Review: Holy smokes . . . .WOW!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 22, 2013
Seductive Secrecy by Marni Mann(Book #2: Shadows Series)Source: ARC from authorRating: 5/5 starsI have been sitting her staring at my blinking cursor for ten minutes trying to figure out some clever way of launching into this review.  I give up on clever and am going with pure, unadulterated honesty: I LOVED this book and did not even come close to putting it down until I finished the entire thing.  Yeah, it’s that good.Secrecy doesn’t pick up right where Shadows ended but a short time afterward.  Charlie and Camreon are living together, their respective careers and reputations are in ascent and though the memories of the mansion still linger, they have settled into a comfortable routine.  For the most part.  Charlie is finishing school, selling paintings at a record rate, taking new commissions on a regular basis and all her sexual needs are being met by Cameron.  For the most part.  Cameron is still fiercely committed to his work, still refuses to open up about his own past and is as darkly intense as he was in book one.  Cameron cares for Charlie and assures her that their relationship is absolutely solid.  For the most part.While the threat the mansion once posed is no longer as real, it is still a presence in Charlie’s mind.  Though most of the key players/leaders from the mansion are now on trial and no threat to Charlie, her father is off the grid and a large number of her former clients are still on the street.  One of Charlie’s greatest fears is running into one of those men unexpectedly and though Cameron assures her he can accept her past and her role at the mansion, Charlie isn’t sure Cameron will be quite so accepting if he is ever face-to-face with one her former clients.Though Cameron is absolutely confident he has accepted Charlie’s past, that confidence is destroyed the moment he comes face-to-face with one of her clients.  Perhaps even more shattering for Cameron is the realization that he knows the man.  True to form and in all his intense darkness, Cameron snaps the tether completely and ruins everything he and Charlie have built together.  Mind you, this snap doesn’t happen until many agonizingly painful weeks after the stunning revelation.  Though Cameron desperately wants Charlie in his life it is tremendously hard to move past knowing at least one of the men he has shared his lover with.  Oh, and Cameron is a selfish douche bag!As if the highly intense and emotionally draining personal drama isn’t enough, Charlie is also forced to come face-to-face with one of the key players from the mansion.  Because one seriously awkward and damaging meet and greet just isn’t enough   Under the impression she is going to meet a new client, Charlie is blown away by the person who opens the door and in a stunning display of self-control, Charlie manages to hear out this person and not send them to a well-deserved death.  This fantastic little twist adds a whole new dimension to Secrecy that actually turns into a sort of mini-plot with some astounding ramifications that left me reeling at the end!!  Once again, Marni Mann takes the crown for bombshell dropping queen!!The Bottom Line: To say I was pretty much blown away by Marni Mann’s Seductive Secrecy doesn’t even come close.  Clearly Mann has never heard of the sophomore slump as Secrecy is 200+ pages of madness, emotional highs and desperate lows, some bat-shit crazy plot twists and naughty bits that will leave the entire frickin’ room steamy!!  I have only one complaint about this read and all I can without giving too much away is I really, really, really wanted Charlie to make him work for it a little longer.  Overall, Seductive Secrecy is a dark, twisted, engrossing, and totally sexy read that will not be put down until you reach the very last page!!  You have been warned :)