Review: A Widow’s Guilty Secret by Marie Ferrarella

2 of 5 scoopers

A Widow’s Guilty Secret by Marie Ferrarella
Harlequin (Dec. 18, 2012)
Mass Market: $5.50; ebook: $4.99
ISBN: 9780373278060
Excerpt

Favorite Lines: “It was almost an out-of-body experience for her. She was in awe of her own actions, of the liberties that she was taking. She’d always been faithful to the man she was with, and as Peter’s wife, she’d been faithful to her vows. But Peter was dead and for the first time in a long time, she was not. Nick brought out a wildness in her, and yet, there was this overpowering need for a connection. To life, to love, to herself.  Every kiss seemed to flower into another one, creating equal partners of them even as she and Nick both tottered back and forth between being master and slave, captor and captive, each taking a turn at assuming all four roles.” (p. 235, e-galley)

“Watch over my baby.”

As the mother of a newborn, Suzy Burris is accustomed to sleepless nights. But tonight, she’s waiting up for her husband, Peter, to tell him she wants a divorce. Instead, she learns he’s been murdered. And the sexy detective who’s just delivered the shocking news is asking questions indicating she’s a suspect.

When Detective Nick Jeffries left Houston for the sleepy town of Vengeance, Texas, he hoped to leave behind the city’s grisly homicides. The latest triple murder to hit his desk nixes that idea. Being attracted to the widow of one of the victims is the last thing he needs. But when Suzy and her baby are threatened, he’ll risk all to keep them from a killer’s crosshairs….

I seem to forget that many of the Harlequin individual series like Intrigue, Super Romance, Nocturne, Blaze, Desire, etc…are continuations of the same story. For example, A Widow’s Guilty Secret is part of Harlequin Romantic Suspense Vengeance in Texas series. This irritated me for the same reason it always irritates me. I think I’m getting a complete story in a book, but major threads are left unsolved to be picked up in another book. In this case the next book which picks up the story is A Rancher’s Deadly Affair by Jennifer Morey which comes out with the other February Harlequin Romantic Suspense releases.

So if you’re expecting a glowing review you won’t find it here. That doesn’t mean I disliked the story. There was much to like such as the actual mystery. I wanted to know who killed Sheriff Burris and his pals and the reasoning behind the murders. I guess my problem is that I didn’t feel like the book was a romance or a suspense. The first chapter introduces us to the story’s heroine Suzy Burris as she waits for her husband to come home. She’s decided to divorce him and wants to tell her hubby before she takes their two-month-old infant and leaves. By the end of an info dumped first chapter we find out why Suzy’s marriage is a sham, that her husband was a douche and watch her as the hero informs her of her husband’s death.

That’s a lot, I know. It is supposed to open me to the idea of a brand spanking new widow falling in love with a man she just met, but it didn’t. I was told the heroine never really loved her husband, but I kept wondering how a woman with an infant and a murdered spouse could find lasting love while a killer is on the loose. Suzy’s reactions and thoughts confused me just as much as Nick, the hero and detective investigating the murders, ability to lust after the widow. I didn’t feel romance, love or lust between them. Friendship? Yes.

I guess I felt like the book was like a road traveling across the plains. There was no high or low parts just a steady continuation from point A to B. There were no interesting landmarks to look out the window at, simply asphalt taking the reader on a trip. It wasn’t boring enough to set aside or not finish. I just didn’t see anything spectacular about it. It certainly didn’t feel very suspenseful.

A Widow’s Guilty Secret didn’t do much for me. I liked it less than the average book because I was unable to lose myself in the story. I didn’t believe in the characters, disliked how much of the story was left unfinished and was disappointed in the lack of high and low points in the story. I expected to read a suspense filled romance, but feel like I read a piece of fiction with a forced romance thread.

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