"I do, you know. I do love you. Even if you don’t return my feelings, I wanted you to know. " - Charlie Clark

OK, yes, I do enjoy romantic suspense. In fact, I love it! But there are times when I feel like there's something missing, and in this book's case, this was one of those times...

Lauren Grant will never forget that one fateful summer that changed her life and showed her how cruel the world can really be. But she's willing to fight for her happiness. Several years later, divorced with an adorable daughter, Lauren owns a cafe and is living life the way she always wanted - minus the husband. Yet all this changes when an act of vandalism destroys her shop, and brings her closer to her parents' new, charming neighbour, Charlie Clark. Can Lauren and Charlie find who's behind the hateful acts that target her in time? And how will Charlie convince her to give love and intimacy a second chance?

I enjoyed this story up to a certain point. I'm a sucker for small, cozy towns, and love heroines who don't mind trying their hardest to work things out in their life, instead of acting like poor, helpless victims. Lauren was a sweetheart, and Charlie's courting was too freaking adorable to survive at times.

I'll admit there wasn't much sexiness in this one, but hey, I think it made the book more realistic that way! Lauren still had that trauma to overcome, so it makes sense for her to be hesitant upon close contact with a male.

What brought the rating down was the suspense. Either I'm getting so damn good at guessing what's going to happen next because of all those books I've read, or the story was predictable. If there was some other element to take my mind off of it - sex, action, I don't know - it wouldn't have seemed so glaringly obvious to me. As it was, though, it took away the fun and the thrill books like this are supposed to give the reader...

"I wasn’t expecting it, wasn’t looking for it, but it happened, and I’m here. It scares me to death to admit, even to myself, but I love you, too, Charlie Clark." - Lauren Taylor Grant

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.*** ( )

Lauren couldn't forget the tragic events that shaped her life when she was a teenager. Everything she felt and believed in centered on that one horrible night. But her life wasn't the only one effected that night, her cousin Margie had set the whole turn of events into place. And now thirteen years later, lives have moved on and changed, but they havent forgotten. Lauren is a divorced single mother who owns her own coffee shop and is showing an interest in the hot neighbor of her parents. Margie however only watches from a distance, under a guise which no one has picked up on...yet. But then a series of mishaps begins with the return of a certain family to the area and now all hell is breaking loose. Lauren must come to terms once again with the man who distroyed her life, as does Margie. One will overcome, the other will succumb. ( )

This is a book that deals with real life harrowing issues. A story that deals with one persons life that shows how she comes through with dealing with these issues.

A very different read to what I am used to and very thought provoking. ( )

This is a book that deals with real life harrowing issues. A story that deals with one persons life that shows how she comes through with dealing with these issues.

A very different read to what I am used to and very thought provoking. ( )

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in reading stories about sexy supernatural beings, fairytale endings and demonic monsters, that we push aside the reality that you don't have to have supernatural abilities to be a real life monster. The monsters I am referring are like those found in the book one of the Leroy’s Sins series, Secrets in the Shadows by T. L. Haddix. These monsters can be your best friend, your next door neighbor, the guy who always smiles and says hello as you pass each other on the street, or even your closest family member. Living a seemingly normal life by day but lurking in the shadows at night, they leave a trail of emotional destruction where ever they go. In Secrets in the Shadows, such is true for cousins Margie and Lauren, as we follow their shared story and learn why sometimes people have to do the unthinkable just to be able to survive. T. L. Haddix covers some real life issues such as rape and abuse and how hard emotionally it is to overcome such terrible struggles, especially when there are unanswered questions preventing the healing process. The first couple of chapters are a little slow moving, but it quickly found its pace and moves along and keeps the reader intrigued and wanting to know what happens next! One thing that I particularly liked, was that T. L. Haddix doesn’t sugarcoat these issues and have the stereotypical fairytale ending, where everyone goes skipping off happily into the sunset. The reader feels the raw emotions and struggles that they character is facing and not everyone is lucky enough to make it out alive. I can’t wait to see what happens in book two of the Leroy’s Sins series, Under the Moon’s Shadows. ( )