The Secrets She Kept is a gripping drama wrapped in suspense and intrigue, with complex characters and dark secrets lurking beneath the surface. The story revolves around Keith Lazarow, a successful businessman who returns to his hometown of Fairham Island after the death of his estranged mother, Josephine Lazarow. The police have ruled it a suicide, but Keith is unconvinced and determined to uncover the truth behind her death.

What makes this book compelling is how it explores the dynamics of family, power, and betrayal. Keith's strained relationship with his mother and his painful past drive much of the emotional weight of the story. His return to Fairham Island forces him to confront not just the mystery of his mother's death, but also his unresolved feelings for Nancy Dellinger, a woman he hurt when he left years ago. As Keith digs deeper into his mother's final days, he begins to unravel a web of lies and deceit, realizing that the killer might be closer to him than he ever imagined.

The writing is sharp and atmospheric, creating a palpable sense of tension that keeps the reader on edge throughout. The pace is well-maintained, with twists and turns that lead to a shocking and satisfying conclusion. The exploration of trauma, guilt, and forgiveness adds emotional depth, making the characters feel real and relatable.

Overall, The Secrets She Kept is a suspenseful, emotional rollercoaster of a book that keeps you guessing until the very end. Fans of domestic thrillers and family dramas will find it to be a highly engaging read.

I have always enjoyed reading books by Ms. Novak. I get consumed by each story, and am sad to see it end. This book is no different. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of reading an advanced copy.

Brenda Novak is always one of my go-to authors so I am never disappointed. This book, however, was really good. This is the second book related to The Secret Sister. Often, I have noticed that the second in the series doesn't live up to the first. This book changed my mind and so far best in series. I felt real empathy for Keith and I hadn't really liked him much in the first. The romance was just enough blended into the suspense to keep it from being dark. Great Job Ms. Novak. Looking forward to the next.

It's been five years since Keith left Fairham Island and began a new life. He's cleaned himself up and become a successful businessman. Now his mother's death has been ruled a suicide and he has to go back to Fairham Island. He doesn't believe for a second that the death was a suicide, and while he tries to figure out what happened, he encounters a former lover, Nancy, who still has feelings for him.

This was a nice balance of suspense and romance, and Novak really redeemed the character of Kieth, who was a drug addicted mess in the previous book. I liked the romance between he and Nancy and was impressed with the way he had pulled himself together. Great suspense storyline that kept me interested!

I did not think that +Brenda Novak was going to write a sequel to her book, The Secret Sister, but she did and it was awesome and eye opening.

It's been five years since Keith Lazarow last went home to Fairham Island. Five years since he escaped the jaws of his controlling mother and took a step in the right direction with his life.

No more drugs, no more anger and no more feelings of insecurity and pain. He always knew that he had to go back home and face his demons some day, he just never thought that a call from his sister would do the trick.

His sister, Maisey calls to tell him that their mother, the all powerful Josephine is dead and that the police seem to believe that it was a suicide.

Keith drops everything and returns home. He knew that his mother was a royal bitch all of the time, but he also knew his mother better than anyone else, and he knew that there was no way that his mother killed herself.

Now Keith teams up with Nancy Dellinger, a past lover that he hurt badly in his destructive days, in order to get to the bottom of his mother's murder.

This book was a further insight on just how messed up Josephine was. She seemed like a whirlwind of destruction that once descended on someone, will destroy their life forever. And it seems as if her family was not spared by her destructive force.

I could not believe what Josephine did to her own daughter and how a secret from the past destroyed her marriage and alienated her children.

I will admit that I was not fully satisfied with the ending of The Secret Sister. I mean, how convenient was it for the sister to not be dead? But seeing how this book was written and how it brought a whole new level of drama to the Lazarow family I can understand why she ended that book the way she did.

You would think that Josephine would be overjoyed to have her daughter back from the dead, which also clears her son of murdering his sister. But no, Josephine being Josephine just had to go on with her destructive ways and ruin everything for everyone.

It was like since she was unhappy, then everyone around her has to be unhappy too. Especially her family.

Keith was always the main focus of her rage and he was subjected to years of torture and pain, both emotionally and physically, from Josephine. Now that he got away from all that abuse, he wanted to go back home but was terrified that he would go back to his delinquent days.

But now Josephine is dead and Keith is convinced that his mother did not kill herself and goes on a series of adventures in order to find out the real reason behind his mother's death.

While doing this, he's trying to rekindle an old relationship he had with Nancy. Nancy the only one on the island who genuinely liked him and he hurt her really badly and ran away to find himself.

Nancy is having none of that. She was hurt by Keith already and there was no way that she was putting herself through that pain again. But when she started helping him figure out who killed his mother, the attraction between them blossomed until it consumed them both.

The only downside to this book for me is that I did not like the ending of this book again. It was all wrapped up all neat and pretty with a big red bow and I was left with a "that's it" expression on my face. More thought needed to go into the ending of this book but other than that, the book was very entertaining.

Family secrets, betrayal and pain. Lots and lots of pain was uncovered in this book and I highly recommend this book to everyone who've read the first book in the series. Did not read the first book, that's fine, go read it now and then read this book. The two books need each other to fully grasp the drama that is The Secret She Kept.