Storms and Secrets

By: Claire Kingsley

Narrated by: Samantha Brentmoor, Teddy Hamilton, Desiree Ketchum

He’s always loved her. Now, he’ll fight to save her.

Zachary Haven is living a lie. He’s stuck in a rut, pretending to hate the woman he’s always loved. He didn’t mean for things to turn out that way. But sometimes life gets out of control, especially when you’re young and stupid. Not that he ever had a chance with her. She’s gorgeous and smart, talented and kind. And Zachary? He can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble.

Marigold Martin just met the man of her dreams. Blowing into her life like a storm, he sweeps her off her feet. She can’t help but wonder if he’s the one. He’s a dream in a bespoke suit—and he says he wants her heart. But nothing is as it seems.

A brush with death wakes Zachary up to the reality of his life. And his feelings for Marigold. He’s determined to make her his—convince her they were always meant to be. But secrets run deep, and Zachary fears the man who’s after Marigold could be more than a romantic rival. He could be the devil himself. And Zachary might be too late to save her.

Author’s Note: A troublemaker turned small-town hero risks everything for the love of his life. A soft-hearted heroine who finds her strength. An accidental body piercing, brotherly shenanigans, the Squirrel Protection Squad, and lots of big feels. This small-town romantic suspense will leave you breathless, with the romantic happily ever after you’ve been waiting for.

Storms and Secrets is a MF romance with no cheating or sharing partners, and is NOT a love triangle.

Content warning: this book contains references to sex trafficking.

©2024 Claire Kingsley (P)2024 Claire Kingsley

#Zarigold

** Audio Review **

OVERALL: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5/5
•Storyline: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
▪︎Spice Level:  🌶/ 5
•Narration: Dual Style - 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧/5
•Swoon level: 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠/5
•Bookshelf Worthy: 📚📚📚📚/5
•Platform: Audio and E-book
•Recommend: Yes
▪︎Re-read/re-listen: Yes
•Trope: Romantic suspense, small town, touch her and 💀.

• Thoughts:
Aawwww back in Tillikam. My happy place. I really am loving the Haven brothers. I am not gonna lie, I was kind of disappointed when it was announced that Marigold and Zachary were going to be a couple. I thought Zach didn't deserve Mari..... well. I was freaking wrong! I loved Zach and Mari together. I will never doubt CK again. Haha. I have learned my lesson. Zach took me by surprise, to be honest. I am loving these hidden layers of emotions the Havens have, and we have obky read about 2 of the 6 brothers. Swoooonn!!! I love Zachary's antics. The accidental piercing had me laughing so hard. Oh my hell. I think there were several spots where I would just randomly start laughing. The humor in this was spot on! Yet the Romantic suspense was excellent as well. I know a lot of people have renewed appointments out the lack of spice, but truthfully, CK writing is incredible. I wasn't even missing that element. I loved everything about this book and the characters. Another win for me IN CK's world.

•Narrator thoughts:
Teddy freaking Hamilton and the wonderful Samantha Brentmoor are the two amazing g humans who brought #zarigold to life. They were perfection and in my opinion. These two can do no wrong.

I liked that the love story and the mystery were both fast paced

Very good narration and an engrossing story. I enjoy the lighter books where the darkness is not so dark that it's depressing. This gave me just enough to keep my interest.

Shocked into love

I loved, loved, loved Marigold and Zachary’s dual secret crush, best friend’s brother romantic suspense tale with a side of romcom. The story had the perfect blend of sweet moments, spice, laughs, supportive friends, messy families, painful pasts, secrets, a little bit of danger, absurdity, and all the happy heart squeezing love. The slow ratcheting up of the tension that accompanies the hints and glimpses of the bad guy is delicious perfection. Don’t worry, the suspense was well balanced with the romance and the Tilikum absurdity. Add in the chapters from a third POV to give us information about the bad guy without the MCs knowing things yet and it created a wonderful cocktail of awesomeness. Zachary is an electrician in small town Tilikum. He is impulsive and stubborn and has five brothers and one sister. He has been secretly in love with his sister’s best friend for years but it’s not until a brush with death that he decides to do something about it. Marigold owns the hair salon in Tilikum. She is romantic and loves love so she has been waiting for her Prince Charming/Mr Darcy to show up. Just as he seems to have finally appeared, Zachary decides he wants her. But is Preston really Prince Charming or is he really the devil in disguise. While the identity of the bad guy in the story was obvious, that did nothing to diminish the enjoyment of the story. Reading this will give you all the feels - laughing, crying, swooning, cringing, teeth gritting, and cheering - while it’s sucking you into the romance and suspense. The story was well written and included witty dialogue, three dimensional characters who grow, and an engaging storyline. I cannot wait to read which Haven brother falls next.

The narrators were perfect for this story. Samantha Brentmoor and Teddy Hamilton did a phenomenal job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters quite convincingly. I also appreciated having Desiree Ketchum as the the third POV voice of Brielle. It added just that little extra. I really love the added dimension listening brings to a story.

Funny, Gorgeous but Darker Content

This book! Storms and Secrets have the humor that Claire Kingsley is known for and the suspense plot is really good. Marigold Martin and Zachary Haven both pined for each other, but Marigold thought that Zachary hated her. A rich, handsome and perfect man comes in town that sweeps Marigold off her feet. Zachary, however, isn’t having none of that nonsense. Eventually, Marigold sees just how much of a “cockmuppet” this man is. Zachary sees that he is more dangerous than a rude name.

The romance is really good. There was a bond there despite a past hurt, which made for their romance to feel more authentic and meaningful. The suspense plot was darker than I have read from Claire Kingsley before, but it was really good. We get the point of view of a missing person, which added to the plot and didn’t take away from the romance between Zachary and Marigold. The small town feel is still there like an old friend, as well as the Tilikum squirrels.

TW: sex trafficking, manipulating/grooming, kidnapping

Great story line and narrators

Good handling of very frightening but real things that happen too frequently in too many women's lives. also good primary story line.. Looking forward to more Havens stories.