The last thing Officer Max St. Stevens expects when he responds to an armed robbery at a grocery store is meeting the woman of his dreams. Now, he needs to figure out what she’s hiding and how to convince her that she belongs with him.For over five years Opal and her younger sister, Pearl, have been on the run, hiding from the dangerous people who wish them harm. Everything in their lives is a … lives is a lie, and they need help, but don’t know how to get it. One night, Opal meets Max when the grocery store she’s working is robbed. There’s an instant connection that can’t be denied. Will she trust him with her secrets that could destroy more than just her?
Author’s Note :
This is a dark new adult romance and is intended for readers 18 and up due to sensitive content, that some may find difficult to read. Please be aware, this book does contain sexual assault, as well as psychological and physical violence. Reader discretion is advised.
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I am an avid reader of romance novels so when a good friend offered the chance at an ARC I immediately said yes. I am one who when I start a book if I’m not hooked within the first few chapters, I know I more than likely will not finish reading the book.
I will warn you now…be prepared to not be able to put this book down. I devoured this book in less than 2 days (and I have 2 toddlers). I absolutely love how she writes. I love that she kept me wanting to know more about the characters and that the story wasn’t predictable.
You will not be disappointed when you buy this book. If there is another story to continue the series I cannot way to read it.
Give me more Jennifer, give me more!
4.5 stars Wow. First, there are possible triggers. Second, emotions, so many emotions, have tissues on hand. The fierceness that Opal possesses is amazing and she tries to let it overshadow her despair. I really like Opal and her attitude. Then there is Max. While I really like Max and I love the way they are both so protective and loyal and loving and kind and cute and funny, I do want to smack Max a time or two. I love Paige and Felix is a perfect secondary hero and Gloria makes me laugh. This is a great story with suspense and thrills and drama and all the in between.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Hidden Gem by Jennifer Kayne
I have read another book by a first time writer author and Jennifer Kayne you can stand up and take a bow! This one is a keeper and I would advise reading it when you have the next day off, you just can’t put it down. Fast paced, wonderful characters (oh that Gloria), suspense, laughter and oh yeah “sex” , lol!
Opal and Pearl are on the run and have been hid out in a small town in Texas for 5 years. Opal is working in a small town grocery store on the edge of the seedy side of town. Pearl stays home because she has lots of problems. Darned if the store doesn’t get robbed and in comes Sgt. Maximilian StStevens and ain’t he fine! Because of the robbery Opals ex finds them. Max and his partner Felix eventually became their protectors.
Abuse is a terrible thing to live with and the devastating after effects it leaves behind. I love the way Ms Kayne handles this in her book.
Now the wait because I know you have some more good books in that brain! ….pat….
3.5 stars!!
This book was beautifully tragic. So much transpired I don’t even know where to start.
I love all the characters in the book. Especially Pearl and Opal!! Max and Felix are fantastic!! Can I say that I feel for Max the minute he pulled his gun. Lol.
This book takes you on a woman’s journey, basically, through hell. Though the sisters story is sad and heart breaking it is courageous and beautiful.
This is the author’s debut novel, and it does read that way. I am quite impressed at the story line. I do think this book is good. Think it just needs a little work.
**I received this book as an ARC and in return gave my honest review**
Hidden Gem by Jennifer Kayne is just that. This is a great story. Opal who is working to keep a roof over her and her sister’s head needs to keep a low profile. Then one night the store she works at gets robbed. One of the responding officers is Max who after meeting Opal can’t get her off his mind. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions. It had me laughing at the funny things that happened during the robbery and crying at another situation. It had me on the edge of my seat unable to stop reading until the end. I can’t wait to see what Jennifer will write next.
When asked if I was interested in an ARC from a debut author and was sent a blurb the answer was yes…I love an insta attraction story, add a dark past she is trying to run from. This story is full of insta attraction, strength, determination, love, heartache, friendship…I laughed and cried. I became invested in the characters. This book is a real gem and hope to see more of these characters in their own stories.
