Just when I thought I had One Last Secret figured out, Adele Parks would throw a twist, and I was left guessing once again, By the time I finished, I thought I would have whiplash, but in the best kind of way, Almost every character is keeping a secret, and none them are particularly likable, but it all works. The plot is fast-paced, and sometimes not completely believable, but, for me, that's what good escapist fiction is. I can suspend a little bit of reality to be completely entertained, and I definitely was by One Last Secret!

Adele parks has done it again. This book is a smash hit. I was intrigued right from the beginning. I was rooting for Dora. I like her honesty and her narration.

She has retired from sex work after a heinous beating. She is getting married but why not do one last job? The money is too good to turn down and sees fairly easy.

When Dora gets to the destination things start to go wrong. Is it her? Why can't she remember ? She needs to leave but she seems to keep falling asleep. Is she the problem? It seems she is getting blamed for it all.

The ending will have you gasping. I was shocked in those last few chapters. Didn't see that one coming!

Thank you to netgalley and MInar for this arc

I can't decide if I loved loved loved this book or if it was so ridiculously stupid and I should be thankful I didn't get an eye strain. Dora made so many poor choices and ignored so many red flags that it should really have annoyed me, but for some reason I understood why she did what she did. (Well that and we wouldn't have had a story to read if she hadn't, right?) But for all her bravado about being smart and cautious, she really went off the path and ended up paying for it. I was a bit surprised at one twist. I truly expected something else to happen. That was a positive to help mitigate the all the parts that just made me shake my head. End result is that I could have completely done without the last 5 or so percent of the book. It was that whole tying things up with a ribbon that I don't like in a book. And, I don't think it resolved the holes that were there! But, despite my issues with the story, it does make for a quick and undemanding read.

This book gives a stark look at sex work but the story itself is so contrived that I could not suspend disbelief.

A week at a beautiful chateau in the south of France sounds like a beautiful and fitting end to Dora's call girl career. She has found someone she loves and trusts. With him, she can quit her night job. But an easy job with a client she has worked with before falls into her lap and comes with a hefty payday. All she has to do is to convince the assembled guests that she is his girlfriend-no sex included. She is discrete and wisened by her career so this should be easy. But when she arrives things aren't what they seem.

The beginning of the book reminds me of Fishnets. Adele Parks gives a rare and unchallenged look at sex work. But unlike Fishnets, Dora is a high-class call girl. This switches things up as the stats are significantly different. But as the book shows, though call girls are safer, there is still violence such as rape and abuse. The girls still have a pimp they just have a better name. It was interesting getting the viewpoint of a high-class sex worker.

The problem with the book is that is overly complex, and I even called the villain even though they are a character Dora doesn't know before she goes. The ruse is overdone, and the villain could have completed their objectives in an easier and less confusing way. The twist can't save the story, and it's rather cliche.

I wish I had something more positive to say. But One Last Secret is a hot mess.

*Line inspired from “Hot Mess” by Cobra Starship.

Favorite Quotes:

I turn back to the students; I marvel at their verve, their carelessness. It’s beautiful and painful to watch the very young people. Like looking at a photo of your favorite place but knowing you’ll never visit there again.

I’m used to walking into rooms and dealing with whoever and whatever I find. Every time I arrive at a hotel or a villa or a party, it’s like the first day in a new office and I don’t know where the photocopier is, but I can never let the client know that.

He thinks I’m better than I am. And maybe, just maybe because he thinks it, I can be. Now and in the future.


My Review:

Soon after starting this tale, I fell into an intense, all-consuming, and prickly vortex that left me unwilling and incapable of putting my Kindle down for love or money; the phone went unanswered, kittens rampaged and created chaos unchecked, and I told my husband to forage for his own food. The writing was exceptionally perceptive with taut and itchy storylines full of uncomfortably realistic twists, explosive reveals, and heart-wrenching insights.

Adele Parks navigated brutal, excruciating, and harrowing events with breath-stealing agility. She has mad skills and I often marveled and greedily coveted her word voodoo throughout perusal.

I will be withholding my review until Harper gives their Harper Collins union workers a fair contract. Thank you again for the copy.

