Book Review: Seduced in Secret by Shiloh Walker

Title: Seduced in Secret
Author: Shiloh Walker
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: August 4, 2015 (self-published)

Best laid plans…are meant to be broken.

Life laid out, Tessa had everything set. Engaged to marry the perfect man, a rich, great-looking doctor, she was content with her life, or so she thought. Then the gift arrived. Delivered to her office on Valentine’s Day, it was filled with handcuffs, sexy little toys and a suggestive little card.

It wasn’t from her fiancé, either.

When the emails and the phone started coming, she should have been able to brush them off, except the man said something that left her uneasy…and not because he scared her, but because he was right. Your fiancé will never make you happy, Tessa.

Confused, she starts looking at her fiancé, her life…and other things…in a whole new light. One of the things she finds herself considering is her best friend and neighbor, Caleb. He’s always been there. Even when he spent years in the Navy, Caleb was the one she could count on and now isn’t any different. He’s there to listen when she needs an ear and he’s got nice, strong shoulders when she needs one to lean on.

It doesn’t her long to realize that one thing is certain—her fiancé can’t make her happy. But now she doesn’t know whether she wants to take a chance on her sexy secret admirer…or Caleb, the man who’s been there waiting for her all along.

It includes a short bonus story called Don't Walk Away.

Seduced in Secret was previously published as Whipped Cream and Handcuffs. It has been extensively rewritten, revised and expanded.

amazon | goodreads

I read Seduced in Secret because the secret admirer aspect grabbed my attention and I’ve enjoyed reading this author’s romances before. I was worried about there being cheating involved, but there wasn’t. Tessa does toe the line but doesn’t cross it. There was an element of the storyline that was so very predictable, I’m surprised Tessa didn’t figure it out sooner.

I’m kind of pissed at the ending, or lack there of. I seriously thought my copy of the book was missing the last chapter or an epilogue, but a reading buddy confirmed the last line in the story. I get that this is a novella but the story ended quite abruptly and I was left feeling unsatisfied. I didn’t even care to read the bonus story. And speaking of unfinished storylines, there was mention of a family who couldn’t pay their medical bill (Tessa’s a manager in a medical office), and I’m not sure why this was even in the story. There was quite a bit of detail and page time spent on the extent of the past due medical bills, page time that would have been better spent on an epilogue.

Brianna’s Rating: