“An exciting new voice in romantic suspense.” —Mary Burton, New York Times bestselling author On the coast of Oregon, the small town of Siren Cove harbors frightening secrets . . . NATURAL BEAUTY Antiques shop owner Paige Shephard has a good eye for finding rare treasures in other people’s junk. But when it comes to her love life, her instincts aren’t so sharp. If only she could stop … it comes to her love life, her instincts aren’t so sharp. If only she could stop comparing every man she meets to her best friend, Quentin Radcliff . . .
A LAID-BACK LIFESTYLE
Opening a new restaurant in his former hometown of Siren Cove gives Quentin a much-needed break from the string of women he’s been dating—and allows him the space to reconnect with Paige. But being with her after all this time awakens a long-denied desire.
AN INESCAPABLE DANGER
With Quentin at her side—and in her bed—Paige should be happy at last. But she’s unsettled by a series of break-ins at her shop. Figuring out why she’s being targeted is as difficult as figuring out her complicated relationship with Quentin. And when a local woman disappears—and Quentin becomes the main suspect—they’ll have to dig deep into the deadly secrets of Siren Cove’s past to clear his name—and find any hope of a future together.
“Every Move She Makes will have you looking over your shoulder long after the lights go out.”
—Nancy Bush, New York Times bestselling author
“Jannine Gallant is a talented author who knows how to grab your attention and keeps the suspense in high gear until the end.”
—RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars, on Buried Truth
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I’ve read quite a few books by Ms Gallant and she continues to please. This one is maybe the best. It’s been a long time that a book has kept me reading past my usual bedtime. An antique dealer has something that can lead to a murderer. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out who the bad guy was and never did nail it. The romance between two childhood friends was so believable. An absolutely great read.
A cold case and an antique dealer…an excellent pairing in a not-so-sleepy town called Siren Cove, where villains hide in plain sight. Suspense comes from two places in this novel. 1) The race to discover murderers before Paige becomes the next victim. 2) Paige’s budding romance with her long-time friend, Quentin. Gallant artfully weaves both plot tensions into Hidden Secrets. Definitely a page-turner!
I’ve been following the Siren Cove series since its inception. I really liked the first novel in the series, had problems with the second and am pleased to report that this third novel in the series was a huge improvement over book 2. Despite the slightly redundant title, this friends-to-lovers, serial killer whodunit/romantic suspense novel was a very good read and it gets 4 stars from this reader.
This novel centers around two best friends practically from birth, Paige and Quentin, who admit to loving each other (as friends) but who have chosen different paths in life. Paige Shephard has remained in her hometown of Siren’s Cove, Oregon, and now owns an operates Old Things, an antique store. Quentin left Siren’s Cove, made a name for himself as the owner of 5 successful
West Coast restaurants, and he’s back in Siren Cove to open his sixth restaurant, having just purchased what was once The Poseidon Grill. No one is happier to see him than Paige, who is in her early thirties, and who has used Quentin as the yardstick by which she’s measured every other man she ever dated, and none of them measured up to Quentin Radcliff.
The two 30-something best friends seem to have successfully navigated the treacherous waters of the “a man and a woman cannot just be friends” relationship, and while both are attracted to one another, and admit to loving one another, handsome and charming Quentin has had no problem filling his bed with attractive women for both year-long relationships and one-night hook-ups. None of these women have ever measured up to Paige, but he’s not ready to settle down and start raising a family, while Paige sees how happy and successful the two couples, who were the primary characters in the first and second books in the series, have become, and she wants that for herself. Since Quentin will be in Siren’s Cove for several months trying to get The Poseidon Grill cleaned-up, modernized and refitted, he and Paige eventually agree to risk their friendship by becoming friends with benefits, agreeing that if things don’t work out, their lifelong friendship will remain intact. Although the two characters seem to hit it off in bed, the sex scenes between them were pretty vanilla, and very lackluster. Simply telling the reader that the sex is passionate is far less effective than showing the reader exactly how passionate it is, at least for this reader.
As the novel opens, Paige is at the farm of elderly Zeb Stillwater, buying antiques from the huge hoard of items in his immense barn. His grandsons show up and accuse Paige of trying to cheat the old man, but Zeb is adamant that Paige paid a fair price for everything she bought. Paige leaves and has two more buying appointments that day, and it’s not long after that that the break-ins begin at her antique shop, and the mystery of who’s breaking in but not taking anything begins. What the reader has already learned in the prologue, is that there is a serial killer of women who’s been staying beneath the radar for decades, burying his victims in remote areas and none have yet been found. That’s about to change, especially after Paige and Quentin go to cut down Christmas trees for her store and home and find a tarnished silver necklace snagged on a log in a nearby creek, a find that will put Paige in serious danger. I do have to admit to finding myself disliking Paige for being utterly clueless about her own safety. Quentin, buys her a dog, but Paige still repeatedly forgets to lock her doors, and repeatedly goes off alone in search of both antiques and following what she sees as opportunities to take the suspicion off Quentin, and putting herself in harm’s way.
As mysteries go this one wasn’t bad. There were plenty of red herrings throughout, two more women who were both connected in some way to Quentin, who also go missing, leading the police to suspect him, and enough other suspects to keep the reader guessing the identity of the killer, at least until the halfway point of this novel, and even then, you have your suspicions that the author may be leading you down the wrong path. While I’m not a huge fan of mysteries, this one worked for me, and so did the fact that the two friends had more than a couple of obstacles in their path to an HEA ending. I also liked that the author used alternating narration, which drew you in to what Paige, Quentin and the killer were thinking, and the cherry on top of this romantic suspense mystery sundae is a mad race to the finish, and a truly satisfying ending. While this novel can be read as a standalone, the characters from the previous novels get more than just a walk-on in this one, and I suggest reading these novels in the order in which they were written.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.
Get ready to follow the clues while reading this dynamic romantic suspense title featuring childhood best friends Paige and Quentin who are reunited when Quentin returns to their hometown to refurbish and open a restaurant. Paige owns an antique shop in Siren Cove and routinely spends her time driving up and down the coast looking for antique objects she can feature in her shop. When Paige and her dog stumble upon some newly unearthed skeletal remains little does she know that she’s about to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with a killer who will do anything to keep his identity secret. Get ready for a budding romance that is surrounded by mysterious clues, suspicious characters and enough creepy incidents that will keep you up all night! I read a complimentary copy of this book provided by Kensington Books through NetGalley and all opinions expressed in my voluntary review are completely my own.
Hidden Secrets by Jannine Gallant
Siren Cove #3
Cozy mystery with romantic suspense and a friends to lovers romance thrown in for good measure made this a book that I could not easily put down.
Paige and Quentin have been friends since preschool but never taken that friendship beyond BFF status. When Quentin comes to Siren Cove to ready his latest restaurant for business he and Paige do move on to a new relationship level with the understanding that no matter what happens when he leaves they will remain friends…hopefully. At times Quentin seemed a bit immature to me but he did grow as the story progressed.
With a serial murderer on the loose, break-ins, kidnappings and arrests this book was fast-paced and action-packed. There were plenty of potential suspects but in the end the serial killer was dealt with.
It was fun seeing the couples from previous books and I wonder if there will be more books in this series or if Siren Cove has seen enough murder, mayhem and craziness and the author will move on to another place to write about…or perhaps remain in Siren Cove and maybe have a tamer romance for a change? Hmm…
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Lyrical Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4-5 Stars
Hidden Secrets is a fabulous murder, mystery and great romantic suspense. I loved the balance between suspense and romance never compromising on one or the other. I would definitely recommend this book and series to readers