Reviews

Dirty Secrets by Karen Rose

novelesque_life's review

4.0

3.5 STARS

"Secrets
For months Emma Townsend has avoided her old house, haunted by its memories of her dead husband. Finding the courage to sort through their possessions, she's astonished to find an old love letter from friend Chris Walker, and determines to make amends for the past.

That we all must
Chris, now a college professor, is trying to deal with the tragic death of a graduate student. Seeing Emma again brings back a flood of memories, re-kindling a long-lost passion. But with police investigating the student's death, Chris cannot act on his desires.

Fear
But is it too late? Because now someone's watching Emma and Chris. Someone who's nursing revenge. And they are about to be plunged into a nightmare where no one can be trusted and every dirty little secret is sealed with a kiss." (From Amazon)

Dirty Secrets previously appeared in the anthology Hot Pursuit.

I enjoyed this novella more than I thought I would. The characters and story was great but I wish it was a bit longer to build more suspense.

xabbeylongx's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

Spoilers Ahead: I was a little disappointed with this book. I’m a big fan of Karen Rose’s novels normally, but this one didn’t quite hit the mark. It got 1.5 stars because of the plot twist, which I thought was excellent, and when I guessed I was actually right this time, so that’s a bonus. However, the pacing was off. The romance itself was too rushed, they didn’t have enough time to properly explore the connection, and I thought Christopher was way too pushy when it came to intimacy. I don’t know, the whole thing just felt very rushed and forced? I liked the whole plot idea, but the execution didn’t live up to standards, I’m afraid.

liliaannnnn94's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

alexandratheroux's review

emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Solid short dive into the history of Emma and Christopher 

inesbeato's review against another edition

5.0

Nota- se perfeitamente que esta novela foi feita há vários anos, pois a escrita de Rose sofreu uma grande evolução desde esta época. No entanto, o toque está lá e eu amei a história, adorei os protagonistas e apesar de curta, foi uma leitura muito interessante para compreender a origem das personagens Emma e Christopher, que apareceram com grande destaque em Watch Your Back e eu não os conhecia!
Adorei a leitura e estava mesmo a precisar de um "docinho" da Rose para alegrar a semana. Um dia destes hei-de reler algumas das obras dela...

jonetta's review against another edition

4.0

Professor Christopher Walker is in the middle of dealing with what first looks like the accidental death of one of the grad students in his lab when someone from his past reaches out to him. His high school unrequited love, Emma Townsend, wants to see him. She's a psychologist, best selling author and traveling lecturer who just discovered the letter he gave her 17 years ago. Unfortunately, she's now drawn into the danger and mystery surrounding him and his lab.

For a novella, this story read like a full length book with time to develop the characters, establish a very believable romance and create an interesting whodunit with exciting mystery and suspense. I loved Christopher and Emma, their relationship and romance. While I nailed the villain early, I had a harder time figuring out the motive.

I love this series, my favorite in the genre, and was leery about having a short story in the mix. I should have just trusted Rose who is a master. This was really good.

ela_35's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

 This book was too short to really show the characters. 

I liked Chris and Emma but I didn’t think that there was enough time for them to get to know each other again. They knew each other before, but that was more than 15 years ago so obviously a lot has changed and it didn’t feel like they actually knew each other. 

Megan (Chris’ daughter) wasn’t really developed. I wanted to see more scenes with her, Chris and Emma as I wanted to see them get to know each other. 

The crime in this book was fine but I guessed who the killer was at the beginning. 

panicatthebookstore's review against another edition

3.0

I'm a huge Karen Rose fan but I felt a little disappointed by this one. Not that it wasn't good, because it was. However due to it being a novella it was incredibly short and because of that, the story felt rushed. I really hope we get to see these characters later on in the series as I felt we didn't see enough of them.

thenia's review against another edition

3.0

The story of Emma and Christopher, two people who get a second chance at love.

Emma and Christopher were best friends in high school, but grew apart and moved away and lost touch with each other. Years later, they are both dealing with a trauma of their own, when life brings them back in each other's lives.

Emma lost her husband more than a year ago, but despite being an expert in grief counselling, hasn't dealt with his loss yet. Christopher is stunned when one of his grad students is found murdered in their lab, and he's trying to process what happened, while supporting the rest of his students.

Emma, who is pushed to finally deal with her late husbands things, finds a love letter Christopher had written while they were still in high school that she never saw, she is determined to reach out to him and explain, hating to think she hurt him without even knowing it. The two meet and the chemistry between them is even more intense than it was when they were teenagers, and Christopher is not about to allow her to slip out of his fingers a second time.

Unfortunately, the person who killed Christopher's student is still around and suspects that the couple knows more than they do, putting them both in danger. I figured out pretty soon that the killer was

Spoiler

Christopher's best friend, who got in way over his head and was blackmailed into derailing Christopher's research so that he wouldn't uncover the blackmailer's secret. I also suspected that he was the one Christopher's ex cheated on him with, but still hated it when Christopher found out the depth of his betrayal

.

Enjoyable story with an interesting plot and complicated characters. The series continues with [b:You Can't Hide|130880|You Can't Hide (Romantic Suspense, #5; Chicago, #4)|Karen Rose|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1279800071s/130880.jpg|2683196].

Previous book reviews:
✦ Nothing To Fear (Romantic Suspense, #4; Chicago, #3)
✦ I'm Watching You (Romantic Suspense, #3; Chicago, #2)
✦ Have You Seen Her? (Romantic Suspense, #2)
✦ Don't Tell (Romantic Suspense, #1; Chicago, #1)

gwladyskelly's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5