I should never have fallen in love with the boy next door because he was a perfect beautiful billionaire and I was the awkward teenager who always wanted to argue. It was never meant to be..Ten years later after a marriage that broke me, I crept back home to lick my wounds, then he walked in the door as perfect as ever, and everything had changed.He didn’t recognize me and I let him almost seduce … didn’t recognize me and I let him almost seduce me, I let myself almost have him.
He was a gorgeous billionaire bad boy married to a beautiful movie star, and I was the dog walker with a past.
But their marriage was over if it was ever anything more than an empty arrangement, to begin with, and he said he loved me.
We fell into love, into a dream full of magic and laughter and joy, knowing all along that it couldn’t last, that our pasts and our failures and our heartbreaks would catch up to us.
Because when you’ve been around for a while you know that if a famous A list movie star wants you, she doesn’t let you go…
And when your pain and fear and past wants you, it comes to get you..
A secret love. A secret divorce. A secret romance. When the secrets come out, whose heart will be on the line? Whose life will be ruined? Who will get to live their true love’s desire?
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I just loved it! Hannah’s and James’ love story is full of passion, funny moments, drama, a bit of danger. Archenemies in their childhood, the ex neighbors meet again 10 years later, both broken from failed marriages. They were not expecting to fall in love and their reactions are completely different. It’s a great short story with a happy ending. I had a lot of fun reading it!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The scandals were real in this one from one coast to the other. LA drama came to New York in the form of an ex that didn’t get the memo and would do anything to stay relevant in the media!! Meddling cousins and best friends kept Hannah and James on their toes. They kept their feelings for each other on lock for ten years, but once they reconnected, those feelings exploded. Lots of fun (and funny) drama and you already know it wouldn’t be an L. A. Pepper story if their wasn’t a bit of danger thrown in for good measure.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
As a child and teen she watched him from afar knowing he would never notice her. But he knew she was there and enjoyed having her watch him. But they were from two very different worlds although they lived next door to each other through their youth and teenage years.
When they finally meet again as adults, both have secrets that could rip them apart. This story had great characters that came through the fire of pain, suffering and loss and found each other when really they had been there for each other all along – if only they had know. Both characters grew and learned from their mistakes. Easy, enjoyable read.
Secrets, alpha hotness, second chances, wonderful romance, oh yes indeed Protecting His Secret is LA Pepper at her best – which means a perfect billionaire second chance secret romance that’s easy to highly recommend.
James flies home to New York City from Los Angeles where he just divorced his vicious actress wife. When he finally gets to his brownstone, he finds a woman in his kitchen dancing with two Afghan hounds. It turns out to be his next-door neighbor whom he has not seen for at least 10 years. This story has some unsavory moments with exes but there is plenty of heat and romance and there is a HEA. Highly recommended.
James is a billionaire playboy that just got married to a famous movie star. However things didn’t turn out like he planned and it ended in divorce. He wasn’t allowed to go public with it because of a contract he signed due to his ex-wife’s career. He goes to his home away from LA expecting to find his sister but finds a sexy stranger dancing with two dogs in his kitchen. Hannah is his sister’s dog walker but she knows James from when she was younger. She’s surprised he doesn’t remember her but doesn’t remind him. James is drawn to her the moment he meets her. Hannah tries to keep her distance but James isn’t about to let her when he realizes who she really is. Can they be together when he ex causes problems for them? Will they get their happy ending?
This is an amazing story that will captivate you from beginning to end. This is a well written and very entertaining story. I would recommend this book to any book lover.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Lovely story about James and Hannah who had known each other when they were young. Hannah was dog sitting for a friend who was James’s cousin and didn’t realize that the house belonged to James. Hannah recognized James immediately, having been in love with him for many years. James didn’t recognize Hannah though! A sweet love story develops between them and some nasty exes turn up to stir things up but James and Hannah get their HEA!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This book is about Hannah Cleary and James Silver. Hannah is the dog walker for James’ cousin Bette. She is also the girl next door . James is a billionaire who is recently divorced. Both of them have ex’s that are not great people, and issues to deal with. This book is about Hope, Fate, Love, and internal healing. The struggles these 2 go through are realistic. In the end they find away. This a great book! Love the characters, even the dogs….. except Marcus and Brigitte.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
One of My Favorites!
