Very fluent with an engaging writing style that makes the reading entertaining. Amazing uses of characterization. The portrayal of Dora is particularly impressive, she is primarily responsible for the narrative, although there are also brief interjections from four other characters at various points. It was easy to be fully drawn into Dora's world and was feeling both sympathetic and empathetic toward her. The pace was very good, not too fast, and did not drag on. Plenty of twists and turns.

Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for this ARC!
Loved it!! First time reading Adele Parks, definitely not the last time. Did not see those twists coming at all.

If you like twisty revenge stories, One Last Secret has some quite good ‘what’, moments. Dora has worked as an escort for many years but she has found love and is ready to leave that often dangerous life behind. She commits to one final client, a decision that will have far-flung repercussions.
As the story unfolds, her secrets and pain from losses in her past are exposed. I don’t want to say a lot because I might risk entering into spoiler territory, but when I thought I had read the last outrageous twist, I had no idea that the author wasn’t quite done.
This one was full of unexpected twists and turns, Dora was a character I hated at times, felt sorry at others, and never stopped trying to figure out how the heck this would end.

“No little girl grows up dreaming of becoming an escort. A sex worker. A whore.”

Well that line just grabbed me right from the beginning and I must say I was a goner after that. I was HOOKED! I’m not quite sure why I haven’t seen this all over booksta?! I think it was the way Parks wrote our main character Dora. She is raw, and completely honest of a narrator. It almost felt like she was confessing to you all the dirty deeds she had committed. She speaks to you and you alone and I really enjoyed that.

The atmosphere in the book is so well done. It varies from cordial, to uneasy and then down right violent and you really feel it leap off the pages. There is some time jumps of back and forth which made it a bit muddled and half way through the story sort of shifts and I was lost for a few pages. Stick with it!!! It is totally worth it. You will figure it out and then BAM!!! That’s when shit really hits the fan and all the twists and turns come out.

The building of this novel is done beautifully. You feel the tension build and although you may need to suspend belief here and there (who doesn’t need that every once in awhile), it is still incredibly paced and makes for some crazy reading. I really enjoyed it! Thank you @_mira_books_ and @netgalley for my gifted copy!

This was great! I am an Adele Parks fan, and this is up here with my favorites from her. Dora is a high end escort and she is ready to get out of the business. Before she does though, she takes on one last job, because she can’t pass up one last big paycheck. Unfortunately, things aren’t as they seem and she immediately knows something is up, and finds herself trapped in a beautiful chateaux, miles from home. I had no idea where this was going but I was satisfied by the ending. Definitely will continue to read Parks!

A twisty one about the past coming barreling back at a woman who is trying to change her life. Dora's just gotten engaged to Evan, who knows she works as an escort and she's promised him she's done. Except she's not. She takes a job from Daniel, a long time client, agreeing to go to France with him- and she lies to Evan about it. As you can imagine things don't go the way she expects once she gets to the chateau but, foolishly, I think, she stays. This moves back and forth in time to allow Dora to tell her story, the story of a woman who makes bad choices and has a dark problem out there. No spoilers from me. Parks is a good storyteller and she knows how to build tension. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A page turner.

Unique thriller with a few good twists.

This is told mostly from the first person account of Dora/Teodora, who is a high end escort/sex worker. She isn't ashamed of the way she earns money, but when a client gets too rough she decides it's time to leave the business. Dora can't resist but take one last job as a favor to a client, a weekend away at a luxury home, yet what happens there is not what she was expecting.

When taken as a whole, the storyline isn't all that surprising in the end. I pretty much called everything that was going on. That said, it's still a uniquely told story from an interesting point of view. I don't typically like first person storylines because it's too much "I did this and I did that" rather than letting us in on the action, but in this case it really works.

What didn't work for me was how smart and savvy Dora was in certain situations and how absolutely stupid she was in others. Once she got to the house it was like she made one idiotic choice after another, even I could see that they were bad choices, and yet she continued to drink and eat everything she was given without a second thought. Those two parts of her personality just didn't mesh for me. Also the flashback storyline didn't really work for me either, it was long and drawn out and then just...ended.