Hidden Gem by Jennifer Kayne. Ophelia was married to Lance Graysen and went through hell with him and his family. Then one day Opheila was in a lot of pain and bleeding very badly as she was going through another miscarriage caused by Lance and she had to watch her 17 year old sister Paige [Pearl] being gang raped by Lance and 6 other guys and she was unable to help. Then one day she took her sister and ran away. The sisters changed their names and have been on the run from the people who were dangerous. They both have been hiding for 5 years. All Opheila [Opal] wanted was to make enough money to keep a roof over their heads and protect Paige [Pearl]. The one day some guy tried to rob the store Opal worked at. That is when Opal met Max. One day Max and his friend Felix went to the grocery store so because Max wanted to see Opal and the weather had turned real bad and the guys offered to give Opal a ride home but,mother nature and horrible driving conditions Max’s truck ended up in a ditch fortunately no one was hurt. Opal invited the guys back to her house while they waited for someone to pull his truck out and Opal knew it would probably affect her sister but, it couldn’t be helped. Max and Opal start to see more of each and start to get close. Pearl was even starting to like Felix. While Opal is at Max’s house he gets a call in the morning from Felix that there was something wrong with Pearl. Max and Opal met Felix at the hospital and find out that Pearl is in bad shape. Due to the fact that the robbery was on the news lance and his family found Opal and Pearl. Opal wishes she had told Max the truth about what she and Pearl went through but, the Graysen’s had filled Max’s head with a bunch of lies and when Opal tried to explain things Max didn’t want to listen due to his history with a lying witch who’d made a fool out of him. Opal went into hiding again Lance found her again and set up a place that she was suppose to go to. Opal went to the place and all hell broke loose. If you ant to find out more you truly truly need to read this book!! This is the first book that I read by Jennifer Kayne and I loved.
4.5 Stars
Hidden Gem is the debut novel by Jennifer Kayne. It’s a dual POV second chance romance that’s ripe with suspense and darker themes that are tastefully touched upon. The primary characters, Max and Opal, meet after Opal’s store is robbed and the pair are instantly attracted to one another. Max is a police officer who responds to a silent alarm and then makes it a priority to return to the store for another glance at the woman he can’t get him mind off of. Opal is running from a tragic and disturbing past that readers will find heartbreaking. The darker elements of this story—the abuse Opal and her sister, Pearl—endured might be a trigger for some readers but Jennifer Kayne wrote them tastefully while not entirely shying away from the ugliness that the pair endured. Opal’s walked through hell and come out on the other side stronger. She’s been the rock for her sister for years and her story while at the forefront of the book doesn’t lessen Pearl’s heartbreaking past.
Hidden Gem offers a glimpse at what readers will be able to expect from Jennifer Kayne as she grows in her journey as an author. It’s a promising start worthy of one-clicking this new release and settling into your favorite chair to read straight through. Like all debut novels, there is room for growth with Jennifer’s storytelling. I found Hidden Gem to be an entertaining and easy read and I’d give it 4.5 Stars. I LOVED the secondary characters in this story—particularly Pearl, Glo, and Felix—and I’d love to see the other characters get their own HEA. I anticipate Jennifer Kayne will soon have stockpiled readers who are clamoring for her stories! Readers will find her Hidden Gem sexy, sweet, and suspenseful. There are a few areas that I believe could have improved the story. Namely the pacing and the character’s connection. I’d love to see the story’s pacing smoothed out a little—as it stands, it is either told in fast succession or a bit to slow for my taste. Also, I’d love to see more growth in the character’s connection. Max has been badly burned in the past and feels that while his attraction to Opal is strong, he’s not able to fully trust her either. Max senses she isn’t telling him everything and it causes some internal conflict for his character. The pair are intensely drawn to one author, yet Jennifer might have been able to develop this connection a little better. It does grow in the second half of the book—as I’d expect from a story—but I wasn’t fully convinced of that connection. At times, the chemistry between Max and Opal was written succinctly and at others, it felt a little forced within the confines of the scene. Overall, I’m a very critical reader and while I may seem harsh in my review as this is a debut novel for the author, I genuinely enjoyed the story and will look for more of this author’s work.
I received an ARC and voluntarily reviewed Hidden Gem
I read an early copy of this debut novel for the author. As a whole the book was really great. It had a really good storyline. I enjoyed the story a lot.
Opal and her sister Pearl are on the run. Opal meets Max when he is the officer that shows up when the store she works at is robbed. This book has a lot of triggers so beware!
