Secret Sisters

Starred review from October 12, 2015
In bestselling author Krentz’s gripping new romantic thriller, hotel heiress Madeline Chase returns from Arizona to the spooky abandoned Aurora Point Hotel, on one of the San Juan Islands of Washington State, to find the caretaker dying from a head wound and the assailant stalking her. Madeline and Edith, her grandmother, fled the island 18 years ago, after 12-year-old Madeline was attacked. Only five people know the gruesome details of the incident, including the caretaker and Edith, who are now dead; the others are Madeline, her friend Daphne, and Daphne’s mother. Madeline brings in Jack Rayner, a former FBI consultant and the head of her hotel security team, and together they pursue their own investigation, though Jack has a secret of his own. Krentz (Trust No One) expertly introduces plausible suspects, weaving in sexual tension between Jack and Madeline and terrifying uncertainty as someone strikes to eliminate the remaining secret-holders. Krentz scores another winner with complex characters and seamless plotting. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency.

October 1, 2015
Eighteen years after she was attacked by a pedophile, Madeline Chase's past is haunting her, and while she knows the man is dead, a recent murder lets her know his dangerous secrets have not been forgotten. Still grieving the recent loss of her grandmother in a fire and navigating her new role as chief of the small hotel chain she's inherited, Madeline is surprised when she's summoned to the site of her grandmother's first hotel, the scene of the attack on her when she was 12, by the abandoned property's caretaker, Tom. She arrives to find him dying from what looks like a fall, but when a shadowy figure comes after her, she realizes Tom was murdered and she could have been too, if not for her quick thinking. Calling her sexy head of security, Jack Rayner, to the area, the two begin digging into the long-buried secrets of the man who attacked Madeline all those years ago and who was killed by Tom and Madeline's grandmother before he could rape her. There were some mysteries that everyone thought had gone to the grave with the attacker, but someone has clearly discovered them, and Madeline and Jack have to try to figure out what they are in order to protect Madeline and Daphne, her childhood best friend who was with her the night of the attack and with whom she's reconnecting after all these years. The more they dig, the more perilous their situation becomes; it's unclear exactly who the enemy is, but the assaults seem to be escalating and coming from a variety of directions. The complex mystery gets a little implausible at times, but overall the characters are engaging, and the story is intriguing. Krentz delivers another twisty, plot-driven romantic suspense novel, with two satisfying love stories in the mix.

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Starred review from October 15, 2015
Eighteen years ago, a man brutally attacked Madeline Chase while she was living at the Aurora Point Hotel with her grandmother Edith. Fortunately for Madeline, her best friend, Daphne Knight, saw what was happening and alerted Edith and the hotel's handyman, Tom Lomax, both of whom rescued Madeline and then dealt with the attacker. Nearly two decades later, Madeline finds herself back at the Aurora Point Hotel after she receives an unexpected phone call from Tom, whose cryptic last words indicate that someone is trying to dig up those dangerous old secrets Madeline thought had been successfully buried years ago. The only person Madeline can trust to help her is Jack Rayner, the hotel-security expert she recently hired. Jack, of course, is more than willing to lend his expertise. since he has a very personal interest in keeping Madeline safe. Fans of best-selling Krentz's (Trust No One, 2015) books once again hit the literary jackpot with Secret Sisters as the doyenne of sophisticated romantic suspense serves up another irresistible combination of sharply etched characters, suspenseful plotting, smoldering sexual chemistry, and wonderfully written dialogue that snaps, crackles, and pops with the author's distinctive wit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

Starred review from December 1, 2015

Cooper Island is the last place boutique hotel chain owner Madeline Chase ever wanted to revisit, but when she receives a worried call from the caretaker of Aurora Point, the shuttered hotel that her late grandmother once owned, she reluctantly heads for the small San Juan Island where she grew up. Murder awaits and so does the past as Madeline reconnects with her childhood best friend and "secret sister" and is plunged into a nightmare that is rooted in a terrifying, life-changing event she'd hoped to have buried forever. Family skeletons, career-crushing secrets, multiple villains, and exactingly drawn characters (including gunslinger-sexy, tough-minded security expert Jack Rayner) keep the action swift and the plot humming in this violence-laced thriller that is hard to put down. VERDICT Long-kept mysteries resurface with deadly results in this mesmerizing, well-crafted tale that doles out clues with clever precision and keeps the tension high, the romance simmering, and the revelations coming until the very end. Krentz (Siren's Call) lives in Seattle. [See Prepub Alert, 6/29/15; an LJ Best Romance of 2015, see p. 36.--Ed.]

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015

Madeline and Daphne were once best friends. But when she was 12 years old, Madeline suffered a vicious attack at her father's hotel, and though her attacker was presumably put out of commission, both girls eventually moved away. Now, 20 years have passed, her father has just died, and Madeline returns to her hometown, only to discover that her attacker is still around--and as bloodthirsty as ever. Of course she calls on Daphne. With a 250,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2015

Cooper Island is the last place boutique hotel chain owner Madeline Chase ever wanted to revisit, but when she receives a worried call from the caretaker of Aurora Point, the shuttered hotel that her late grandmother once owned, she reluctantly heads for the small San Juan Island where she grew up. Murder awaits and so does the past as Madeline reconnects with her childhood best friend and "secret sister" and is plunged into a nightmare that is rooted in a terrifying, life-changing event she'd hoped to have buried forever. Family skeletons, career-crushing secrets, multiple villains, and exactingly drawn characters (including gunslinger-sexy, tough-minded security expert Jack Rayner) keep the action swift and the plot humming in this violence-laced thriller that is hard to put down. VERDICT Long-kept mysteries resurface with deadly results in this mesmerizing, well-crafted tale that doles out clues with clever precision and keeps the tension high, the romance simmering, and the revelations coming until the very end. Krentz (Siren's Call) lives in Seattle. [See Prepub Alert, 6/29/15; an LJ Best Romance of 2015, see p. 36.--Ed.]

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.