Review: Promising start to an intriguing series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2014
I’d like to preface this by saying this review is based on the version released on Amazon, I purchased it, it is not an ARC received from the author.This version, available at all of the major booksellers, also includes the prequel novella, Seduction & Temptation, so if you haven’t read it, you’ll have the opportunity. You’ll definitely want to read it, for it provides a lot of background info, especially into the depth of the relationship between Layton and Lola.Lola is the only daughter of a powerful Boston drug lord. At age fourteen she was witness to the suspicious death of her mother by means of a heart attack and has lived her life with the notion that her death was by no means “natural causes”. The only other family Lola has is her aunt Glady, her mother’s sister. Her best friend is another fourteen-year-old boy named Layton, the son of a rival drug lord.Seven years after the death of her mother she is finally sorting through her belongings when she finds a letter to a mystery man in the pocket of one of her mother’s jackets. The letter states that her child (whom Lola assumes to be her, considering she has no siblings) is not actually the daughter of the man she married, but is the daughter of the man the letter is addressed to. Her mother is concerned that her daughter is she is following in the footsteps of the father that raised her, and will take over the family business, something she didn’t want for her children, especially considering she gave Lola her maiden name Anders, instead of her married name, Anelli.Layton is the eldest son of the Everett family, who is aligned with the Catherlson family, direct enemies of the Anelli family. Layton goes to work for the Catherlson family and Lola takes this as a betrayal after a lifetime of friendship. When Layton is a part of kidnapping Lola under a ruse of helping her father pay up for a debt he owes, it seems that the relationship between Lola and Layton is over, unsalvageable. Layton once professed his love to Lola however she was unable to give her love in return. While Layton still loves Lola, will his duplicity and loyalty to Frankie Catherlson prove too great a challenge to recover from? Or will Layton prove to be the only person Lola can really trust?I don’t read a whole lot of romantic suspense and I read even less mafia type storylines (though I love me some mob movies), however this one had me hooked from the beginning. While both Lola and Layton had certain aspects to their characters that I didn’t necessarily care for (I’m hoping that in subsequent volumes they’ll be more well-developed and get into a little more of where their motivations lie), I absolutely loved the certain quirks they had between them, such as Layton and his action with stroking Lola’s wrist, or certain looks or phrases shared between them. It is things like this that make the connection between the two of them feel very real, lending more credibility to the bond between the two of them.The reason I pointed out that I had purchased the final version is because I was kind of surprised by the amount of errors within the book, most notably the change in the name of one of the major antagonist families. In the prologue, the family name is Defontelle, in the next it is Dellefonte. I don’t think I’m dyslexic, so I’m surprised that that error made it into the final cut.Sins & Secrets is certainly a great start to a very intriguing series. It is fast paced and full of mystery and intrigue. I loved the history and passion between Lola and Layton and I am definitely looking forward to finding out what other secrets are out there between the families, and how they have affected their lives. The book is definitely riveting and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Thankfully there is not a major cliffhanger at the end that leaves everything up in the air; the book feels complete, yet leaves enough questions and speculation for follow up volumes. Sins & Secrets is a solid four star read. I am definitely looking forward to more of this series!