Review: Her Secret Love by Paula Altenburg (Secrets of Cherry Lake #3)
Note: This ARC was provided by Tule Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Jessica Palmer left Cherry Lake believing she was meant for bigger and better things than her small hometown had to offer. Ten years later, she's back home. When people look at her, it's as the girl who failed to become an actress and lived as an old man's mistress. With only a few dollars left in her name, Jess is hoping her grandfather will give her inheritance early, but he's got other plans. Insisting that she find a job and remain gainfully employed for six months, Jess finds herself turning to the one person who probably wishes she had never returned--Damon Brand. Will Jess find redemption or will Damon seek revenge on the girl he loved but who left him naked and humiliated on the side of the road a decade ago?
Her Secret Love by Paula Altenburg is the third release and second full-length story in the Secrets of Cherry Lake series written by four different authors. Even in her teens, Jessica Palmer had a reputation, one that remains with her even as she is forced to return after the death of the man she was living with and who set her up in a lifestyle she was far more accustomed for. Being back in Cherry Lake requires her to swallow her pride and ask for a job from Damon Brand, the guy she had feelings for ten years ago but who ended up stripped of his clothing and his pride when she drove away after she was supposed to give him her virginity. Damon's still the same good guy he's always been but Jess is the one who needing to change.
Jess isn't exactly the easiest person to like, what with her coming off as rather high maintenance and being something of a bitch and a bully when she was a teenager. I found myself thinking that Damon deserved someone better than her, especially after what she did to him all those years ago. He was the one person to see and accept her for who she really was and for her to treat him that way was just inexcusable. Fast forward to ten years later and he's just as nice a person as he was before. The way he sees his life is interesting and it just reiterates how worthy he is to be on the list of all-time best book boyfriends. But even with all of Jess's faults, the story really is her journey of trying to find her place in the world she's in.
I'm three books in and I can honestly say that I've loved each one and this series is quickly becoming a favorite this year. Maybe it's a case of insta-love. Haha. There are still two books to go and the bar's been set quite high by the three that are currently available. I have expectations and I'm going to keep my fingers and toes crossed that the two other books are going to knock them out of the park. I thoroughly enjoyed Jess and Damon's second chance romance and want to give a special mention to Nate Jackson, the family patriarch, whose presence is felt each and every time he appears. Her Secret Love gets five stars. ♥
Release Date: 01 September 2015
Date Read: 04 September 2015
Learn more about Paula Altenburg here.
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