Keeping Secrets (Harlequin Intrigue, No 245)

Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed this book's unexpected twists
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. There were a lot of twist and turns in it and kept you guessing to the very end. Well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: A very good book
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. There were a lot of twist and turns in it and kept you guessing to the very end. Well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed this book's unexpected twists
Review: Imagine your heart being shattered into a thousand pieces. Betrayed by not only the very ones whom you thought to be loyal friends, but by your own husband as well. This unfortunate situation happened to the main character in Keeping Secrets by Jasmine Cresswell. I though this book to be rather good. One of the good points that this book had was unique, unexpected twists and turns. For example, when the main character, Kate, received a physical warning to stop searching for clues and was then informed that the message was from her own mother, that was unexpected. The way the author chose to tell us of the existing friction between mother and daughter is my kind of reading. Any other author would have just let the reader know by having the main character mention it in a conversation. That, in my opinion, is really boring. It was at this point that I decided that I thought that this book was a winner. My good opinion of this book was re-enforced when I discovered that this author also had an interesting way for making the two main characters fall in love. Instead of having the women become overwhelmed with all the mishaps that happened in her life and seek out the male to take over, the author had her capable of taking care of her own problems. By doing this, the she falls in love with the man not because of circumstances, but because of her desire. The capable types of women are more appealing than the floundering female type. This book also expressed the couple fighting, not trying to portray the couple as the "perfect" couple. Knowing that that's unrealistic, it is refreshing to read a book that knows this and makes her story realist. This book is more towards the up-to-date style of thinking.

Considering that I'm a liberal person myself, this way of thinking was apt to make me enjoy this book. Several points in this book demonstrated the fact that the author was trying to display Kate, main character, as a strong-minded person. Take, for instance, when the main character's house was broken into and her things all broken, torn apart. She did not fall apart and shift the responsibility to the male. No she got up, cleaned the place, gave a report to the police and protected her daughter. So that the reader does not think the female is uncaring, she broke down afterwards. But she was strong enough to hold herself together and do what had to be done first. This is an excellent way to convey the message of personality strength. Another example would be when the Kate finds herself trying to be run off the road by someone trying to distract her from her searching. Even then, she does not give up, nor is she intimidated in any way. The only reaction she has is that she must be more careful in the future. When the person who ran her off the road is thought to be her daughter's boyfriend, she does not go off on a rampage trying to get him arrested. But she defends him and is loyal to him. She is a loyal, dependable person, as shown through everything that she does.

Overall, I like Keeping Secretes. Since this is first book that I have read by Jasmine Cresswell, I hope not to be the last one I shall read. Recommendations for this book would be for anyone who enjoys liberated times. When women are equal, or if not equal, then at least the role of the female is not a floundering idiot. Being a liberated person myself, this book brought me joy.