She has a killer of a secret she’s just dying to tell…This page-turning, psychological suspense is a “twisted, diabolical web of deceit, manipulation, and murder that grips from the very first line,” according to Samantha M. Bailey, #1 bestselling author of Woman on the Edge.Everyone has secrets—some deadlier than others.She was on cloud nine after accepting an offer of a lifetime. A simpler … of a lifetime. A simpler life than what she was accustomed to. What could go wrong?
Starla Bishop learned to survive in the foster-care-to-jail system in New York City. There she learned the tools and skills she put to work later to con jewel thieves, drug traffickers, and mobsters out their fortunes. Now fresh out of her latest stint in jail, she accepts a too-good-to-refuse offer—a perfect life on a silver platter.
Starla has everything she ever wished for: a simpler life, a normal life, a new start with new job, a straight job—as receptionist for Soil and Springs Landscaping run by a famous botanist. And it got even better—a whirlwind romance and engagement to her boss’s charming ex-husband.
But everything comes with a price. When bodies start turning up in the gardens of her employer, Soil and Springs Landscaping, Starla and her fiancé are hauled into jail for questioning. The revelation of Starla’s secret, previous life and her special skills make her a prime suspect.
How much does Starla want the perfect life, and did she use her special skills to keep it, or is this just her biggest con yet? The shocking truth is closer than anyone thinks?
Everyone has secrets, some worth killing for.
Read the latest novel by the NYT and USA TODAY Bestselling Author who also wrote THE PATIENT and THE MEMORY CHILD.
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Steena Holmes is quickly becoming the queen of dark and creepy villains, and the one in The Perfect Secret is definitely not who you expect. A dark and twisty story filled with secrets—not all of them perfect—and one whopper of a surprise. Say goodby to sleep and read it like I did, in one sitting. A story where nothing is as it seems.
The first books that I read by Steena Holmes were definitely in the women’s fiction genre. With her current book, she has definitely moved into writing psychological suspense and has perfected it to the point that this was a perfect book to read. It’s full of surprises and hints that make you think that you’ve figured everything out only to find a few pages later, that you were totally wrong. You are never really sure who is telling the truth and who to trust until the explosive and surprising ending.
Starla Bishop has bounced from foster care to jail. Both places helped her to learn how to con people and win. As the book begins, she is just out of jail and hoping for a fresh start. She accepts a too-good-to-be true job offer to work as a receptionist for a nursery in a near-by town. Not only was it a great job but it also included an apartment for her to live in. Her job as a receptionist soon expands to being a genera helper – she orders stock, does inventory and helps out on some of the projects for the nursery. And as an extra bonus she becomes engaged to her boss’s ex-husband after a whirl wind romance. No wonder it looks like her life is turning around. Until the police show up at her door and take her in for questioning on a murder. The body had been found in a landscaping project that she had helped with. She has spent enough time in the past answering questions from law enforcement so she doesn’t say much but she is sure that her fiancé has nothing to do with the murders and is willing to perjure herself to prove it to the police. The only person really on Starla’s side is her adoptive mother who goes into major mama-bear mode to protect Starla. As more bodies turn up and her boyfriend looks like he might be guilty, Starla has to decide whether to save her boyfriend or herself.
The book is told in two timelines. In the first time line, we learn about Starla’s earlier life and how she ended up in jail. The second time line is current time where we learn about all of the trouble that Starla may be in. The dual time line works perfectly as a way to show us a complete picture of Starla. Even though she was a complicated person, she had a lot of humanity and caring and I was rooting for her all the way.
Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
Wow! The Perfect Secret was such an amazing thriller! I flew right through it and hated putting it down to deal with life! There were so many twists and turns and I was completely engrossed and captivated throughout the entire book. Parts reminded me a bit of The Silence of the Lambs, but on a softer and less intense way. I was also drawn to the main character, Starla, I love her in fact. Though I can’t relate to her and her lifestyle, I love her spunk, her boldness, her fierce persona, as well as her more subtle passionate, emotional, and tender sides. I am so impressed with how Steena Holmes portrayed her and was able to morph her personality the way she did. I highly recommend you read this book and I bet you will love it and fly through it just like I did!