Overall though, I had a difficult time putting the book down because it's compulsively readable and I did want to know how everything was going to shake down in the end. There are some good twists and although I didn't always like Dora's choices I did like her and was rooting for her success.

I did enjoy this book by Adele Parks although some parts were dark and kind of gruesome. Dora is a high end escort that you cannot help rooting for because she has not had an easy life. She gets engaged to her best friend and from there decides to end her career as an escort. A trusted client has asked her to pretend to be his girlfriend at a French estate and she takes the job. What can go wrong does go wrong for Dora, she cannot seem to catch a break. I will say I was intrigued by this book!

Return Of The Queen. This book has a lot going on, and several problems, but ultimately there is nothing technical/ objective-ish to hang a star deduction on. The positive image of a sex worker is great - as is the more real-to-most view of what *actually* happened later in the book. The twists and turns are well executed and extend all the way into the epilogue, which is also good. But there are absolutely points where you're going to question whether you want to continue - this book gets *dark* and seems like it is going to be getting even darker. But then comes an abrupt and extended shift, before we get back to the meat of our current story, and that saves us from the darkest areas. Still, my own biggest problem with the book is that it has exactly the same problem Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King does (and hence my title of this review). That last 10-15% in particular is pretty dang unnecessary and should have been left on the editing room floor. The epilogue itself is fine, but there is around 10% of the text in between the penultimate twist and the epilogue that seems to exist for no reason other than padding the length of the book... and why bother padding the length of the book? Does your contract or pay as an author or publisher depend on the number of words or pages or some such? It just makes no sense otherwise. Still, the tale itself here is interesting and ultimately satisfying, even if there are various problems therein. Recommended.

One Last Secret by Adele Parks

Read this if you like a revenge story set against the backdrop of a French estate.

Everyone has secrets, don’t they?

One last client
A week at a beautiful chateau in the south of France—it should be a straightforward final job for Dora. She’s a smart, stunning and discreet escort, and Daniel has paid for her services before. This time, all she has to do is to convince the assembled guests that she is his girlfriend. Dora is used to playing roles and being whatever men want her to be. It’s all about putting on a front.

One last chance
It will be a last, luxurious look at how the other half lives before Dora turns her back on the escort world and all its dangers. She has found someone she loves and trusts. With him, she can escape the life she’s trapped in. But when Dora arrives at the chateau, it quickly becomes obvious that nothing is what it seems…

One last secret
Dora finds herself face-to-face with a man she has never forgotten, the one man who really knows her. And as old secrets surface, it becomes terrifyingly apparent that one last secret could cost Dora her life…

Coming out on December 27

Dora has built a successful career as a paid escort to wealthy men. Beautiful, intelligent, well groomed and dressed, she feels totally in control until an unexpected date causes her to rethink her choices. She accepts a proposal and retires from the escort business. But then a trusted client asks her for a favor. Accompany him to the South of France, to a house party at a chateau. All she has to to is pretend to be his girlfriend. Simple, yes? Well, no.

So begins One Last Secret, a dark intricate thriller. I can’t say more without spoilers but I have mixed feelings about the plot. I really liked Dora. She’s savvy, street smart and has made the most of a difficult life. I liked Evan, her boyfriend. For a while, I even liked Daniel, her customer. The chateau in the South of France was beautifully described. What I didn’t like was a story that grew more unbelievable with each page. That said, I’m still rating it a 3.5, rounded to a 4 because Adele Parks is a great writer. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Adele Parks for this ARC.

I just finished One Last Secret by @adeleparks . This was the first book I've read by this author, and I can't wait to go read everything she has created. This was a delicious, twisty read. Thanks @NetGalley for the ARC.

Short synopsis: Dora, an escort, decides to give up her profession when she gets engaged after being brutalized by a client only known as Jonathan. One last service for a long time client named Daniel could end her life forever.

