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Public secrets
608 pages
A sweeping blend of rock-star glamour and dark family secrets where buried trauma collides with high-stakes romance.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping into a glamorous but shadowed world where the glittering facade of rock-and-roll fame hides deep, lingering trauma. The narrative moves at a brisk, engaging pace, sweeping the reader through decades of family drama, fractured innocence, and the slow, hard-won journey toward healing. It balances the glittering excess of celebrity life with a grounded, emotionally earnest romance and a creeping sense of suspense. The prose is cinematic and accessible, drawing you into the protagonist's fragmented memories and her desperate search for the truth. It is a perfect fit for readers who crave sweeping romantic thrillers that combine the glittering allure of the spotlight with the dark, gripping tension of a psychological mystery.
- Mood
- glamorous
- tense
- shadowy
- nostalgic
- Tone
- dramatic
- earnest
- suspenseful
- romantic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the price of fame · buried trauma · healing through love · fractured family dynamics · confronting the past
- The writing
- Accessible, emotionally charged, and cinematic, blending glamorous descriptions with sharp suspense.
- The arc
- Moves from shattered innocence and lingering trauma to hard-won empowerment and romantic trust.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love sweeping romantic suspense with a touch of rock-star glamour and deep family drama.
Content notes
- child abduction
- murder
- trauma
- gaslighting
About the book
SOMETIMES THE BEST KEPT SECRETS ARE THE ONES EVERYBODY KNOWS...
Emma McAvoy. Beautiful, intelligent, radiantly talented, she lives in a star-studded world of wealth and privilege. But she is about to discover that fame is no protection at all when someone wants you dead.... All she has to do is close her eyes and she remembers the day Brian McAvoy swept into her life.
She was a frightened toddler, until the magical day when her father rescues her. She didn't know then that she was his illegitimate daughter or that he was pop music's rising new star. All she knew was that with Brian, his bandmates, and his new wife, she felt safe. And when her baby brother arrived, Emma thought she was the luckiest girl in the world... until the night a botched kidnapping attempt shattered all their lives... and destroyed Emma's happiness.
Yet now, even though Emma is still haunted by flashes of memory from that fateful night, she has survived. She's carved out a thrilling career and even dared to fall rapturously in love. But the man who will become her husband isn't all that he seems. And Emma is about to awaken to the chilling knowledge that the darkest secret of all is the one buried in her mind--a secret that someone may kill to keep....
Description from Open Library.
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