Review: I'll keep this 'Secret' on my Kindle forever :)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 6, 2013
*****Five happily surprised and very enthusiastic stars*****This was one of those books that felt like a personal present from the author---the nearly perfect book that I found at the nearly perfect time. My reading experience was enhanced by the fact that I didn't expect to adore it even a fraction as much as I did.I'd heard complaints that, at about 210 pages, this book was too short. But, see, for me that was far more of an asset than a drawback. (This may be the right time to mention that my tastes and preferences are just that---my tastes and preferences, and often different from that of my fellow HR addicts!) I think the vast majority of recently written romances are excessively and needlessly long, especially when one discovers that about 25% of the 350-400 pages consist of pretty much the same explicit sex scenes, tiresomely repetitive conversations, and contrived, desperate-to-prolong-the-plot conflicts that start to bore and frustrate more than they delight. This book proved an ideal length for me: we had ample time to get to know the themes, conflicts and characters and to appreciate their development, yet the comparatively moderate length made for more focused storytelling and less tiresome repetition.My expectations were also tempered by the fact that the usual 'brooding, taciturn hero and the impossibly plucky, perma-cheerful heroine who finally gets through to him' aren't necessarily my favorite character types and tropes. But yet I fell deeply and immediately in love with both the hero and heroine, both of whom felt achingly 'real' to me, for lack of a better way of putting it. If I were geeky enough to compile a list of favorite heroes and heroines---and, let's face it, I am TOTALLY that geeky---David and Rosalie would both be among my 10-15 personal all-time favorites, and maybe even a whole lot higher.I felt their connection and chemistry was conveyed more effectively in just their first, brief meeting than it's ever established with many, many of the couples with whom I've spent 400 long pages! I'm a cynical romantic, as oxymoronic as that may sound: I want to fall in love with the characters and their relationships, but yet it takes a fair amount to sell me on the fact that the H and h genuinely connect in a remotely soulmate-y way, and in many recent romances I'm left feeling the featured couple is far more in lust than in love.David was reserved and guarded and somewhat emotionally broken, but I'm very happy to report that he wasn't a vicious jerk or a rageaholic in the name of being 'alpha.' Instead, he was shown from the outset to be a man dealing with pain and self-doubt, but one who withdrew from people for their protection and his own rather than one of those petulant 'heroes' who feels his angst gives him the right to be a nasty, selfish jerk to all who cross his path. David was also shown to be extremely smart----as opposed to our being hastily told he's smart without ever actually seeing it---and is passionate about words and language and his dearly departed dog. In other words, a man after my own similarly linguistic and canine loving heart!I've read two Alyssa Everett books, and fell madly in love with both of her heroes. She writes heroes who are compassionate and vulnerable without seeming weak or wimpy; smart and with well-developed talents and interests outside of just the heroine; flawed enough to be complex, edgy and intriguing, yet still men who one can adore and root for without the 'ugh, but this ostensible "hero" is sort of a sociopathic jerk!' compunctions that I experience all too often these days!Rosalie, meanwhile, is genuinely sweet and naive, but in a way that feels totally authentic and understandable rather than slap-worthy. Her determination to always be cheerful and understanding is explained early on in the story, and despite not usually loving that 'type' of heroine, I surprised myself by finding her lovable and admirable but still realistically flawed. I didn't care for the heroine in Everett's Ruined By Rumor, but felt myself immediately invested in Rosalie.Best of all, David and Rosalie don't act like they hate each other for the majority of the novel, hurling insults and belittling each other at every turn because somehow love that looks an awful lot like hate 90% of the time is supposed to pass for 'chemistry' in many romances. (Personally, I always feel like those couples would be embroiled in an acrimonious divorce within a year of their alleged HEA!) It's clear from the outset that these two genuinely like AND love each other and are drawn to each other emotionally rather than just physically.Speaking of 'physically': I'm not a fan of explicit sex scenes, which I tend to find singularly un-sexy. The physical scene(s) in this one have enough passion to satisfy my steam-loving bookworms, but are definitely not too graphic or prolonged and, best of all, seem to fit very naturally with who the characters are and how they relate to each other.The primary conflict stems from David's titular 'secrets' and both characters' relatable, authentic insecurities about whether they're able to meet each other's needs and make each other happy. Normally, the protracted storyline about David's frequently referred to secrets would drive me all kinds of crazy, but I actually didn't mind it here, because 1) I prefer explorations of how our haunted pasts and lingering inner turmoil affect how we live and love rather than contrived external conflicts and 2) We don't learn David's secrets until Rosalie does (though you may figure it out!), so it's not one of those books where the reader already knows the answers to every question and is left to impatiently wait for the heroine to figure out what we've been privy to from the outset.In short (too late!), I found this a sneakily engrossing, subtly insightful, achingly real romance featuring two of the most lovable (yet flawed!) H and hs I've been lucky enough to read about. The characters and themes grabbed both my head and heart and still haven't let go. I was a little more ambivalent about this author's Ruined By Rumor (though the uniquely wonderful hero makes it well worth reading!), but this book puts Alyssa Everett on my surprisingly short list of auto-buy authors. Enjoy!