Awesome read by Steena Holmes!!! Love this book from the very beginning…couldn’t put it down! Steena never seems to disappoint, love her books!!
Murderinos and crime buffs, The Perfect Secret is for you. Full of suspense and bodies, this book hooks you from the beginning and does not let you go.
Starla is an ex-con who meets her fairy godfather upon her latest release. Willing to give her a second chance in life, he’s part of a program that sets her up with a job, a place to live, even a vehicle. Seems too good to be true, right? Starla thinks so, too. But surprisingly, things go really well. Until the bodies start showing up in the gardens of customers.
Starla was determined not to go back to prison, but finds herself in the thick of the investigation. Is she guilty yet again, or is the con being conned? Holmes keeps you guessing with each grim, twisted detail.
I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Reminiscent of The Murder List, the Perfect Secret will keep you guessing until the very end, and long after. The back and forth narrative is hard to follow in places, but it is well worth sticking with.
This is the best Steena Holmes book I have ever read and I’ve read quite a few. It’s going to keep you glued to your seat until the very end.
“I’LL NEVER TRUST AGAIN. NOT AFTER THIS.” One of my favorite lines in this book.
This is the story of Ada Bishop. She gets out of prison and starts a new life. A new job and in a new town. Her mother worries about her all the time. Afraid she will slip back into the wrong crowd and land back in prison. But Ada has no intention of ever going back. She meets Donald and Alexius Dixon and her life is never the same. She starts a new job at a landscaping company owned by the two and the bodies start stacking up. Donald and Alexius are no longer married but are partners in the business. Donald also owns a used car lot. Alexius is the main owner of the landscaping business and it’s thriving. Donald is more of a silent partner in Alexius’s business but he does some hands on at times.
Donald sweeps Ada off her feet and they become engaged. Ada is happier than she has ever been. Or is she? Is it all a ruse to cover up things? Is anything as it appears. Ada’s mom, Caryn McCoy, does all she can to keep Ada on the straight and narrow. She worries all the time that Ada will fall back into her old ways and end up back in prison. She calls her everyday and checks up on her. They are very close and Ada truly does not want to let Caryn down. Caryn is the only one who ever cared, truly cared, about her. Caryn is a foster mom but they have a closeness that goes beyond a natural mother/daughter relationship. Caryn is the only person in Ada’s life that ever stood by her no matter what. Who was there the day Ada got out of jail and has always been there for her. She worries all the time about what will happen to Ada. When Ada and Donny get engaged Caryn is worried. She doesn’t trust Donald or Alexius. Nothing about them appears to be right. Something is off with their relationship and she wants Ada to see that.
This book is so well written. It’s one of those that will pull you in and have you rooting for the down on her luck Ada all the way. Personally I thought Ada was great. She’s much smarter than anyone wants to give her credit for and she’s just a very likable character. Donald, I didn’t like him from the beginning. From the very start he made my skin crawl. I just didn’t connect with him at all. Alexius was vital to this story and I liked her. Not a lot but she did grow on me and became one of my favorite characters. Officer Kaarns was another of my favorite characters. She was strong and didn’t want to give anyone a break for a while. Once she saw what was going on she could not be stopped. Spikes, the other officer, was also very likable. He believed in Ada from the start while Kaarns didn’t. All these characters will get under your skin. Most in a good way but some not so much. This is a very intense edge of your seat book that will draw you in from the very beginning and will not let you go. When the very last word is read you might be able to breath normal again…
“Never tell all you know-not even to the person you know best.” -Agatha Christie, The Secret Adversary (I love this line at the end of this book)
Thank you #SteenaHolmes, #SHPressInc for this ARC. This is my review given freely.
A huge and I mean huge 5 stars. I highly highly recommend this book to anyone that loves to read.
Dark, twisted and packed full of suspense, with a protagonist you’ll root for and creepy villains you’ll love to hate, THE PERFECT SECRET is a diabolical, masterfully told tale. Steena Holmes certainly knows how to grip her readers from the very beginning, and keeps them guessing until the satisfying end. I loved every page and this book isn’t to be missed.
