Keeping Secrets in Seattle

Genre: Contemporary Romance

What is the book about?  Violet loves Gabe ,but she was scared to admit that to him for years.  They have been best friends since their childhood but a tragedy enclosed in a secret almost tore their friendship apart. Violet struggled to tell Gabe how she feels about him but gained the courage once Gabe told her he had dumped his girlfriend Alicia.  At a family gathering violet is ready to confess her love but finds out that Gabe is engaged to Alicia and she is asked to be his best man at the wedding. Struggling with her emotions Violet has to deal with the reality that she will be losing her friend and the only man she ever loved to another woman. 

My Rant: Loved it. I completely loved this book.  This was quite the page-turner and I was addicted as soon as I started to read it. Now you all know that I like my steamy scenes with my romance but now I can say I can read interesting books without them. There were not any steamy scenes in this book but that does not take away from this story at all.  I have so much to say but I am not sure where to begin.  I guess I will start with Violet.  Wholeheartedly you have no chose but to love Violet.  She witty, spunky, and smart and the best pick for Gabe. But she was so broken. 

I didn’t envy her one bit. How do you stand around watching the man you love, love someone else when you know that you are meant to be with him.  ( sobs). Violet had Gabe but lost that part of the relationship by no fault of her own.  But due to a secret she has had to live with for years.  The author captured the emotions flawlessly; you feel the anger, the loss, the betrayal and most of all the broken heart that has been ripped to shreds over and over again. (Sobbing more ).  

“I love Gabe. I was supposed to be the woman sitting next to him as he stood there beaming and raising his glass”. 

(Now I am crying)

At this point I want to shake Gabe until he comes to his senses. WTF is wrong with you dude, everyone around you knows how violet feels about you except you can’t see that. 

This can’t be. This can’t be….

Gabe took his seat and leaned over to kiss his new fiancée on the cheek.

Viloet: “”I sniffled, thankfully the chorus of “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” covered the sound of my meltdown.

Gabe was sexy, smart, caring and successful. Everything that most women would want in a man. He was a good friend to Violet. It was so easy to drool over him. What was not easy was seeing him be just as green as the grass on the ground. Gabe loved Violet just as much as Violet loved him but he could not let go of Violet’s past mistake and her distance from him during their teenage years but he remained to be a true friend to her. Gabe struggled with his love for Violet and the love he had for Alicia. You can feel the push and pull of emotions.  Gabe needed Violet like we need air to breath but he chose to marry Alicia. The whole time I am practically screaming to the top of my lungs because I am so frustrated with Gabe. I got angry but I could not loathe him. He’s just to dam irresistible.

From the beginning I knew I hated Alicia. There was no way I was connecting with her on any leave.  You all know how you just can’t stand a character and just want to snap your fingers and they vanish from the book completely or get was coming to them. Alicia was a complete snob. I felt no compassion for her at all. How dare you, you skinny little twit. Lol. But what is a good book without a gold digging villain right.  Cameron the other villain to this story just made my stomach wretch.  I can’t go into many details about how much I hate him because I do not want to give the book away.   But I was glad to see that Cameron got exactly what was coming to him. I mean Gabe was the right one to serve it up to Cameron. LOL, and he served it up on a platter. Now that Cameron was taken care of there were still issues that Violet and Gabe had to work out. Finally Violets secret is out but her and Gabe are still struggling to get things together.

Gabe: “ I can’t do this right now”

Violet: “You know everything now. There are no more secrets. Why are you pushing me away?”

See what I mean. You just want to shake Gabe until his mind patches itself together. How frustrating. To love someone that loves you back and you cannot be with them because they have trouble dealing and they ask for time to sort things out.  The feeling hurts like hell. 

As soon as you think there is no hope to this love story and you give up looking for a happy ending, you are not disappointed. The author gives you an amazing ending with a love letter that warms the heart on so many levels. (I am Sobbing again ). 

Gabe: “ But I can fight for you from now on. Because you’re the only woman who has ever really, truly mattered.

How can you not get all misty eyed after that. (wiping eyes with Kleenex)

My Recommendation: 

I rated this book 4 out of 5 purple rant hearts. I completely adored this story and would recommend it to anyone that loves a good contemporary romance. 

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the author, editor, publisher, or Promo Host. This is my honest opinion about this book and I did not receive any monetary compensation for writing this review nor was I obligated to write a positive one.