A long-time crush between Hanna & James. She lived in the Carriage House behind James’ family home when they were teenagers. She was always fantasizing about being with James but he ignored her. They are from different circles of friends & social status. Years later, returning back to their family homes, both suffering from divorces, they learn they have had a crush for each other when they lived next door growing up. They realize this crush is even more intense & stronger. Both of their ex’s bring more drama & troubles into their lives, in the hopes to destroy their budding romance & get their respective ex-spouses back. Will they both be able to heal from their failed marriages & be able to pursue their second chance of true love?
This is my new favorite novel by L.A. Pepper. Her story-telling keeps you interested from the teenager crush for the rich boy next door, the courage to leave their bad relationships, the drama from the ex’s & what Hanna & James have to go through to achieve their HEA. A romance novel well-worth reading!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Neighbors a second time around
*** 4 1/2 Stars ***
Protecting His Secret is an emotional second chance at love story between two people who are both scared by their past relationship. James and Hannah may have been neighbors when they were younger but their paths did not cross until now. Things are about to get interesting between them, especially when James does not recognize Hannah and she does him, after all she did have a huge crush on the dashing rich young man she used to spy on.
This is a story that I enjoyed a lot as L.A. Pepper was able to make both characters come very much to life off the pages. Their story is at times sweet, romantic and emotional.
I received a copy of this book and am leaving my honest review. My opinions are all my own.
I absolutely enjoyed this suspenseful story. I loved how both James and Hanna were broken from their pasts, in very different ways, they overcame so much. I loved Hannah’s profession, she is so loving and talented. There is so much passion, drams, danger, suspense, and twists. I loved how even after years they never forgot each other.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Waiting for Love
Sometimes love isn’t convenient. Yes, it gives purpose to life. It makes the world go round. It makes a person feel alive. But, sometimes, love just isn’t convenient. And for James Silver and Philomena Hannah Cleary love has never been convenient. They came from different worlds with different values and different views on what in life was important.
Philomena Hannah Cleary had always been aware of the older boy who lived next door. When a young adolescent, Phil, reading on the roof of her parent’s freestanding converted carriage house which shared a garden wall with the Silver mansion, spied the handsome son of rich, condescending parents, he seemed the embodiment of the young, dashing lords who peopled the books she loved to read. And like in her books, while her heart yearned for him, she knew he, the son of wealth and privilege, was as unattainable to her, the daughter of modestly paid school teachers, as a young lord was to a farmer’s daughter.
Similarly, billionaire playboy, James Silver, had always been aware of the Cleary daughter, but had never met the younger girl. She was introverted and geeky, and always reading. Hiding and spying on her roof, he often spotted her wild, frizzy, dishwater colored hair and mouth full of braces. And, she was the daughter of parents whose political views seemed to align with any group or organization that expressed a view that was philosophically in opposition with those of James’ parents. And, being next-door-neighbors, it pleased James to think that when he was joined by hot, nubile teenage girls in his parents gated garden, that it was likely that Phil was on the rooftop of her parent’s house, with a perfect view of the sexy action taking place among the flowers and plants below.
So, while residing as next-door neighbors during their childhood and adolescent years, their paths had never crossed until as adults, when both were experiencing low points in their lives, they are thrown together by chance when James returns to NYC, having departed LA after signing divorce papers, dumping his cheating Hollywood A-actress wife. And Phil, now going by Hannah, has retreated back to her childhood home, shaken and demoralized by the psychological manipulation of a controlling ex-husband.
LA Pepper continues her powerful and engaging storytelling of the tales of bright, engaging individuals seeking the one person who completes them, as each supports the other to become a better individual. The author weaves a passionate and sensuous tale of love and discovery that is filled with the unexpected twists, turns and tunnels of life. And, while James and Hannah experience challenges not always of their own making, they face them with love and determination, strengthened by the support of true love. Filled with only a few bumps and scrapes along their way to happiness and wholeness, the story of evolving love is worth the wait. This romance is a reading adventure well worth the reader’s attention.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review ARCS, but I enjoyed the reading experience so much that I bought a copy for my “read-again” titles.
