Review: Loved This Secret!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 11, 2013
Nia Forrester is very good at creating characters that are vivid, believable, vulnerable, and deeply flawed. This talent makes it very easy for me to immerse myself in her stories because the characters come across as very authentic. In Secret, we have Shayla, a woman of some mystery who befriends (as much as she allows herself to be friends with anyone) Tessa, the sister of Trey Dennison, a DC attorney who becomes Shayla's landlord. Prior to this turn events, Shayla was a member of the same gym as Trey. From this vantage point, she's watched him working his charm on a slew of women.Shayla has no misconceptions that she might be just the woman to tame him. All she wants is a brief sexual encounter, because after all, a woman also has needs. After getting what she wanted from him, what she didn't bargain on was him forging some kind of bond with her. This knocks them booth for a loop as they emerge reeling from a wild, sexy weekend.Trey finds himself increasingly jealous of her interactions with others, especially men, and isn't able to reconcile what Shay has made him feel, while Shay is also reluctant to give herself completely to a man, courtesy of that pesky secret she's harboring. As the reader, you see that these two could solve ninety percent of their issues just by talking to each other honestly, but as great drama goes, the conflict kept simmering in this story is the lifeblood of good fiction.Forrester is also excellent at making us care about her secondary characters. None of her characters come across as flat and unnecessary. In this story we are also introduced to Tessa, Darren, and Paige. The unique backstory shared by Trey and Tessa is the stuff of fairytales, albeit a sad one. Their relationship as a secondary plot is brilliant. It speaks to why Trey is the way he is, and it gives us a glimpse of how Tessa became the young woman she is. I was enthralled by their relationship almost as much as I was by Shayla and Trey's.Darren, Trey's best friend, is a testament to the adage "birds of a feather." They are each very attractive men who are both confirmed bachelors, that is, until Shay comes along for Trey. However, you also get the hint that Paige and Darren are feeling each other, and there's some history between them that has been unresolved.Going in, I knew that there would be a sequel to this book, so I wasn't left unsatisfied in any way by how the story ended. The reader is made privy to Shay's secret and it explains everything, but it's what we don't know at the end of "Secret" which is the stuff that will keep us intrigued until `The Art of Endings" comes along.This book will have you rooting for Shayla and Trey almost as much as you find yourself upset with them both for being so pig-headed. It is a story that draws you in and keeps you because you grow to care so deeply about the characters, almost like they are friends of yours. When I find characters that I might consider friends in real life, is when I want to stay immersed in their story world forever. "Secret" is just such a world.