dark tale. One full of loss, death, and danger. Now, in the present moment two young adults are still gripping with their past fears. A dangerous man who killed their mothers, might still be alive and killing again. The risks are just as high as their fears. But both Virginia and Cabot are willing to follow any leads to the questions they need.

An older woman, a friend of Virginia's mother, made a promise. She will not tell the killer anything. Instead, she ends up taking the answers to her grave. But she happened to leave behind clues to Virginia. That's where Virginia contacts Anason, the lead detective the night she was recused, about the new death. Virginia believes the old woman's death is in connection to her past life. And that the killer may still be out there...

Cabot is obsessed with the conspiracy idea that the man who killed his mom and other children's mothers is still alive. But he doesn't have enough proof to dig further. Until, Virginia comes to him and Anason for help. She believes that she has something that could lead them to catching the killer after all those years...

However, neither one expected the danger to come chasing them. Nor did they expect the attraction to each other to hit them hard...

Promise Not to Tell is intriguing, haunting, and suspenseful. I was hooked. The details kept me guessing. There were a lot of leads and several suspects but then...there still the question is the killer still out there or not? If he is, when will he show himself? Jayne Ann Krentz has proved herself in this novel. It was everything I expected. Dark, gruesome, and a bit romantic too. I loved the characters. Virginia, Cabot, Anason and even Xavier...I can't wait to read the next book! Overall, I highly recommend this novel to all readers.

The book opens with Hannah, a painter, finishing her final painting, burning down her cabin, and running from someone from her past. It is intense! We then meet Virginia and Cabot, who start investigating Hannah's death. There are various twists and turns. Virginia is an art gallery owner with a low b.s. tolerance and a lot of patience for dealing with drama. Cabot is reserved and blunt, and they find themselves interested in each other and working together.

Virginia and Cabot both have trouble sleeping because it brings up memories of the night the cult fire. It's affected relationships and a big relief for them to find someone who understands. The information they uncover during the investigation also helps them with some closure (it doesn't erase the problems, which was good - there's no magical cure). I really liked this character development and the relationship pacing was well done with all of the action occurring around them.

Writing this review has been difficult because I don't want to spoil anything - there is a lot to look forward to in this book. Krentz kept me on the edge of my seat and I read it in one sitting. Looking forward to the next book in this series.

Jayne Ann Krentz has a way of dropping thread after thread and then tying them together in such unpredictable ways. Unfailingly, I fall in love with her mysteries and romances.

In Promise Not to Tell, Krentz frames her current-day mystery with a decades old tragedy involving a fire at a cult compound. (While I have not read When All the Girls Have Gone - and it is not necessary to read this one - I want to read it soon because I have a feeling that we get more details about the cult and the fire.) Two survivors of the fire, Virginia and Cabot, reconnect when Virginia hires Cabot's private investigator agency to either confirm or deny her suspicions about the cult's founder.

Krentz reveals the facts we need about the fire, juxtaposing them with the facts we need to know about Virginia and Cabot. The two are so well developed and drawn that they instantly pull you into this book, making you as invested in the mystery as they are. You will want them to find emotional fulfillment, particularly with each other, and you will want them to find answers. As this is a Jayne Ann Krentz book, rest assured that there is a sexy time or two, and it is every bit as delicious as what you expect from her.

The way Krentz pulls together her threads is fascinating to read. The connections and revelations will occasionally surprise you and will always make you marvel at how Krentz tells a story.

The ending. Dear lord, the ending. I'm not sure what to think of it. Yes, this is a stand alone, but THE ENDING. The ending begs answers.

Virginia Troy is an art gallery owner who as a child was rescued from a cult with several other children. Virginia's mother and most of the other adults were killed in the fire set by the cult's leader, Quinton Zane. In present day Virginia receives a cryptic warning from one of the surviving adults that suggests Zane survived and has returned. Virginia employs private investigator Cabot Sutter, one of the other cult kids, to help get to the bottom of it. Sparks begin to fly as the two are pulled into a whirlwind of murder and deception.
As with the first book in this series, When All the Girls Have Gone, Promise Not to Tell is a pretty straightforward mystery-romance. It's a fun page-turner with likable characters and a sweet love story, great for beach reading.