Steena Holmes’s newest book has the Perfect title!
Starla is trying to turn her life around and unfortunately becomes involved with a couple that are hiding huge secrets and playing games.
I couldn’t wait to find out how each event would unfold. Everyone has a Secret.
I am adopted and have a bit of a past, so I could identify with Starla as well as her mom being so fierce.
Steena Holmes is a master at keeping readers on the edge of their seats and she has written a thriller you will want to share with everyone you know.
@authorsteenaholmes #theperfectsecret
Whoa! And that is an understatement when it comes to this novel. THE PERFECT SECRET by Steena Holmes will keep you turning pages. It is suspenseful with a surprising heroine and a villain is truly creepy. Top it off with some twists I didn’t see coming and you have a novel that shouldn’t be missed. Holmes has carefully developed a story and characters and woven them together to create a wickedly good ride.
There is so many good things to say about this one, but I don’t want to spoil it for you!
Thanks to the Publisher for an Advanced Copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
#ThePerfectSecret #SteenaHolmes
I loved this book. Starla has been in and out of trouble her entire life so when she is offered the opportunity of a lifetime is it too good to be true? Find out in this next great book by Steena Holmes.
Really enjoyed this book! Starla has a colorful past. She has made mistakes and broken laws. She is able to land an amazing job working for a landscaper, but things start to look fishy. Has Starla once again disappointed her mother? This book kept me up late turning pages! Loved it!!!
This is my first read by Steena Holmes and it won’t be my last! As an ex-con, Starla Bishop should know when something is too good to be true. But, when Donald Dixon offers her a second chance with a job and an apartment, she puts aside her doubts in hopes of starting a new life. Things are not always as they seem at Soil and Springs Landscaping and Starla must find out about the secrets Donald is hiding before she ends up back in jail. The characters were strong and the story was fast-paced. An enjoyable novel of suspense!
Creeptastic! Seriously fantastically creepy!!!
The Perfect Secret is an expertly crafted psychological thriller.
I wasn’t sure which end was up, and what to believe and the twists just kept coming at me!
Starla Bishop has a sketchy past and she’s vowed not to go back to jail until the police show up at her door.
The story is told in alternating timelines , present tense and years ago when Starla was just released from prison.
The story is multi-dimensional and creepy!!!! The characters are well developed and complex.
The murder mystery is beyond what you can possibly fathom.
Highly recommend this book!!!
The story centers around Starla Bishop, a fresh from prison, ex-con. She falls into a job opportunity after prison that seems too good to be true with a landscaping company. Later, bodies begin to be discovered across her town in gardens and Starla is brought in for questioning. The story mainly takes place during Starla’s questioning by police with flashbacks to other times.
I seriously couldn’t put this book down. It was truly something else. A little love triangle, a little murder, a little of everything else. It was a murder story unlike anything else I’ve read before. It can be very dark in some places so prepare yourself now.
Starla is an ex-con who was recently released from prison for conning people out of money . She gets offered a new job in a new town with an apartment and a new car. It all seems too good to be true and she soon finds herself as a suspect in a serial murder investigation. Is Starla guilty or innocent?
This is a surprising story with twists and turns that keep you guessing. It starts off a bit slow but then escalates into a story that you keep trying to figure out. It is a little bit of a mystery, a little bit of a romance, and a little bit of a slight of hand. It is definitely original.
