I really enjoyed this book by Tawna Fenske. It was very well written and I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

A complicated family story. Nyla cannot keep a secret which is annoying and endearing. Leo has spilled has a secret he kept for four years and now it needs to be controlled. The story is quite funny as it becomes somewhat of a comedy of errors as the characters try to keep the secret contained. The families spend so much time together it is difficult to hide that something is going on. Leo and Nyla make a great couple because they have similar character traits and want the same outcome. It is a fun book to read with a sweet happy ending.

A rom-com with plenty of laugh out moments along with family drama. A friends to lovers romance, my favorite. Nyla is a nurse and has problems keeping secrets and when ex brother in law friend, Leo tells her a woozy of a secret, will she be able to keep this one to herself. This secret will effect so many people in their family. Nyla and Leo have always been friends, even after he divorced her sister, soon they can't deny the chemistry that they share, once again a secret. Wii these secrets prevent a HEA?

This was a book that I had a hard time putting down. Loved Nyla and Leo together.So many laugh at moments at just the right time with the drama. This is the third book in the series but all can be read as stand alone. I highly recommend this book. Tawna does not disappoint!!

This book was so full of secrets I almost couldn't finish it. Everything was so over the top. Unfortunately this is not one I would recommend.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

A cute romance with a bit of a love triangle. I loved the way that the child, Seth, was at the center of everything. Nyla was an interesting heroine, but I wish that we'd seen more of her nursing job. It felt almost like that was thrown in to be able to say that she was a woman in STEM.

This is a very funny book about two people who have to face some of the things they find the most difficult to handle. There are lots of twists in this, and I don't want to give spoilers. I will just say that the most difficult scenes come with the biggest laughs. That was a pretty incredible feat of writing! Nyla and Leo are an excellent match, and no one in the book argues with that. I was rooting for them the whole way.

I usually associate this author with rom-coms, so I was surprised this book had more angst and feels. While there were some humorous moments, the family relationship triangle was the main focus. I found the first half of this story a bit tedious since it waffled between Nyla and Leo’s uncertainty about the attraction between them and their relationship regarding their families. I found it more interesting once they declared their feelings and when the focus moved into a broader landscape. When the story dealt with Seth’s discovery, it gave me all the feels.

I did NOT expect some of the twist and turns in this book. What I thought would be a predictable romance surprised me as nearly every turn. I flew threw this book and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I'm thrilled that I got early access to this book to review and will absolutely looking for more of Tawna Fenske's work in the future!

Nurse Nyla Franklin is a wonderful person that is a professional nurse and willing to help anyone that needs anything, Her one flaw is that she cannot keep a secret. Her best friend, Leo, used to be married to her sister and is the father to her nephew. When Leo had major gum surgery, Nyla goes to check on him, she finds him totally under the influence of pain medicine and acting erratic. Leo spills his biggest secret ever. This secret involves her sister and her nephew. Nyla knows that she can't keep a secret and is scared that the secret will slip out. She later visits Leo and he is no longer under the influence of pain medicine. They discuss the secret that he revealed to her, and she promised to do her best to keep it contained. In addition to the secret that they both share, they both suddenly realize that they are feeling more than just a friendship so that further complicates the situation. This is a great romcom that I highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book..Nyla was a nurse and when she got off work one day, she stopped to take some soup to her ex-brother in law. He had some dental work done and reacted to the pain meds. He acted quite high and blurted out a family secret that stunned her. The next day, he remembered what he had said and she came over to talk about it. She wasn't very good at keeping secrets They started visiting with each other and their feelings grew. She knew her sister didn't have feelings for him any more, but it was still uncomfortable. It was sortof of a let down when the big secret came out. I really liked the last part of the book when Nyla has another secret but she is keeping it from Leo for his own good (her opinion).

I got this book from NetGalley and am giving an honest review

I love Nyla. No matter how hard she tries, she can't keep a secret. Her brain just keeps bringing up scenarios till it gets to the point she just needs to tell. She is a good nurse and this ability draws her to check on Leo, her sister's ex. He has a reaction to pain medicine and everything he has kept secret is now out there. Nyla promises to keep it but it just eats her up. This has brought Leo and Nyla closer together which is causing another set of problems. Mandi, Nyla's sister is Leo's ex-wife. In the end, it is best to clear the air. Much less stress.

Nyla and Leo know each other and when she helps take care of him after dental surgery, he spills a secret that forever changes everything including both of them realizing they have feelings for each other. The secret and their relationship complicates a lot of relationships and it felt like the author was just piling on complications. It had funny and romantic moments as well, but some of the complications could have been handled differently.


Thanks to NetGalley and Amara for the arc.

2.5 stars
I really enjoyed the previous book in this series and was looking forward to this. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. The description is misleading - Leo and Nyla are good friends, but this isnt strictly a best friends to more book. Leo is her older sister's ex-husband. That made the book messy for me, combined with the fact that most of the book focuses on a genetic situation with Leo's son. Plus, the book starts with the only scene of Nyla at work, getting ribbed by a coworker for her inability to keep a secret, and then that fact is constantly brought up, pointed out, and obsessed over.
The romance felt very secondary to the family drama. There were multiple scenes that were trying to be funny but didn't work for me, and at least a couple of places where word choices were so odd I fully paused reading. I ended up skimming over the last third but still fully understood the ending.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure about this one at the beginning, it seemed like there was a lot going on around Nyla and Leo and that it was going to be one of those titles where the hero and heroine get lost amongst all of the other people in the book.



