Saturday, July 20, 2013

[Kame's Review]: "Secrets and Sins: Gabriel"

Secrets and Sins: Gabriel by Naima Simone
Publisher: Entangled: Suspense (June 24, 2013)
Series: Secrets and Sins, 1
Genre: Romantic Suspense
 
Twenty years ago, Leah Bannon’s beloved Uncle Richard vanished without a trace. Leah, now a private investigator, begins to suspect it was murder. When she reopens the cold case, Gabriel Devlin—-the man she loves but can never have—-inexplicably stands in her way.

Only four people know the truth about Richard’s mysterious disappearance—-Gabriel and three childhood friends...who have all sworn to take that secret to the grave. But a hidden enemy wants those shocking secrets brought to light...even if he has to kill to make it happen. After experiencing an unimaginable loss two years ago, Gabriel refuses to put himself through the pain of loving someone who could be gone in an instant. But as he thwarts Leah’s investigation at every turn—-both to keep his friends’ pact, and to keep her safe from danger—-the sexy PI makes it impossible for him to protect his secrets. Or his heart...

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Where to Buy*:
Kindle | NOOK | ARe
 
More Info:


Kame's Review:





















Gabriel had a perfect life, he was a successful author, had a loving marriage and a great son. Then it all crashed and tore to pieces, all he could do was sit in his car and watch as a tragic accident took his wife and son’s lives.  Now two years later he exists; staying in his writing cave in a new condo as he refuses to go back to the house he shared with his family, refusing to even let anyone take down the Christmas tree.  He has people who care for him, his close friends and his best friend Leah.  She frequently uses her “emergency” key to invade his condo to ensure he has eaten and to do his laundry.  She does what any friend would do, anyone who has secretly loved their best friend since she was sixteen.  Gabe is not only hiding from his life without his family, he is keeping a dark secret, a secret he has sworn to keep with the three friends he has known since birth and who he considers brothers; a secret they have kept for twenty years. Keeping that secret was all that mattered until Leah receives a letter in the mail.

 

 Gabe is a very convincing grief stricken author.  A lot of time was taken to describe his pain and how he was dealing with his grief. Leah is a private investigator, as she left the police force due to an injury in the line of duty. Her connection with Gabe and his friends is strong; she has dealt with a lot of loss in her life and takes care of Gabe to ensure she doesn’t lose him. I found her character resilient and tender.   I enjoyed how we saw glimpses of Gabe and Leah’s friendship, along with the little internal dialogs they had in their heads about how much they cared for each other. Gabe’s relationship with the other three men (Chay, Rafe, Mal) was strong and their bond was explained very well; each of these men were concisely introduced and I can definitely see the appeal of each having their own book in the series.

 

Until about two-thirds of the way through this book I would have classified it more of a suspense than romantic suspense.  There were some romantic elements as Gabe and Leah loved each other from afar – and a few stolen HOT kisses (maybe sniper kisses is a better term, Leah has no idea they were coming) but there was no sizzle other than kissing – and I was fine with that – the suspense element kept me reading. Then an event caused Leah and Gabe to be honest with their attraction, they came together and did not share the true depth of their feelings in their hearts.  Honestly to me the few intimate scenes in the book seemed out of place, I wanted to get back to the suspense part of the story.

 
I enjoyed this book; it was different from what I have been reading lately and was a great introduction to a series I will keep my eye out for.



 
 

  4 STARS!





 
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Kame received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for her honest opinion.
 
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Meet Kame:

Kame is part of a family of readers; one day she picked up the Nook she purchased for her husband and discovered her love of e-books. A few months later he purchased one for her so he could have his back! Kame’s Nook is never far, and she is hard pressed to pick a favorite book, genre or author. As long as there are characters that make her want to sit down and have a chat and a plot keeps the pages turning, she’ll read it.

Kame's GoodReads 
 



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Hm.... I may still add it to my list, but I prefer my romantic suspense to be more, well, romantic. :) Great review, Kame, thanks for sharing!


Do you like romantic suspense? Do you have a favorite author/series in this genre?






 


Enjoy!



Until Next Time,
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1 comment :

Anna (herding cats-burning soup) said...

Oh a new one for me to check out. Yay! I love romantic suspense even if it's light on the romance. And that she was a cop! Great review Kame! Thanks for the heads up on it :)