Detective Drake Lewis is tough, focused, and unbending. He has no problem keeping his workaholic professional life completely separate from his lonely personal life. Drake has never met a man who could pull him from his job.Until he does.Liam Walters is a construction foreman with a painful past. He’s happy with himself and what his life has become. When his path once again crosses with Drake’s, … crosses with Drake’s, Liam is willing to take whatever Drake can offer him.
For now.
Buried Secrets is a standalone male/male romance with suspenseful elements. This story has bits and pieces of opposites-attract, hurt/comfort, and redeemed by love tropes. Trigger Warning: This story has the mention of childhood trauma.
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A good murder mystery!
I enjoyed listening to this book, it’s a good mix between the mystery, with the ongoing investigation about a growing number of bodies found buried in concrete, and the blossoming romance between closeted Homicide Detective Drake Lewis and Liam Walters, the foreman of the construction site where the first body is found.
The mystery part is very intriguing, with a growing toll of deaths adding up and the suspects floating in that grey zone of “not completely right, not completely wrong”…
The romance part has no “major” drama, apart for both characters being two stubborn men batting heads and taking things too far before considering compromising… (men, am I right???)
All in all a very pleasant book, with an intriguing plot and a very interesting take on the merits of justice, and victims’ vindication.
I’m reviewing the audio edition. What starts as a one night stand changes when Drake and Liam are brought together at a crime scene. Drake is not exactly in the closet but he isn’t really out either. Liam wants more. As the investigation progresses Drake gets reasons to come out and Liam having been abused as a child, has to face what he knows is right and what’s wrong when the bodies add up of the child abusers. I enjoyed the romance with the mystery. I don’t feel there is really much mystery to the story and wish there had been more. I did enjoy how the relationship developed. I think Christopher Solon did an excellent job of narrating this story and bringing these characters to life.
An enjoyable read! I really liked the MCs. Both Drake and Liam had complicated and realistic personalities, far from perfect but very well matched.
The suspence part, while a bit predictable, was immersive and introduced a very interesting and complex conflict between the characters.
I liked that the book addressed some interesting moral dilemmas along with the plot
Story 4.5 stars
Audio 5 stars
I really loved this story. It drew me in from the start and I couldn’t stop listening from start to finish. It is a pretty quick read but didn’t feel rushed and felt complete in the end. It was a little angsty at times and pretty steamy. The 2 MCs had great chemistry. I loved Liam and my heart ached for him. I enjoyed Drake overall but a couple times he frustrated me which is the only reason why I left off half a star. Other then that I loved everything about this book. Both the relationship side and the murder mystery plot. Neither of which drowned out each other. It was a perfect blend. This book was fantastic and I absolutely recommend it.
Great narration. The narrator had a very pleasant voice, kept a good pace and expressed all the emotions. He brought the story to life and made it a pleasure to listen to. He also changed up the voices to easily tell everyone apart.
What a great mystery! I know at the end I was in just as much shock as the characters. Drake is a detective who focuses on his job and takes it serious. He has a part of his life he hides from everyone. He meets Liam and they have a passionate night. He’s surprised to see him again at the crime scene for latest murder case he was working on. Drake is battling with if he can trust Liam and also the feelings he has for the man he wants to ignore. They start a secret fling. Liam wants to be anything but a secret, but he doesn’t want to force Drake into coming out if he isn’t ready. Then things get dangerous and what is important to them becomes apparent. Drake hopes it’s not too late. His happiness and life are at risk. This narrator was the perfect voice for this story. He made it really enjoyable. I was captivated by the story from start to finish. A great mystery with plenty of steam!
A murder mystery with romance
We meet a police detective Drake Lewis, whose a black and white and no grey areas type of policeman.
Liam, a construction foreman, has a brutal, abusive history that lets him sees grey areas. When he meets Drake, things become complicated. One, Drake doesn’t do relationships and emotions, Two, Drake doesn’t know whether Liam is implicated in his latest murder cases.
This book took me a while to settle into, but I have to say it all happens in the second half of the book, then I was hooked.
This book is well written, hurt/comfort, hot and fun., childhood abuse and trauma are mentioned, but we get a HEA.
Good narration from Christopher Solon, this is my second audio recorded by him, and I loved both. I now need to hunt out more of his recordings. Very easy to listen to. Although, like usual, I sped up the audio, and I listened at 1.25 speed on audible, but I do prefer all my audios to be a little quicker.
Buried Secrets
By: A.D. Ellis
Narrated by: Christopher Solon
Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
Overall
Narration
Story
Read at 1.35 speed on Audible
**Audible Review**
I must say in the beginning I wasn’t feeling this story too much and I guess I would blame that on Drake. He had too many issues, wasn’t all that likeable and he didn’t treat Liam right(like a sex toy. This is the first in awhile I didn’t want the two main characters together but the more and more the story went on I began to bent a little. Liam is what Drake needed and vice versa. You see Drake come full circle and I like it. The background story that is going on throughout the guys romance was thrilling and kept you guessing almost until the end.Christopher Solon did a marvelous job with the narration. Loved the emotion and the intensity he put in the characters…plus I love his voice…All in all I enjoyed this…had me all in my feelings and had me with a big smile at the end with the guys HEA. Sweet!