My thoughts: Wow make sure you buckle your seatbelt, this is one twisty wild ride!

This is one dark and somewhat gruesome thriller with twists that came completely unexpectedly.

The first half of the book had way more detail than I ever cared to know about escort services, but realize it was pertinent to the storyline so we could understand why Dora made the decisions she did. I actually questioned whether i cared to finish, and if i was completely off base when I thought this was a thriller.

The second half, let’s just say I binged it. I could not stop reading until the end.

Pick this one up for a great thriller that will leave you speechless and questioning what secrets may be hidden among those you know best.

Read if you love:
* Dark thriller
* Unexpected plot twists
* Books about survival
* Short chapters

Thank you Mira for the advanced copy of this book! Publication date is December 27, 2022.

I have enjoyed Adeld Parks books in the past but this one was not good at all. Thd characters were unlikable and unrelatable, and I found it difficult to connect to their story. The storyline was far fetched. I did not finish this book as it seemed I could find a better use of my time.

I was able to read this book thanks to Killer Crime Club! Thank you. I was excited to read this book as I've read other books by this author.

Dora decides to take one last job to earn a bit of money before getting married, However, when she shows up pretending to be a client's girlfriend, things start to go wrong!

I really enjoyed Dora's character from the beginning and I was rooting for her entire time. There were moments where I wondering if she was an unreliable narrator. I kept wondering if she was acting and when she was being genuine since she has a lot of experience role playing. The first couple chapters were a little slow, but it definitely sped up after that. There were a lot of twists that kept the book engaging until the end! The ending was also different from what I predicted as well.

I look forward to reading what Adele Parks writes next.

I love how Adele Parks writes in that her books are all so different styles of writing! She never gets stale or predictable! I love how the main character, Dora, is narrating this book to us. She’s telling us all about her past and present and how she thinks and feels. Then the jaw droppers start coming and they just don’t stop! Right up until the very end, I was gasping!

This book was so dark. And twisty. And gruesome. But I couldn’t stop reading it.

Short Synopsis:
Dora is a sex worker. After she gets engaged to her best friend, she promises to stop working. Except the deal of a lifetime comes up. A regular client wants her to pretend to be his girlfriend in South France for a week. Nothing physical. Nora can’t say no to the money and the one last job.

Thoughts:
After the first 50 pages I remember thinking, “I thought this was a thriller…?” I wasn’t getting thriller vibes in the beginning. But ohmygoodness, it came. And became one of the twistiest and darkest books I’ve ever read.

I did find the format a little off on some areas. Like there were I think 3 random chapters completely from a different POV. And there’s a section that’s done 11 years before the events of the book. That’s needed, but I think it would have been smoother if it was broken into parts. (Part, Part2, etc).

Read if you like:
✈️ Karin Slaughter or Jennifer Hillier
✈️ Short chapters
✈️ Twisty Thrillers
✈️ Learning more about sex workers than you ever cared to learn. 🙃

A high end escort, Dora gets beaten up be a john. Dora then gets engaged to a wealthy client and leaves her profession. She gets sucked into one more job as it promise no sex and a lot of money. Family drama unfolds as you delve deeper into this sinister family. Father, son, lover, murder, witness, victim. Great twists in this highly anticipated book which releases Jan 27/2023.

Thanks to harlequin trade publishing and net galley for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Another smash hit for Adele Parks. I had no idea where this book was going. It had so many twists and turns that I couldn't keep up.

Dora a highly paid escort is out of the game and getting engaged. However, she has one last gig where she can make a lot of money with only being a date in France.

She has no idea what she is getting into. This book sucked me in and I could not put it down. Another 5 star hit for Adele!

Lots of twists and turns in this one. I don’t think I have read a book with so many different plot twists in it. They happen right up until the very end even after you think the story is over.

I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to others looking for a twisty, entertaining and captivating story. I felt it was a quick paced, lighter read which I appreciated as that was exactly what I needed today.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the pre-released copy - I am quite sure others will enjoy the story as much as I did.