I enjoyed Max and Opal. They had some great chemistry and Opal was a great heroine. She was feisty, strong, smart and witty, despite her past. Max was a great hero. Very caring and paid attention! He has flaws but who doesn’t. The suspense in this book was amazing!!! I am very intrigued for the next book in the series!
This is a great debut novel.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. I have since purchased the book.
I absolutely loved this book. The characters were developed really well. I could close my eyes and picture them. I love how Ms. Kayne took the time to develop them. Especially Pearl and Opal. I could really understand and feel Pearl’s anxiety and fears. And Opal, I felt her guilt, her love and desire to protect Pearl.
I can’t wait to read more books by Ms. Kayne.
Hidden Gem, is a new favorite of mine. Jennifer Kayne is a hidden gem for sure. Her debut was an amazing and emotional read.
And, seriously it was her FIRST book. Wow!! If I didnt know going into it, I never would have guessed. She writes like she has been doing it her whole life.
She just got herself a big fan. I cannot wait to see what else she does.
Max… you are a horses backside!
You could have swallowed broken glass and I still wouldn’t have given you a second glance
Darn lucky that girl loves you
Felix, you can handcuff me anytime
Lance hope you meet the underside of a bus
I’ll be back I still have a couple of chapters left but my blood is boiling and I needed to vent
I’m back …
At a little past the midway point the story finally captured my complete attention and I couldn’t flip the pages fast enough-
I almost put this one down – So glad I didn’t.
Max and Opal find an instant attraction between them which they pursue. Opal is hiding something and Max knows it, having been betrayed before he is a bit weary but he can not deny how he feels when they are together. As things begin to unravel Max finds that he may have been made the fool once again.
The beginning chemistry between these two felt a bit forced but as the story progressed their connection became tangible. A couple of times I wanted to smack Max upside the head for letting his past cloud his present. Opal needed a good talking too as well.
I think this should have been a duet or longer. There is a lot to these characters and the author does touch on it but for me, as a reader, I wanted more – I wanted a deeper connection.
The supporting cast was a blast their personalities were spot on providing the reader with a bit of laughter, comradely, and family.
I really am looking forward to their stories.
This was the first book I’ve read by Jennifer Kayne, but it won’t be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you’re looking for a good romantic suspense, this is for you!
The debut novel by Jennifer Kayne and I loved it! Hidden Gem has so much emotions pour into each and every page it was a delight to read. These characters, mainly Opal and Max will steal your heart. The chemistry between them was so much fun to read, I couldn’t get enough. Solid plot to carry the story mixed with easy to read characters that you just instantly like. That’s a winner in my book! Hidden Gem is great and I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author!
-Mackenzie
This is the first book I have read by this author and it was very intriguing. It took me a while to get into it, but I did, I was consumed by the lives of opal and pearl. Max seemed a little tough around the ends with a sure dominance about him, but it was a calming influence in opals life which she wanted to cling to. The horrors that were still chasing them were no doubt a plague to their souls and this story dragged you and made you feel it all with them. Great read.
Firstly, can we all stand and give an applause to Jennifer for publishing her first book! As a failed writer myself, I know how hard it is to write and finish a book! Another thing I want to applaud Jennifer for is the fact that she did not shy away from the really dark and seriously messed up scenes! A warning first: This book contains very vivid scenes of sexual and physical abuse so read with caution. I’ve found that when other authors decide that one of their characters were a victim of a very horrible and sick abuser, it’s just skimmed over. The character just give a summary or what happened or explain it as briefly as possible because they don’t want to relive the trauma. I think authors find it too hard to write because let’s face it – it’s never easy to write about rape or sexual assault. Or maybe they don’t want to upset their readers. But Jennifer wrote one particular chapter that was incredibly detailed and it made me cringe at first and then I couldn’t read any more and had to stop for a while. What happened to these women is so so horrible and even though they’re fictional characters, there’s real women who has to suffer through something like this in real life. Maybe this will open a lot of eyes and make people see how the real effects of sexual violence!! But it explained so much and emotionally I understood the two sisters better. It was necessary for the plot to know what these girls went through. The beginning was a tas bit slow and boring but in hindsight it shows that Opal wasn’t really living until she met Max and when they met the fireworks were all over the place! Opal’s behavior was a but like… ummm what are you doing girl? But once you get to know her and see what she’s been through, you will understand why she never learned how to control her hormones! I’m trying not