I received a free audible and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
Liam and Drake were interesting people. I thought the moral dilemma was well done. Definitely insta-love even though Drake fought the feelings. Worth reading.
I enjoyed the story of Drake and Liam. It was different, not really what I’m used to. The chemistry between them was fantastic. I felt like the story was missing something. I thought about it for awhile. Then I realized that it was missing that special moment when Drake and Liam met. I don’t want to include a spoiler so that’s all I’m going to say. It was definitely a great story!!!
First, I want to note this book does contain a trigger warning.
Second, I’m giving this 3.5 Stars
Drake and Liam start out hot and heavy from the get go, what starts out as “no strings ” moves exceptionally quick, with Drake changing his mind.
I also had a hard time with certain aspects of where they stood with regards to this case that Drake was working. I totally understand where Liam was coming from but felt his actions and secrets were very detrimental to the story as a whole. I read a lot of mystery, and suspense and I just felt that Drake and Liam both should have handled things differently.
I do recommend this book it was steamy and had some great mystery elements to the story.
Edited 2/1/21 to add my comments on the audiobook:
Audiobook review:
Performance – 5
Story – 5
Overall – 5
Great story, great audio performance!
I read this book when it was first published back in July 2020 and I loved it. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook, I loved it even more.
Christopher Solon did a great job with this one. I loved the different character voices he used; it was easy to distinguish between the different ones.
A complimentary copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author and/or narrator.
Original Review:
Kept me entranced, I loved it!
I’ve read near every one of A.D. Ellis’s MM romance stories – and all of them have been great. But I think that Buried Secrets is right up there with the best that she’s written. Maybe it’s because it’s so different, at least it seemed really different, to me, from her other books. The romance between Drake and Liam is definitely the main focus of the story but the suspense and mystery, related to Drake’s job as a police detective, is also a hugely important part of the story.
Drake and Liam had a hookup, what Drake thought would be just a one-off. But then Drake’s job has them connecting again and the spark is still there between them. Drake doesn’t do relationships but he’s not opposed to having a bit of fun with Liam until whatever it is between them burns out. Liam really wants more than Drake is willing to give but for now he’ll settle for what he can get.
The more time that they spend together the more that Drake comes to realize that Liam is more than just a hookup for him. When Drake’s investigation into a serial murderer puts them at odds with each other he becomes a bit of an a-hole. He and Liam have differing opinions on the murders and it nearly destroys their relationship.
The suspense in this story was really good. A.D. did a great job of dangling suspects in front of us but I still didn’t know which way to go until she revealed all. There were some very tense moments towards the end of the story but she wrapped things up very nicely and the epilogue was really great.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
Detective Drake Lewis is determined to keep his personal life personal until Liam Walters comes back into his life. When a body is found at one of Liam’s construction sites, Drake and Liam find that their attraction cannot be denied. Little did Drake know of the secrets that Liam carried from childhood would play into the serial killer of child abusers. Will Drake admit his love for Liam in front of his Captain and fellow officers or let Liam walk out of his life again? This is a hot and steamy m/m romance that will make you turn the AC lower. Warning: This story deals with child abuse and can trigger some emotions. I found myself crying for the victims and wishing I could wrap them in a mamma bear hug.
This was such a great story from start to finish. It was definitely something totally different than what I am used to by A.D. Ellis, but I loved it so much. There was romance and suspense that just pulls you in.
Definitely a binge worthy read!
Plans & Grays
I enjoyed the mystery and suspense in this book. The “whodunnit” combined with the thrill of finding the killer was fun to read and kept me second-guessing myself. Liam and Drake have major chemistry. “Wherever you are. That’s my home. always.” While I fell for Liam first (who wouldn’t, he’s so yummy and genuine), Drake eventually won me over with his willingness to take a chance and his gruff romantic side. I appreciated that they both had to learn to look beyond themselves and together built trust. It’s no secret that once you start reading you’ll bury yourself in this book until the end.
Wow! A nail-biter for sure, this well-paced romantic suspense will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The plot covers many “hard” topics, but without the difficult descriptions, and compel you to continue reading, needing to know what will happen next. The characters are vibrant, yet complex, demanding compassion and understanding, in their search for the ever eluding love, and making you want to “just give them a big ole hug”.
Drake and Liam bring the best and worst out of each other after a chance “second meeting” at a construction site. Their lives are about to change in ways that neither could possibly have predicted. When these two meet up at a crime scene, which happens to be Liam’s construction site, sparks fly.
I found it extremely difficult to put this book down. Once again, Ms. Ellis has raised the bar with her level of talent, as clearly shown with this story. A definite must read!
I was gifted a copy of this book and am voluntarily giving my honest opinion.