Secrets Never Die {A Book Review}

**I received a complementary copy of this book from the publisher for consideration. All thoughts are 100% my own. 

Tallie Brown's life has never made sense. Raised in isolation by her mother, Julia, Tallie was dragged suddenly and without explanation from one third-world outpost to another until life normalized seven years ago when Julia took a position on a mountaintop in the Pacific northwest. But when Julia unexpectedly dies, Tallie uncovers clues suggesting that Julia had a secret life.

Journalistic phenom Jackson James is still recovering from the devastating mistake that flatlined his promising career. Now he's paying the price, working as the editor of a syrupy community rag in a posh D.C. suburb. But when the very man who destroyed him drops a tantalizing lead about a potential D.C. scandal, the reporter sees his chance for redemption and sets off to chase the story.

Jackson's investigation leads him to Cutler's Ridge, a dying Virginia coal town, and directly into the path of the mysterious and beautiful Tallie. As these two mistrustful loners follow their leads, their stories begin to intertwine until they reach an alarming conclusion something terrible happened in Cutler's Ridge. As they doggedly pursue the story, the town's cold reception spirals into threats and danger, proving that there are those who will stop at nothing to keep the past hidden forever because secrets never die.

Laurie (L.C.) Lewis knows that wherever life takes her, she will always be a Marylander at heart—a weather-whining lover of crabs, American history, and the sea. She admits to being craft-challenged, particularly lethal with a glue gun, and a devotee of sappy movies.

Therapists have been chasing her down to diagnose her multiple personality syndrome, since she writes under three names--historical fiction as L.C. Lewis, romance and women's fiction as Laurie Lewis, and general fiction as Laurie L.C. Lewis.

Laurie was honored to win the 2017 RONE Award for Inspirational Romance. She also has been an IndieBRAG Medallion Honoree, and a New Apple Literary Medallion winner. She has twice been named a Whitney Awards finalist, and a USA Best Books Award finalist.

Laurie’s women’s or inspirational fiction novels include:
Sweet Water" (2017) http://amzn.to/2nuPYuZ
"The Dragons of Alsace Farm" (2016) bit.ly/LLTDOAF
"Awakening Avery" (2010) bit.ly/LLAvery
"Unspoken" (2004), http://amzn.to/2nw96bW

Her five historical fiction titles are part of her Free Men and Dreamers" historical fiction series.
"In God is Our Trust" (2011), bit.ly/FMDIGIOT"
"Oh, Say Can You See?" (2010), bit.ly/FMDOSCYS
"Dawn's Early Light," (2009) bit.ly/FMDDEL
"Twilight's Last Gleaming" (2008), bit.ly/FMDTLG
"Dark Sky at Dawn" (2007); bit.ly/FMDDSAD

She is currently completing a Christmas romance for November 2017, and a political suspense novel planned for a 2018 release.

From Laurie Lewis:
"I love connecting with readers. The best way to stay in touch is through my V.I.P. Readers Club, "The Willowport Press." Sign up here and get a free book for joining us! https://www.laurielclewis.com/newsletter.

You can also connect with me using any of these sites:

Website www.laurielclewis.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/laurielclewis
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1743696.Laurie_L_C_Lewis
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LaurieLCLewis/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/laurielclewis/

Talk about a mystery! Secrets Never Die will keep you guessing until the very end. Just when you think you know exactly what the story is about, twists and turns are tossed our way that made you second guess everything you've read and all the conclusions you've jumped to.

In this story we meet Tallie Brown, whose life truly is the mystery in this book. Why had her mother kept her hiding throughout her entire life? Who was after her? Who could her father be? How did it all go together with the strange, secretive town of Cutler's Ridge? To be honest, there were a few times throughout the story that I felt like things were dragged out more than necessary. Not that it was badly written by any means, just that I couldn't wait to get to know the answers to all of these questions and so many more. Still, though I wished the pace might have been a little faster at points, it still held me in its grips and had me reading through to the end to figure it all out. That drawing out perhaps even more so had me anxious to see the secrets revealed.This story had a lot of twists and turns that made it hard even for an avid mystery/suspense reader like myself to figure it ALL out. There were parts I'd picked up on, of course, but trying to put it all together? Now, that was much tougher.

It did have just a hint of romance in the story, but I would certainly not qualify this one as a romance novel myself... really just more of an attraction within a mystery. I would have been interested to see where that might lead, but I feel for this particular story, I'm glad it was not a focus.

Overall, it was a really intriguing read...a little over the top at times, but sometimes those make for the most memorable stories, right? Fans of clean suspense or even a great conspiracy are definitely going to enjoy this one.