PROMISE NOT TO TELL is an intense, wickedly twisted, spine-tingling read. Virginia and Cabot are an amazing couple who are perfect for each other. This couple has the past in common but, because of that, they also have an understanding for each other emotionally that no one else could match. Adding to the drama is that for Cabot his long-lost relatives are coming out of the woodwork and he finds he has no choice but to deal with them on top of everything else. One of the things I love most about reading anything by author Jayne Ann Krentz; her characters are flawed and real, have panic attacks, sometimes do things without thinking, but are involved in a number of everyday dramas. OK ... a millionaire grandfather, a young cousin who suddenly shows up, a lawyer who wants to con you out of an inheritance ... yep everyday situations. But every time I read one of Ms. Krentz's books I feel closer to her characters because they aren't perfect and I find reading the stories just that much more enjoyable.

I always play detective when reading a mystery such as this and I have to admit I only got half of the bad guys figured out. There are a number of twists that will have your mouth drop open as you read, because you never see them coming.

You have got to read PROMISE NOT TO TELL by Jayne Ann Krentz to see if you can solve the mystery, while enjoying the romance, relationship between the couple and the man who became his father as well as the other quirky (and sometimes good and sometimes sneakily bad) characters they meet up with.

Annetta Sweetko for Fresh Fiction

Complete review may be found at: http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=64428

A complex and engaging mystery, spanning 20 years, makes for some seriously intense reading especially when it comes from Krentz.

Virginia Troy, gallery owner, and Cabot Sutter, private eye, have a tragic past in common. But 20 years later that tragic past has come back to haunt them, and it has definitely turned deadly.

A set of disturbing painting, an artist’s “suicide”, and a group of children that all survived a fire that wiped out the cult their parents belong too, draw Virginia and Cabot closure to the truth than they ever imagined.

Krentz writes a detailed plot filled with intricate twist and turns vividly painting a mental picture with words.

I received this ARC copy of Promise Not to Tell from Berkley Publishing Group. This is my honest and voluntary review. Promise Not to Tell is set for publication Jan. 2, 2018.

My Rating: 4 Stars
Written by: Jayne Ann Kentz
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
ISBN-10: 0399585273
ISBN-13: 978-0399585272
Genre: Suspense | Thriller | Mystery

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Reviewed for: http://tometender.blogspot.com

8 likes

JAK is an author that I used to read all her stuff. A few years ago I drifted away so this is the first book of hers that I've read in a while.

I enjoyed it. I liked the characters and they came across as real people with real flaws. The story had enough mystery to keep me interested, with enough resolution to satisfy me. Yet it ended with enough to pull me back for the next one. It's clearly the second in a series, and I do want to read the first book. I'll try to fit that in somewhere. So many books to read.

Verdict - Recommended, especially for those who like a little suspense with their romance.

If you have read Jayne Ann Krentz, you have a pretty good idea what to expect from one of her titles. You are going to get interesting, charmingly quirky characters who seem all the more human for their faults and eccentricities. The writing will be sharp, the pacing will be quick. The mystery will move quickly and will end up drawing people into the mix who seemed to only be on the periphery. The pacing will be strong and the book will be enjoyable.

All of this is present in the story of Virginia and Cabot. And, really, I am not sure what else I can say about this book without giving things away. The issue, from a review standpoint anyway, of a book that is this well constructed is that it is impossible to review.

I could talk about the characters, and the plot, and I could ruin it for everyone else.

So, I am going to keep this short and say that I enjoyed this book. A lot. And that I highly recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.
Book 2 of a trilogy. I did not read the first book but had no trouble reading this one. A murder mystery along with a romance
and an interesting study of the effects of PTSD. This book is totally readable and keeps one guessing until the end. I found
the first 30% dragged, hence the 3.5 rounded to 3 stars, but once past that point it flies.