Chasing Secrets

Pelican Bay, Book 5

By: Sloane Kennedy

Narrated by: Michael Dean

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Lincoln:

I was just there to do my job, but then he arrived, and I knew in my gut everything was about to change. Everything...

For former soldier turned nurse practitioner Lincoln Arden, Pelican Bay was supposed to be just another dot on a map, and the crotchety old man he’d been hired to assist in his physical rehabilitation was supposed to be just another patient whose body was slowly giving in to the harsh reality of time.

It was just another job...one in a long list of many. One that lasted only long enough that Lincoln could do what he needed to do and then keep moving. Always moving.

But nothing about the live-in job was like all the others. Not the chaotic group of men who’d made themselves into a family, not the charming old farmhouse that sat in the middle of nowhere, and most certainly not the endless acres of trees, streams, and every other one of Mother Nature’s miracles that reminded him of the beauty of life after being witness to so much death.

He'd done it, though. He’d remained on the outskirts of that family despite the warm welcome they’d offered him from day one, and he hadn’t let his surroundings make him forget that it would be time to move on soon enough.

But then he arrived....

Theo

Returning to Pelican Bay and the past that came with it was the last thing I wanted to do, but “visiting” my former best friend would give me the time I needed to figure out where to disappear to next.

Even though Theo Lancaster had only lived a few towns over from Pelican Bay, returning to the hometown of his onetime best friend in Northern Minnesota was like walking through a doorway to the past—and the exact moment his life had changed forever.

Simply put, the small, picture-perfect town was the last place he wanted to be, but with no home, no friends or family to lean on, and no money, his choices had been pretty limited. Fortunately, the past that haunted his dreams night after night had prepared him for the moment by turning him into something he’d never thought he would be.

A liar.

A fake.

A fraud.

A man who knew what mask to wear and what words to say to keep the truth at bay.

Hiding his scars, both the ones covering his body and the ones ripping his soul to shreds with each day that passed, was easy. Telling everyone he was okay spilled from his lips as effortlessly as the fake smile that he’d been perfecting for years. Lying about what had happened to him after that fateful day—when the truth about who he really was had been discovered—had been so well rehearsed that sometimes he even managed to fool himself into believing it had all been a terrible dream.

It had been a good plan. Hide out for a few days, come up with a plan of what to do next, and disappear before anyone figured out the truth.

But nowhere in his plans had he even given thought to meeting a gorgeous-as-hell nurse who saw past his lies with ease. A man who knew Theo wasn’t okay and was intent on healing as many of Theo’s scars as he could, both inside and out. A man who wanted the same thing for Theo that he needed for himself.

To stop running.

While this book can be listened to as a stand-alone, listening to it before the others in the series will cause spoilers for previous books.

Please note this book comes with several triggers.

©2023 SK Publishing, LLC (P)2023 SK Piblishing, LLC

Simply beautiful

This book is so amazingly beautiful in all the ways... tragically, hauntingly, painfully, lovingly, healingly, humourously beautiful. It will break you & put you back together.

A beautiful story of healing

I love the Pelican Bay stories and the sexy men who embody them. Lincoln and Theo are such a sweet pair and I loved getting to know them more as they grew closer and helped each other deal with the horrors of their pasts.

Such a sad story.

Theo led such a sad life. Never really understanding what was going on in his life.

First Ever Sloane Kennedy Book I DNF

Possible Spoilers* but it all takes place within the first couple chapters...

Let me start by saying it's possible that, as an RN, I could not achieve the open-mindedness with this particular story that one often finds necessary when reading fictional romances.

That said, I made it to chapter 10 before giving up.

The instant attraction of a nurse to a malnourished, fevered, and nearly incoherent patient was closer to perving for me.

What ethical medical professional would become sexually aroused from the lips and warm breath of a sick young man who had just collapsed against their chest? Linc, a nurse practitioner, constantly has to "force" his body not to respond to a very sick, possibly delirious man when anything remotely sexual should, in my opinion, be the farthest thought from any nurse's mind. The inner dialog of how much a nurse wants to kiss a sick patient while fighting not to get "hard" was just too much for me.

Not to mention, a nurse finding anyone as sick as Theo (raging fever and possible sepsis) would have gotten them to a hospital. Period. How does a nurse, practitioner or not, come about intravenous antibiotics to administer at home? What MD signed off on it?

Who is Sloane's medical consultant for her stories?

Again, maybe I'm alone in these thoughts, but it was enough of a distraction for me that I just couldn't go on.

I love Sloane's stories and have more of her books than any other author in my library, but lately, I struggle with her new work, as it feels repetitive and boring, and now this...

Maybe I'll come back for a reread one day; for now, though, Chasing Secrets is on my rare DNF list.

Michael Dean was phenomenal as always!