Repressed

Deadly Secrets, Book 1

By: Elisabeth Naughton

Narrated by: Amy Landon

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

RITA Award Winner, Romantic Suspense, 2017

Hidden Falls is exactly as Samantha Parker left it - small, insular, and prone to gossip. Eighteen years have passed since she witnessed her brother's murder, but she's still the talk of the town. Until a handsome child psychologist with haunting memories of his own arrives.

Dr. Ethan McClane isn't exactly a newcomer. If it weren't for his latest case, he'd never set foot back in Hidden Falls. Thankfully, no one seems to recognize him as the troubled teen from years past. Not even Sam, the delightfully sharp and sexy high school chemistry teacher he can't stop thinking about.

When Sam and Ethan work together to help one of her students, sparks ignite. But Sam's hazy memories of a long-ago night concern Ethan, and unlocking the repressed images reveals a dark connection between them. As the horrors of the past finally come to light, their relationship isn't the only thing in danger. A killer will strike again to keep an ugly secret hidden. This time no one will be safe.

©2016 Elisabeth Naughton (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Loved it

This was my first book by this author. I've already pre-ordered the next in this series as well as another series. Looking forward to more.

amazing

This book was amazing. I've been telling everyone about it. The way the author wrote the characters really felt like people I know in real life. She did a great job of helping you get lost into this fantastic world. Definitely going to read more of her books.

Light entertainment

Straightforward romantic suspense novel. More emphasis on the romance than the suspense. Characters a bit too clichéd and the plot too predictable. The narrator made the characters sound too alike. Some male characters sounded way too feminine.

Meandering into a dead end

This could have been a good crime story. Or a good romance story. Or a good revenge story. Instead it was a dash of this, a pinch of that, and a big old feast of nothingness.

Terrible narration..

Great story. Lots of suspects, and a surprise one at the end.

I really liked Ethan and Samantha. He was a Psychologist and she was a Chemistry teacher. I liked Seth, too, and he was dead when the story started. Margaret, Kenny, Jeff and Will were all really weird and were perfect secondary characters. And I really liked Thomas; he was a nice kid, which authors have a tough time writing about. They always want to write about teenagers based on today’s mouthy, hateful kids, at least 75% of them are, anyway.

The story itself was very interesting and it’s kept me turning the pages, wanting to find out who killed who, and when. And with the love story attached it made it even better.

There wasn’t any sexual tension but there were a couple of nice bedroom scenes. And there was swearing and the F-bomb was used 29 times.

I got this through KU.

As to the narrator: She kinda sucked at the men’s voices! I absolutely hate when men have such feminine voices, as she did very little to change her voice. I don’t know how this narrator got anything other than 1and 2 star for her narrations. She read with a little emotion but when it said someone laughed right after they said something the narrator never did. I really hate that. When a hero is over 6 feet tall and muscular and gorgeous and he says something "gruffly" you just don't expect him to sound feminine. A couple of times I had to go back over a conversation to see who said what because the hero and heroine sounded so much alike. I can't see me listening to this narrator again. I gave her 2 stars for the times she did read with the slightest bit of emotion. But 0 stars for the job she did with the men's voices.

Too Mushy

I found myself cringing often, throughout the story, because it was really cheesy. Too mushy, with not enough action, making it more of a romance novel than a thriller. Skip it if you don't like romance.

Can love die with murder?!

Traumatic moments in ones life can be a moment as little as a split second; that pause in time to open our inner black hole in our memory. That moment that every single action, sound, smell, face, and touch just simply vanishes way, deep down into the furthest recesses of our minds. A Black hole where those moments could and should...truly be lost forever....

Then in another split second, a familiar voice or face will triggers those memories to flood back into the forefront when you least expect it. That Deja vu' moment...a triggered sensation just trying to unearth a lost memory that some might think, should simply stay lost forever!

There's a tragic moment buried deep down in Sam's mind and someone is either trying to get her to remember...or trying to scare her and those memories away. Can her friends protect her? Or will the only one to help her come from this newcomer she can't seem to forget?

Ethan is what the town is calling the newcomer, a therapist who only wants to help those with nightmares too hard to handle. Help the troubled teens not follow the path he knows to do harm, and help beautiful Sam, find her peace again fast because she's made it clear that she can't get out of this town fast enough.

Everyone here has a history, and no one has a history bigger than Ethan - or so he thinks. Can his history keep Sam safe by not knowing, or will a history like this newcomers.....hurt more if proven to not be so new?!

Great listen!

Oh Yea!!!

The book was so good that Reading /Listening to it all in 24hrs. Sam is a teacher of chemistry at the high school she once was a student at. Her brother was murdered 18yrs ago an she never wanted to return. However her mother passed an she was having to fix the house up to sale once it sold she was going back to her life in California. well that all changes when she meets Ethan the Therapist helping 1 of her trouble students
every time you think you had figured it all out
you ate wrong. I really enjoy the voice of the narration

Hidden Falls and its secrets

Enjoyable story. 18yrs ago, Samantha witnessed her brother’s murder and her life was forever changed. Now she’s back, packing up her deceased mother’s house for sale and temporarily teaching Chemistry at the hs. Sam can’t wait to return to her life in California. Then she meets psychologist Ethan McLane, who is evaluating a new student. Let’s just say that this pair had chemistry! Unfortunately, someone doesn’t want Sam to stick around and is leaving threatening messages. Ethan is trying to protect her but he has a secret that may tear them apart. Great story and looking forward to the next book.

Still on the fence about this one.

I am still unsure how I feel about this book. It was an interesting read, but there were too many things thrown at the reader. There are many things you are expected to over look, mainly a connection the hero has with the town. Folks think he looks familiar, but never connect him to the teen he was, even kids he hung out with in his time in the town. I was not buying that at all.

There are several twists and turns in the book, most felt contrived. There wasn't anything that I didn't figure out early in the story. Don't get me wrong, I finished the book and was entertained, just not held in suspense.

The romance is more lust, cause I am not a believer in love at first sight. They definitely had chemistry, plenty or open door bedroom action here! Lots of adult language and detailed sexual activity. I am totally fine with that, but it didn't enhance the story, which is my problem with it. They fell into bed too fast and then it seemed to become a habit.

The narrative is mixed between the two leads and a couple of supporting character thoughts as well. It is meant to enhance the story, but for me, it gave away too much. I really wasn't shocked at any point and found that I had more than enough clues, way to early on, to know what the deal was by the time things unraveled.

The narration by Amy Landon was good on the ladies voices, but not so great with the men. They just sounded to feminine the whole time. She does have a good pace and puts energy into the words, just needs work on the guy voices. Not everyone has a lower range to work with, but she really could try to make them a little more butch.

Overall, this book was a disappointment in many ways, but it was an entertaining read that kept me busy for a few hours. It felt like it might be leading into a series, I will have to look into that because the brothers had potential!

This was part of my reading for almost free commitment. I found it on Amazon, with my Kindle Unlimited subscription, I was able to borrow the audio for no additional charge. I do not know if this is a permanent arrangement or temporary. It was in effect at the time I wrote this review.