Secrets Within...

When Reese Abbot finds out her aunt has left a house in her will with the stipulation that she must live in it for the rest of her life, or sell it and split the profits with her family, she decides to move back to her hometown and restore the old mansion to its former glory.

Reese hires Evan Payne against her family’s wishes knowing they believe he raped a girl when they were in high school. Reese has always believed in Evan’s innocence although he had a bad boy image. They may have only been acquaintances in high school but Reese always had a crush on Evan from afar. When she gets the chance to hire him and spend her days trying to break through the shell he has created after spending time in prison, she jumps in with both feet and befriends the man she wants to know more about.

Amy Mistretta is a talented author who does a great job of creating a dramatic novel with endings that will leave readers reeling, and SECRETS WITHIN is no exception.

Great characters make this novel a treat to read, and will leave readers open to learning more about these two great characters. Evan is a great character who leaves the reader wondering if Reese is going to get hurt, and hoping he is what he seems. Ms. Mistretta has done a great job of portraying the emotions that flow through the heroine as she takes a leap of faith and accepts Evan based on her gut feeling. Even more than Evan being a great hero, Reese is a strong heroine that readers will strive to want to be like. She is accepting, and even though it means going against her family, she knows what and whom she wants and she fights for her man in more ways than one.

Although from the beginning Reese knows Evan is innocent, the emotions when she finds the truth behind the rape leave the reader in shock. The family cover ups, the men she trusted in her life turn out to not be the men she thought they were, and Reese is rocked to her core.

Ms. Mistretta has created an ending to rival the best mysteries. SECRETS WITHIN hooked this reader from page one, but the ending left this reviewer wanting more. While it has not been mentioned, hopefully Ms. Mistretta plans to turn this into a series.

March 2007