This book was such a fast-paced and engrossing read that it was difficult to walk away from it. Starla Bishop is not your ordinary book heroine. Instead, she is a con artist, survivor of the foster care system and an ex-con just released from prison, again. Starla has been around the block more times than most people can count, but this time when she gets out of prison, she is ready to start over and already has a plan. In fact, she has already been offered a job as a receptionist at a landscaping company. Unbelievably, the job comes with a furnished apartment and a car for her to use! She is walking on seventh heaven, but her foster mom keeps cautioning her that this whole set up seems too good to be true. Starla is more or less happy in her new job, although the boss’s wife seems cold to her. Nevertheless, Starla loves the job and has a whirlwind relationship with her new boss. Everything to me seemed way too coincidental, so I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then, shoes started falling from the sky when bodies started showing up in the yards that had been landscaped by the company. Naturally, Starla was a suspect! The POV varies between Starla and the detective investigating the case. I really enjoyed finding out exactly what Starla and Detective Kaarns were thinking. Part of my enjoyment was that meant of that the book was a winning combination of police procedural and the introspection of Starla as she reflected on how she got herself into this mess to begin with. I journeyed with Starla from the time she left the prison, through her questionable acceptance by Alexius, her boss, and even through her romantic involvement with Donny Dixon. The entire book was like a bizarre trip through a Stephen King thriller! The characters were well-developed, and my favorite was Starla’s mom who continued to be supportive no matter what kind of trouble she kept getting into. I also liked the intuitiveness of Starla, part of which came from her life experiences and part that came from her own intelligence. Starla’s choices were amazingly dumb, but did she keep deserving what happened to her? My eyes almost popped out of my head when I started reading about the dead bodies! Steena Holmes created a whole new kind of horror scenario here that was both realistic and terrifying. Fans of suspense and psychological thrillers will want to read this book for sure, and probably with the lights on.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
Starla Bishop has had her fair share of hard knocks, including a few trips to prison. She had been adopted by her mom when she was a teenager and her mom has been by her side, supporting her in all that she does, ever since. Well, except maybe Starla’s relationship with Donald Dixon. See, when Starla got out of prison this last time, while of course things would be different this time, Donald is the one who offered her a chance at becoming something more than an ex-con. Her mom even encouraged her to take the job opportunity he was offering Starla, that being to work with his ex-wife, Alexius, at their landscaping business. Little did Starla realize she would be roped into doing odd jobs for the Donald’s used car business as well. She fell in love with him and she thought that he loved her. To what lengths would Starla go to protect him when she was picked up by the police yet again … or would she turn on him? Surprise ending!
Ms. Holmes is a new author to me and in this book you can “hear” the humor she has running through some of the scenes. She has made her characters relatable, so much so that you can almost see yourself in the same situations … doing, more than likely, the exact same things, especially when it comes to “love.” Quite an entertaining read!
To this day, I haven’t read a book by Steena Holmes that I haven’t just absolutely loved. And The Perfect Secret did not disappoint—loved it! And I love the new direction that she seems to be taking with her writing—a little darker, a little more suspenseful.
Starla is a con artist. She was recently released from jail and landed a pretty good job. Things are good, right? Nope, not so much, especially when dead bodies start turning up. And it looks like she is going to have to take the fall for them and everything else that is going on at the company where she just started working.
The Perfect Secret is full of secrets. Everyone involved has secrets. The fun part is seeing all those secrets being revealed, as the cast of characters start revealing their true selves. This is a story that will grab your attention and keep you guessing until the very end.
On kind of a side note, sort of, I love the titles of this book. I don’t usually pay much attention to chapter titles. My apologies to all authors, I know you probably put a lot of thought into those. When I turned to the contents page, these titles just jumped out at me and I was intrigued to read further to see what would be revealed in the chapters.
I highly recommend this story! I loved everything about it, even the conniving, sneaky characters who had secrets that I couldn’t even imagine when I started the book. You really must add The Perfect Secret to your TBR list. You will not be disappointed!
Wow!! What a story!! When author Steena Holmes is looking for people to review her book, you jump at that chance and apply. I did just that and as luck would have it she chose me to review her latest book. This book is absolutely amazing. This is a fast pace thriller for sure! Finished in under 2 days (would have been quicker if I didn’t have to adult) I loved it from the very beginning of Starlas story until the last word! At times I was rooting for Starla and then yelling at her to make the make the right decision. Holmes sure does know how to keep you engaged, wanting more and then wrapping it up beautifully with a bow to tie it together!!! Thank you so much Steena for this opportunity to get my hands on this before pub day May19th!!!