Review: A dark yet fun filled contemporary about keeping secrets and trying to move on
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2013
Written by Tash MOriginally posted on confessionsfromromaholics dot comARC provided kindly by Entangled Publishing  for reviewing purposesKeeping Secrets in Seattle is a book that I love because I could personally relate to Violet as I'm going through something similar in my life. Violet Murphy loved her best friend Gabe Parker for years but ever since high school she's kept her thoughts to herself concerning him. However, the announcement at the Parker's Christmas party leaves her reeling and a mess because her heart is broken. Gabe is getting married to Alicia, a waif like model who seems to hate her guts. He didn't tell despite supposedly breaking up with her a couple of weeks earlier and she's been the only constant  girl in his life that he's not related to. She has a special place and is hated by Gabe's girlfriends for one reason or another but it seems that Alicia is going to top all of them.Now, instead of being happy and being a grown up about it, she decides to mope like a sulky teenager  and somehow ends up  getting stuck in the midst of the wedding  as the Best Man (remind you of Maid of Honour anyone?). So, what's a best friend going to do when it seems everyone is happy except her and things are getting worse with each passing day except for the new boyfriend Landon Harlow. She needs to try and suck it up until Alicia brings up the one thing that she's kept hidden from everyone all these years that will threaten to break Violet into a thousand little pieces. So what a girl going to do but play dirty as she knows the girl he is engaged to is not what she seems.When I first read the synopsis and title, I jumped at the book. I was wondering how this was going to play out. I was delighted to receive an enchanting book that the author has seemed to have taken the time to carefully craft and bring the whole story together without overpowering the present.  Every chapter starts off with a journal entry that highlights important moments with Violet that happened in the past. What these seem to have in common is Gabe and her feelings, and it soon becomes apparent that she has been hiding something. What that is you don't know as after a certain point the entries stop and the chapters seamlessly flow into the present where we follow Violet as she juggles affairs in the months after the announcement. It seems nothing is going right for her except Landon, who seems to be her knight in shining armour, and her two best girlfriends who are lovers and always there for her despite her attempts at trying to stop the wedding.I have to be honest--some of her attempts are pathetic at the start. She doesn't stand up for herself and instead tries to tell Gabe who is wearing love goggles over his eyes literally and thinks that Alicia is perfect. It's not until she gets some information from Shane, a friend of Alicia's, and discovers she isn't as she seems, that things really change and Violet decides to do some sleuthing and discovers some hard truths. Truths that could get her what she wants but may hurt other people ... so what does she do? You have to read to find out but I think most savvy romance readers will be able to figure out.5 couples; it was just what I needed, a dark yet fun filled contemporary about keeping secrets and trying to move on.