Reviewer: Tracy Secrets and Sins: Raphael by Naima Simone
Series: Secrets and Sins #3
Publisher: Macmillan
Publication Date: April 28th 2014
Genres: Suspense
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When Greer Addison finds her future husband in bed with another woman, she runs...right into the arms of dark and dangerous Raphael Marcel. Angry and hurt, she throws caution to the wind and spends a hot night with the sexy security specialist. But when her fiancé is found dead, Greer becomes the main suspect of a crime she can't remember.
Raphael is stunned and suspicious when Greer shows up on his doorstep claiming she's carrying his baby. Worse, she's the target of a stalker bent on making her pay for a murder she doesn't recall. As Raphael begins to trust Greer, they must race against the clock to uncover a killer. Because Greer's memory is returning...
Drowning her sorrows in a bar sounds like a good idea so she heads off and ends up meeting Raphael Marcel there. He is a security expert that she and her now ex-fiance had met the previous week when talking about security for their future home. Greer is incredibly attracted to Raphael and he makes it known that he feels the same. They end up leaving together and spending most of the night in the back of his SUV having wild sex (they couldn’t wait long enough to get to either of their homes). When Raphael drops Greer off at her home she wants to invite him up but decides that it’s not a good idea. When she gets to her apartment her ex-fiance is there on the floor, having been stabbed to death. She gets hit over the head and she blacks out.
After spending 3 days in the hospital Greer is at the police station being accused of murder. She has an alibi with Raphael but she was discovered lying next to Gavin with the knife in her hand – pretty damning evidence. Greer would love to say that she didn’t do it but she has a hole in her memory. She remembers being dropped off by Raphael and then waking up in the hospital – everything else is a complete blank.
Four months go by and while she’s released she’s not exactly cleared as the police are still investigating. Greer, now pregnant with Raphael’s child, is staying with her brother as she couldn’t bring herself to return to her apartment/scene of the crime. She’s been getting intimidating letters from an anonymous source but suddenly those start stepping up and Greer decides to seek help from the security expert, Raphael.
Raphael is stunned when Greer walks into his office and claims she’s pregnant by him. This happened to him once before and he was betrayed by the woman he thought he loved. He decides to protect Greer but he refuses to get involved with her or the baby as his heart wouldn’t be able to take it if he started hoping and he was crushed once again. Raphael soon learns that Greer is like no rich socialite he’s ever met and his heart is soon hers.
I was pleasantly surprised when I finished this book. I really enjoyed the characters and the mystery kept me thinking as well. I have to say I’m usually darned good at figuring out who the villain is but this one kept me guessing until almost the end – impressive.
The romance between Raphael and Greer was very sweet, imho. I really liked the softer side of Raphael when he allowed himself to actually feel and be himself. When he was trying to hold himself back he could be a bit of an ass but the rest of the time he was my kind of guy. Loving, concerned, protective, intelligent, kind, funny and oh, so sexy. Greer had had a wealthy upbringing but no love to speak of. Her parents sucked, as I’ve mentioned, and then she thinks all’s well when she gets engaged to her friend only to find out that he’s in it for the money and a position in her father’s bank. Kind of spirit crushing to find that no one wants you for you, you know? Greer was incredibly sad and lonely during the greater part of the book but she tried not to show it too much as she wanted to be thought of as an strong woman. She loved Raphael and at the very least wanted to be friends with him so that they could co-parent their child. In the end they were explosive together and their personalities meshed well.
While the book started with a bang and ended with a bang, it was a little slow for my liking in the middle. Despite that I thought this was a pretty good book. It also made me interested in eventually reading the first two books in the series – which is a good thing. 🙂
Rating: 3.75/4 out of 5
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