to give away any spoilers but I want to shake my head and call Jennifer a sneaky little hobbits because she got away with a mayor plot twist that was there all along but I didn’t see it coming because I didn’t recognize a certain character’s name immediately… even though it was mentioned before. The ending had me whooping and air punching like an idiot in my bed, still in my PJs, but I had to celebrate on behalf of all my sisters out there! What I didn’t expect was that final chapter… the 2nd epilogue… I was so confused at first because I had no idea what was going on and why everyone was not acting like they where supposed to! But then it all made sense and I loved Pearl even more for what she did for her sister! It also hinted at a second book which Jennifer confirmed on her page a few days ago! At first I thought it was just the ARC copy that had the errors and mistakes (which is totally fine because a lot of authors send out their ARC before it was edited and checked for the final draft) but it seemed that that was not the case. However… I don’t think you can take away a star from a book just because the editing fell short. The last few chapters was a bit messy with the POVs from Max and Opal jumping into each other’s chapters for a paragraph or two. I have to admit that it was quite confusing. I’m giving this book 5 stars because it deserves 5 stars. For her first book, Jennifer did an excellent job. The characters were explained in so much detail and you wanted to weep with them. The plot twists were excellently timed and I didn’t see it coming! We have to give Jennifer some slag here. It’s her first book and no one got it right the first time. I feel she has the potential to become an amazing writer. She just need to learn the importance of editing and making sure that the manuscript is perfect and all the errors are fixed before sending the book out into the world. She’s getting some bad cred because of it and I don’t believe she deserves it. I’m anxiously waiting for Broken Gem and I can’t wait to see where this story takes us!
Such a great story with fantastic characters. This story is a journey of a woman’s journey through hell. It’s sad, heartbreaking, courageous and beautiful. Opal and Pearl have been on the run and are hiding out in a small town in Texas. Opal is working at a grocery store when it get robbed. That’s how she meets Sgt. Maximilian St.Stevens. Because of the robbery Opal’s ex finds them. There is where she is going to have to trust Max and his partner Felix to protect them. This might be fiction but there are so many women that are living these kinds of lives. This story turns out beautifully and Opal and Pearl find the safety they deserve. Great First story from this author. Can’t wait to read another. I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Jennifer Kayne’s debut book was a good read that I enjoyed, it had lots of suspense as well as great character build up. I am always thrilled to find new authors especially ones that have so much potential. I was asked if I would like to read an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) of this book but since I couldn’t commit to the release date I purchased a copy and read the release copy instead of the the ARC. I was surprised about the errors and normally with an ARC I let them go because it’s not the final edition but this is the one that I purchased so I was disappointed with them and I believe I would have rated this higher if the errors weren’t there. Which is unfortunate because if I was able to read this last week my rating would have rated it higher. Now putting all of that aside, on to my review…..
Opal and Pearl are sisters in hiding and things don’t start off that great for Opal right from the start…or do they? You see Opal is is a cashier at a grocery store that is in the process of being robbed when Officer Max St. Stevens arrives on the scene. I will say that the owner of the store Glo was HYSTERICAL and I absolutely loved her, she is the momma bear of all momma bears. There is an instant connection between Max and Opal and I really enjoyed their romance progression. What I loved more was her sister Pearl. OMG what that poor girl has been through, Opal went through a lot as well but Pearl man she just broke my heart into tiny little pieces.
This was a great start to the series and I will definitely be reading more of it because I see so much potential in the story’s that can evolve from this one.
I have read several reviews about this book and they go on to tell you the majority of the story, I won’t do that because you need to experience it for yourself but I will tell you that the story has sensitive subject matter that may be triggers for some, ie; domestic violence, emotional and physical abuse, and a vicious rape of a 17 year old
If you enjoy Romantic Suspense or Dark Romance I hope you give this new author a chance by grabbing a copy of this book.
Happy Reading!!!
Book one in the Harrison County Gems series a well written story. What an intense story. Ophelia/Opal Clark and her sister Pearl go through some really nasty things at the hands of some really bad men. Officer Max St. Stevens meets Opal when The Grocery Gal was robbed. I also like Felix, Gloria, and the rest of the people that come into the two sisters lifes. This is a new Author to me. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Good debut book. Great characters. Suspenseful, dark, romantic, hopeful, devotion. I always love a strong heroine! I look forward to reading more from Jennifer!!