Everyone has secrets, don't they? Adele Parks' novel, One Last Secret, is a domestic thriller that delves into the depths of the human psyche, exploring the secrets that we all keep hidden. With a gripping plot and captivating characters, this novel will keep you on the edge of your seat as you unravel the mystery of One Last Secret.

Theadora (Dora) is a sex worker. A high class sex worker, but as the story unfolds, it doesn't really matter much -- she still risks quite a bit for this choice of profession. After a particularly brutal evening on the job, her best friend takes care of her and convinces her to leave the profession. 

Evan is Dora's best friend.He loves Dora and cares for her. When he finally convinces her to leave her job behind, it looks like things might work out until Dora accepts one last job. I think I was about to throw my e-reader when she agrees to play a part for a weekend. What she finds is that everything is creepy from the start and she's in deep do-do pretty quickly with help from her hosts.

Things get even worse for Dora when the owner of the chateau shows up. And there's more. The end of this book is FULL of revelations, until the final secret is exposed.

I really liked this. First, it was easy to feel sympathetic toward Dora. The story is told in her voice, so the reader gets to know her quite well at the start of the book. Her hesitancy to enter a relationship beyond friendship with Evan makes sense as she knows his rich family would not accept her. When he leaves on a business trip, she is coerced into one last job, which becomes a setup with devastating consequences for Dora and Evan.
 
I don't want to spoil this suspenseful domestic thriller for you, but I will say that the secrets revealed are big ones and they keep coming until the final pages. I really loved that about this book. I'm still trying to piece some of it together in my head, as to who did what and when, but One Last Secret is a well-crafted story with lots of reveals and it evoked plenty of emotions from this reader. Even though I finished this a few days ago, this book is still in my head.
 
Overall, a well-crafted domestic thriller that will leave you guessing until the end when some of the reveals are shocking. Really enjoyed this story.

I’ve definitely had a hit or miss relationship with this author - but I was excited to get an advanced reader copy of her new book. This one? It was more miss than hit for me. Have you read this one? Thoughts?🤷🏻‍♀️

One Last Secret had some good parts, some bad and tedious parts while also being a little too long. Dora is a high priced escort - after a violent encounter, she decides she’s leaving the work but is offered one last job - she takes it and the result is a situation that threatens to unearth long held secrets and which she may not survive. She is in a world of the rich and powerful.😳

This book had a couple of twists and moved back and forth in time to tell Dora’s life story - which were good sections. Overall, it was a little too messy for me and although it does keep your interest, it wasn’t great. This was a raunchy thriller and just not my fave.⭐️⭐️

This book publishes today. Thank you to the publisher for this copy. Always appreciated!

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@tolovetoread #tolovetoread #read #reader #reading #readersofig #readthisbook #book #books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookish #bookreviewer #bibliophile #bookaddict #booksofig #booksof2022 #bookrecommendations #amreading #bookishcanadians #bestbooksof2022 #bookthoughts #booklife #readanywhere

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Adele Parks knows how to write a good thriller. I read this book in one day because I could not put it down. Secrets are slowly revealed at just the right time in the story. It is an action packed storyline that will keep you guessing until the very end. Well worth the read!!!!

One Last Secret by Adele Parks is a suspenseful women's fiction about an escort, Dora, who goes on one final job before stopping the escort business, to marry her wealthy best friend.

Told mostly in first person, this thriller is full of twists and turns.

Publication Date December 27, 2022

Wow, wow, wow!!! Every time I thought I had figured out what exactly this book was going to be or thought that everything that was going to light already had been discovered, I was absolutely wrong and I'm not sorry about it one bit. This was my first book by Adele Parks but will absolutely not be the last, especially if they're anything like this one! Blown away on so many levels.

Parks artfully deceived me with this book. The trickster becomes the victim who also victimizes others at the same time.
It’s a con aligned plot that I didn’t realize until I was deep into my reading.
Dora was making a living doing something some would find morally reprehensible or judge her harshly. Then Parks gives readers a glance backward and the resins why the past and the present align, completing the holes in the story.
I was knocked odd kilter toward the end with a plot twist I never saw and THEN another one at the very end.
Well played and well written if you’re looking for secretive revelations!