However, once the others who were in their lives were introduced, it stopped being about the other people and focused well on Nyla and Leo.



I am a sucker for a good forbidden romance, and there is definitely a balance between writing one well, and making it so forbidden that the reader is never really willing to believe the romance would be worth it, no matter the attraction. This one was well balanced, and I believed the attraction, the reason that the attraction would work, and also that the hurdles were not so great that they wouldn't be willing to pursue something with one another.



I enjoyed and recommend this title.

This was quick read with lots of laugh out loud moments. What do you do when you accidentally find out your sister may have had an affair while married to your brother in law and their kids may not be his biological father? What do you do when you notice a sexual attraction to your now ex brother-in-law who was married to your sister and may not be your nephews bio father? What do you do when you can't keep a secret and are know to blurt things out accidentally? You read THIS book to find out! 3 stars I felt the physical relationship was rushed into otherwise good read.


************************I received an ARC from the publisher for my honest opinion.**************************

This book wasn't at all what I expected based on the description, but I really enjoyed it. All of the characters were interesting & well fleshed out, I wanted to keep reading to find out where the story was going next. I hadn't read any of the previous books of this series, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything. I would like to go back & read them though. I highly recommend this entertaining.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Best in series!

I see some negative reviews about too much non-romance related drama, and that's fair. This book touches on heavier subject matters than usually found in rom coms. It's definitely a romance novel though!

Circumstances are certainly against the main characters' odds but it's a great journey for them. It has got uncomfortable truths and angst, but also lots if laugh and steam. I really enjoyed it.

This book was somewhat charming bit I couldn't get over the fact of a brother and sister in law together. And the fact that a secret made them realize it? Throw in a pregnancy trope and this was not for me. The one good thing was the end conflict was resolved in a matter of pages so it didn't drag out like it normally does.

The Best Kept Secret by Tawna Fenske, book three in the Where There’s Smoke series is a friends-to-lovers tale that is enjoyable and amusing with laugh-out-loud scenes and some major family drama. Nyla couldn’t keep a secret to save her life, a fact that everyone knew and knew not to tell her any secrets. Leo and Nyla have been friends for a long time; even surviving Leo's divorce from Nyla's sister, Mandi. When Nyla goes over to Leo’s house to help him after a dental procedure, Leo let out a big secret. While high on painkillers, Leo shares a huge family secret with Nyla; a secret that has the potential to change everything. Nyla is a nurse and extremely dedicated to her family, so when she hears Leo's secret, everyone knows it’s a ticking bomb. The secret also seems to open a door to the feelings between Leo and Nyla, bringing them closer together. Leo is a really good guy and excellent father to Seth. He's been through a lot, and never really has a moment just for himself. He's spent most of his life giving everything to everyone. Now he is finally in a place where he is ready to take some time for himself and open up to Nyla; despite how complicated it makes everything. Now how keep this secret a secret without ruining anything, or will that not be possible.

Ms. Fenske wrote an enjoyable, emotional, and heartwarming story that should not be missed. She provided a tale rich with strong chemistry, family dynamics, clever banter, lots of laughs, and endearing characters giving Nyla and Leo a chance at love, happiness, and a future together. I highly recommend The Best Kept Secret to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you, NetGalley, Entangled Publishing and the author for the advanced copy.

Nyla Franklin is a nurse - the perfect job for someone like her who loves to take care of people. She's sweet, caring and loving and can't keep a secret to save her life! She's a devoted sister, an amazing aunt to her nephew Seth and a good friend to her ex-brother-in-law Leo.

Leo Sayre is devoted to his son, to his dad's legacy (though he gave up his own dreams for that one), to his mom, to his ex-wife's family... all to the point that he has never done anything for himself.

One day, he's at home completely doped up on painkillers after major dental surgery and Nyla comes up to check up on him with his favorite soup in hand. Who would have known that painkillers would work like truth serum for Leo?! He spills a doozie of a secret to Nyla, the notorious blabbermouth. It's like she physically can't hold a secret in and this one she really can't keep to herself. One secret leads to another and they also lead to revelations of feelings that come to the surface. Well, they say the truth will set you free... erm, really? Are you sure?

I really enjoyed this one after I was over the little detail that the blurb fails to tell you. This was supposed to be a best-friends to lovers story, but they don't tell you that the best friend is her sister's ex-husband, father of her nephew. After I managed to digest this little nugget and ignore the ick factor, I managed to get into the story and enjoy these characters' journey to their HEA.

I loved how it's absolutely impossible for Nyla to keep a secret. No, she's not a gossipmonger and there's a good reason she is like she is. She just feels it blowing up inside her and like a volcano she spills it out!  I particularly liked how this adorably weird and dysfunctional family managed to resolve their conflicts through the power of love.

It was definitely a fun read! 

Possible triggers: cheating (not main characters)