TITLE: One Little Secret
AUTHOR: Avery Maxwell
SERIES: The Westbrooks: Family Ties
SERIES ORDER: 4 of 4
PUBLISHED: 01/11/2023
GENRE: Romantic Suspense
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
BLURB:
Ashton Westbrook
Playing house with a secret-keeping heiress was not how I envisioned helping when my brothers called me. My expertise is the dirty work, not glorified babysitting. Now Nova Blaine is here in this tiny town. Invading my home, my thoughts, and turning my carefully controlled existence upside down.
I’m tasked with finding her assailant, an assignment that requires me to stay close. Something I’ve gotten good at avoiding at all costs. I keep even my family at arm’s length. It’s safer that way. But there’s something about her that makes me feel protective, that makes me want to get closer.
I’m her protector, but sharing my home means sharing my life with her. And this princess is starting to see what’s beyond my beastly façade. I know there’s nothing left worth finding beneath my scars and secrets, but she’s determined to open all those old wounds.
There are reasons I’ve retreated from everything I once loved. But I’ll face those demons again if it means protecting her. In the end, will I remain captive or will she be the one to finally set me free?
Nova Blaine
I’m not a princess to be locked away in a tower. Until I am. And when Ashton Westbrook turns that gravelly, deep voice my way, calling me Princess? I know I’ll scale his walls and enjoy the climb.
He’s my protector, but I see the anguish beneath his beastly façade.
He may keep me safe, but I will set him free.
Secrets whispered in the dead of night lead to truths they can’t deny. Can either of them escape their past to live in the present and have a hope for the future? Or are some secrets meant to burn out with their keeper?
Find out now in this small-town billionaire protector romance, One Little Secret.
He’s a billionaire protector hiding secrets of the past. She’s an heiress protecting secrets that will destroy her future. Forced together in small-town chaos, their truth sparks flames. Trusting in love could set them free or burn them to the ground.
““Did you just kiss me stupid?””
MY REVIEW:
DISCLAIMER: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
One Little Secret by Avery Maxwell is not only the final book in the Westbrooks: Family Ties series, but also the conclusion to the Westbrook overarching plotline. While it is the last book with a Westbrook as the MC, Avery has promised that it won’t be the last we see them in her upcoming stories.
This book was perfect. There’s no other word to describe it.
I loved Ashton and Nova. The sparks exploded when they first laid eyes on each other, and I loved how drawn they were to each other. They each were carrying secrets, but through each other they were able to let them go.
My emotions ran the gamut with this story. I laughed, I cried, I swooned, I smiled, and I wanted to reach through the Kindle screen and give them a good smackaroo for some of the decisions they made (or didn’t make.)
I loved the presence of the other Westbrooks and how they each played a part in Ashton’s healing. I especially loved how big of a part Sadie played in his story, considering that she was the first one to bring sunshine back into his life.
This next part is a bit of a nerd moment, but I was really impressed with the amount of times the word “secret(s)” appeared while reading this story. I used the Kindle search bar after I finished reading, and the word appears 89 times (85 in the story itself!) Also, there’s a line in the epilogue that I just loved: “Secrets and lies and heartbreak and mistakes. It all led to the one kiss that changed my life.” Do you know why I love it? Because it references all the books in this series:
One Little Heartbreak (a series bridge novella between Westbrooks: Broken Hearts and Westbrooks: Family Ties)
One Little Mistake
One Little Lie
One Little Kiss
One Little Secret
That completes my nerd moment of the review. Hopefully you didn’t roll your eyes too hard at it lol.
Thank you Avery, Rhon and TWSS Publishing for allowing me to read an advance copy of this story!
If you’re reading this review before January 11, 2023, you can pre-order the book, and after January 11, 2023, you can buy the book using the link below. It will also be available in KU when it goes live.