I love Adele Parks so I requested an ARC of this book as soon as I saw the author’s name. Dora is a high-end escort with quite a past. After a run in with an abusive client, she decides to turn her back on that life. She needs a fresh start. BUT… She is enticed to take one last job. Things go terribly awry. This last gig exposes secrets from her past and takes the reader on a roller coaster ride full of twists and turns. I felt like I was watching a movie where the main character kept making bad choices and you just want to yell, “Stop it!” When Nora chose to go on the last job, it honestly caused me anxiety! Yes- I felt there are some holes in the plot and even several unnecessary twists but I read it in one sitting so that makes it a good book to me!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Publishing/MIRA Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by the talented Adele Parks - 4 stars!

Dora is a high-class escort who is ready to leave that world behind for Evan, a close friend who knows what she does and still wants to marry her. When Evan goes out of town on business, Dora decides to take one last job without telling him. A client, Daniel, needs an escort at a weekend at a chateau in France - no strings attached. But things don't go as planned.

As with all Adele Parks' books, you are in for a page-turner with lots of twists. This one was full of tense moments and I really felt for Dora, even when I was wishing she would make better choices. Midway through the book, we go back in time to Dora's past, giving more clarity into her world. And that ending was quite a surprise!

We all have secrets. Some secrets eventually are revealed. It is inevitable, no matter how hard you try. Others will be taken to the grave. In Adele Parks’ new psychological thriller, the known, unknown gives the reader intense angst as we devour the story waiting for the last secret.

When Dora, an elite escort is invited by one of her clients to spend a week in the south of France, she hesitates. You see, she has just “retired” and is on a new path in life. But Daniel, one of her most loyal clients needs her desperately to pretend to be his girlfriend to assist him with someone he really wants to impress. So, she agrees to pretend to be with him with a very important caveat…no sex. You see, Dora has found someone she thinks she wants to spend her life with. If he knew what she was doing, he certainly would not approve.

But when she and Daniel arrive, and she meets the other guests and staff she immediately feels something is off. Dora begins to miss time as well as events in which she is told she was there but can’t remember being at. She starts to panic and decides to leave. But they now have some sort of hold on her, and she is unable to escape. Worst of all, no one knows she is there.

She begins to realize her past secrets which she has buried for so many years have become her dangerous present. Someone she knew has come back into her life to kill her. But she does not understand what on earth the motivation could be.

As hidden secrets are exposed, and Dora realizes she has lost control of her life as she knows it, she must face her painful past once again and hopefully survive. And just when she feels she might have control, there is always one last secret.

Thank you #NetGalley #Mira #AdeleParks #OneLastSecret for the advanced copy.

One Last Secret has all the twists and turns that I look for in a thriller! The characters are interesting, fully developed, and the plot is paced in a way that it leaves you feeling the suspense! An overall good read from Adele Parks!

Wow, this book completely blew me away! I loved Dora's shrewdness, her intelligence, and her drive. I loved all of the twists especially those at the end. Everything is definitely not what it seems. Very well done.

Adele Parks hits another one out of the park with her latest book One Last Secret. A psychological thriller that will keep you guessing. It is completely unpredictable and addictive. An engaging read told mainly by the main character Dora. This has some intense subjects………sex, abuse, sexual violence and gaslighting are brought out in this one. There are many secrets, mystery, suspense and twist and turns. Ms. Parks has such a devious mind to write such twisty books. Power, sex and revenge will keep you engaged right up to that shocking ending.

Thank you NetGalley, Mira, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Adele Parks for an advanced copy of this compelling book to read and review. My opinions expressed are my own.
#netgalley. #onelastsecret #mira #adeleparks #harlequintradepublishing. #arc #htpinfluencer

Dora works as an escort and is on the cusp of leaving it all behind when she is offered one last job at a house party. After much deliberation, she ultimately takes the job only to discover her past has come back to haunt her in a deadly way..

This is the first novel I’ve read by this author and am happy to report it was an engaging read. While I found it started off slowly, that changed as the suspense built. Even better, I could not predict the secrets revealed as the novel progressed. I was also satisfied with the overall conclusion as the plot was nicely tied up. .

I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense-filled revenge tales with twisting plots..

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to review.