Secrets and Lies begins with a young couple on honeymoon in Costa Rica.  A sweet beginning that turns to tragedy by the end of the first page. Jason, the husband, is killed before his wife’s eyes, trying to cross the street.  To compound the tragedy, Sharona, the wife, soon finds out that she is pregnant.  She goes back to the US and tries to rebuild her life for her and her son.  A mysterious handsome stranger enters the picture and the story heats up from there.

I always hate to criticize the efforts of anyone who actually manages to finish and publish a book but this one was a miss for me.  Everything happened way too easily for the heroine, without any buildup or background.  It did almost feel like a draft of a novel, waiting to be filled out.  It didn’t pull me in or make me care what happened to these people.  There were a number of pop culture references that felt forced and it had the feeling of someone writing about a culture they didn’t know a lot about, like they were guessing at what living in California is like but don’t really know other than what they’ve read. It just felt off. 

Spoiler alert!!

There is a major twist at the end and the book ends with “To Be Continued” I have to say that if Jason had truly loved his wife, the twist could never have happened because he never would have married her in the first place. It just seems to be a really ill-conceived plot line when one begins to think it through.  I’m sorry to say I can’t recommend this book.

I received this from the member giveaway at LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review and I appreciated the opportunity to read and review it.