Review: Excellent cast of characters make for a good read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2012
Shortly after her parents' funeral, Rebecca discovers a tiny, old dress along with a hand-written letter.  In it, she discovers that she was adopted and her birth mother begs them not to let Rebecca come looking for her...ever.  Rebecca's world is shattered when she realizes that her family was not related to her at all.  She wonders what her birth parents were like and why they gave her up.  More importantly, why has it been such a secret all these years?  Facing a sort of life crisis, Rebecca hires a private investigator, Jake, to uncover the secrets of her past.  Jake's had a rough family situation of his own and has reunited enough clients with their birth parents to know that Rebecca will not find a mother waiting with open arms for her.  In fact, he tells her, she is likely headed for more heartache.  It's best if she clings to the parents who raised her and loved her and forget all about the note from the woman who did not keep her.Rebecca, however, is determined to uncover the truth.  In fact, she isn't content to let Jake do his job alone.  When a tip from the dress leads him to a small town outside Dallas, Rebecca gets an adjoining hotel room and joins him.  Together, they uncover small-town secrets deeper than they ever dreamed of, and along the way the broken Rebecca and calloused Jake just might fall in love with each other.I enjoyed the way SECRETS RISING was written.  The narration shifts from the present (Jake and Rebecca) to the past (Rebecca's mother and the villain in the story).  As we piece together the story, it's obvious very early on who her "real" parents are, but it's still worth reading to watch all the details fall into place.  The development of Jake and Rebecca's romance is a nice benefit, but it's not really the main focus.  The main focus is on Rebecca as she puts the pieces of her life back together and becomes whole again.  Jake takes his own journey, and the ending is a HEA with the villain getting his just desserts.