A second chance romance. Two wounded souls come together, after 10 years apart. Will they be able to heal each other?
James is newly wed to an A-list movie star, Brigitte LaFontaine. But what no one knows, is he filed for divorce. She never loved him, just used him. Now he’s staring at some lady dancing in his kitchen. When she turns around, he is speechless by her beauty.
Hannah is dog sitting for Bette, James’ cousin. The next thing she knows, she’s standing in front of the billionaire playboy. Hannah had a crush on him when she was younger. He doesn’t seem to recognize me. He’s still an arrogant ass. She has sworn off men, and he is no exception.
What a steamy hot romance! James is intrigued when he meets Hannah in his kitchen, not realizing that she was his next door neighbor. The sparks fly between them, and they fall hard and fast. Add in some crazy exes, a scandal, and a bunch of dogs, and this story just becomes a whole lot more entertaining. I really enjoyed this story as it somehow managed to be both sweet and romantic.
I received a free advanced review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving my fair and honest opinion.
This is a very sweet story of two neighbors who had a love/not love relationship. Phil (Philomena) was in love with James and he did all he could to provoke her anger, including parading his many conquests in her face. They grow up and apart, get married to different people, but life has other plans and when they reconnect they are both divorced.
James is super sweet and his bad experience hasn’t put him off love.
Hannah, who has adopted her middle name instead of Phil like people called her when she was growing up, has always loved James, but her marriage left her scarred and scared.
James is the perfect man for her. Open to love, loving, protective and patient.
I really enjoyed all the twists and turns of this story and the emotions it brought out in me, which were full-range.
Page-turner, heart-warming, action-packed sweet story.
Totally recommend it!
I received a free ARC copy of this book and this is my honest opinion
Protecting His Secret is a second chance romance. This is Hannah and James story. Hannah is Jame’s cousin, Bette, dog walker when she is in Italy. Jameson’s just gotten out of a bad marriage to an A-list movie star. They are both getting over bad marriages. There is an instant attraction between them. Hannah refuses to date James even though she had a crush on him when they were younger. When he was younger James was your typical guy that treated her like a nerdy kid.
Now as adults he is protective of Hannah. James try’s to fix his past mistakes. He does his best to show Hannah that he has changed. Will they overcome their past marriages to have a relationship together? Can James really change to be what Hannah needs?
I enjoyed this book. It was a short but fun read. It’s definitely worth getting to add to your collection if you like a good second chance romance.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
They grew up neighbors. She was the geeky neighbor. He was the billionaire playboy neighbor. She had a crush on him. He would never admit that he thought she was cute but not his type. He left and married into a loveless marriage. After his marriage was a bust he returned home. She also had a bad marriage. They both are divorced now. He sees her but does not recognize her. They both harbor secrets that they keep hidden. Can these two heal each other and move on together?
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I liked this story. James, the billionaire, has the funniest relationship with his cousin, Bette. Bette is so funny and very protective of the dog walker, Hannah. There is an instant connection between James and Hannah. They each have their secrets which come out through the course of the book. Also can’t forget the dogs and the fun parts they play in the story. The ending is sweet and a terrific conclusion to this story.
I received an advance copy of this book via Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
She has gone home to lick her wounds after a meet divorce and he is still there looking as hot as before. He is also hiding secrets and she needs to stay clear if only to keep her heart safe. What is his secrets? Will they fall for each other? Will his secrets ruin them? See how this will end
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
What worth a one sided childhood romance if there’s not an catch-up option long after graduation? None, if the not really involved one doesn’t recognize you… But when he does..! My, what a wonderful catch up ! I liked reading the story of Hannah and James. A little crazy, a little naughty and a hell of ex-wife and ex-husband! Jump right in and enjoy the read!
I received a free copy of this book from the author via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.