A job at The Riverview Inn offers Delia a safe place to hide with her daughter—and the chance to salvage their damaged relationship. But when her secrets follow them, she has to make the most difficult choice of her life.
Delia has made some mistakes. Maybe more than other women, other mothers. She just needs a little time to regroup and figure out what’s best for herself and eight-year-old Josie. But The Riverview Inn and her job there as a massage therapist offer her something she never expected—happiness.
Working at the inn gives her purpose, friendships, and an exciting and forbidden attraction to the mysterious Max Mitchell.
The only problem is—she’s lying. About everything.
But she isn’t the only one with secrets. There are things Max isn’t telling her about his past. And one guest is hiding something that could destroy everything at The Riverview Inn.
Review:
Ooooh, I really liked this one!
Secrets of the Riverview Inn is the second in Ms O’Keefe’s Riverview Inn series, though it truly could work as a standalone. You don’t have to have read the first one (though you totally should!) and OMG, does it have me practically panting for book 3? Why yes, yes, it does. 😉
(I’m not going to lie, when we were introduced to the idea of the person who the next book is going to be about, I totally squealed, “Oooh! Hello, book 3!” out loud.)
Delia and Max’s story did not disappoint! The teaser at the end of the first book totally hooked me, and I absolutely could not wait until I got this one into my hot little hands. Both Max and Delia have secrets (hence the title…) that they aren’t sharing with anyone, and even though they are inexorably drawn to each other, those secrets are doing their best to keep them apart.
Yeah, it’s kinda angsty. In a good way 🙂
Delia’s relationship with her young daughter just broke my heart–her love for Josie was blindingly apparent, but so was Josie’s near-dismissal of her mother. I was rooting for Delia 100%, both in favor of her relationship with Max and with Josie, but yikes, for so long it seemed like the obstacles were just going to be too much.
There’s definitely elements of romantic suspense here–what Delia’s on the run from in her past is pretty scary–but really, this is a contemporary romance (or maybe even “women’s fiction”? As much as I dislike that label…). The focus is on relationships–Delia and Max, Delia and Josie, Max and his brother, father, and mother–and the setting is just lovely.
Have I mentioned how much I’m looking forward to the last book in the series? 😉
While I oh-so-patiently wait for its release, I’m going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from this one, a quote I think really shows the flavor of the novel:
They were all slowly mending those broken spots inside themselves and promises now would be foolish. But she wanted to stay. She wanted to see where this would go.
Happy sigh.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.