Midnight Secrets (Wildefire #1)
by Ella Grace
Blurb:
AT
THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT, THE HEAT BEGINS
On
a hot southern night, with a storm on the horizon, a family is shattered. Three
beautiful daughters—Savannah, Samantha, and Sabrina Wilde—go on with their
lives, each significantly changed, as they bear the memory of the
murder-suicide that killed their parents. For years, they have stayed away from
Midnight, Alabama. Until Midnight calls them home.
Savannah
is the first one back, when a grueling case in Nashville leads the young
prosecutor to seek shelter in the quiet of the once grand Wilde mansion. But
when she finds letters casting doubt on her family’s dark, shameful past, she
realizes that peace in Midnight is a shallow façade and sinister secrets lurk
beneath the surface. Zach Tanner, once the town’s bad boy, is now the new
police chief and still has a wild hold over her. Zach can feel it, too, but he
hurt Savannah once. As teenagers, they broke every rule together. Now it’s his
job to keep her safe, even though he isn’t sure who her enemies are—or which
ones might be his own.
Review:
Midnight Secrets is
the first book published as Ella Grace, a pseudonym for Christy Reece, one of
my favorite authors. I've been looking
forward to trying out this new “author” and seeing how these books differ from
the Typical Reece novels. I was not
disappointed! Midnight Secrets is a great beginning to a new series and intro
to a subtly new writing style. This book
was full of the typical small southern town issues, but seen from a whole new
point of view, with lots of crazy plot twists and a shocking ending.
The
story begins with the brutal murder-suicide of the Wilde Parents, a shocking
crime that leaves the town on edge and unable to understand how such a heinous
crime could happen in their small town to two people so obviously madly in
love. Jumping ahead eight years, we meet
the eighteen-year-old daughters of the victims.
On the night of her prom, Savannah Wilde’s life changes for all
time. Saved from a terrible fate by Zach
Tanner, the town bad boy, Savannah is instantly smitten and finally musters up
the courage to start a relationship with Zach.
Love hits them both quickly and the two months of their summer of love
flies by. But when the time comes for
them to take the next step in their futures, tragedy strikes and tears them
apart, though neither of them ever expected not to be together forever.
Ten
years later, Savannah is a bitter and lonely prosecutor, faced with a death
threat from her newest defendant.
Knowing she has to get out of town, her boss demands she take the next
two months off and head home for her safety. But returning to the home with so many
memories—some good, but too many bad—leaves her reluctant to make the return
trip. Knowing that Zach has returned
makes her decision even more terrifying.
But when she arrives and is
instantly faced with the man who she once loved, she’s unable to put up enough resistance
to keep her mind and heart separate. But when she starts to question the truth
of her parents’ death, putting her life in danger, Zach isn’t willing to step
back again. This time he’ll keep her
forever, no matter how hard he has to work to convince her to forgive him and
accept him back into her life.
I
honestly loved Zach! Getting to see the relationship both previous and current
was awesome and it was wonderful to see how sweet Zach always was and remains.
He is a strong man for sure, but his depth of emotion, especially when it comes
to Savannah is sexy. He is a war hero,
honest lawman, loving brother, and is determined to be the man that Savannah
always believed him to be. When we learn
why he broke her heart all those years ago, the tears are impossible to
prevent. I was so moved by those scenes,
as well as the ones when Savannah explains her own mistakes that I think I’ll
have to read it again the next time I'm feeling lonely so I can enjoy the
emotional connections to make myself feel better. Savannah is a very embittered
and angry woman; feeling betrayed by the one man she’s ever loved, and unable
to understand how he could have broken her heart. She was naïve in the beginning and I think
that time was needed for her to grow up, so she could be the woman Zach always
needed. Though I feel the pain of her
losses, sometimes those tragedies are needed to allow people to grow. The emotional connection between the H/H was
there from the beginning, and the passion between them—both the youthful
passion in their pasts and the grown-up heat flaring between them later—was off
the charts, even if the kinds of passion changed.
Overall
I LOVED this story and am happy I was able to add another series to my
list. Zach and Savannah are the
perfectly quintessential childhood sweethearts, forced apart due to their own
naiveté and bad choices, but thankfully they are able to come together again as
adults to form the lasting bonds they always desired. The connection between the triplets was fun
to read as well and I am seriously looking forward to reading their
stories. The mystery surrounding the
death of their parents, one that changed all three Wilde girls in ways they
never foresaw, was full of twists and turns, and I was completely surprised
when the real killers are uncovered I found my draw dropping at the unexpected
identities. Great job once again Ms.
Reece…er… Ms. Grace. :) I look forward to many more novels in this series and
written under this name. Thanks for reminding me why I love living in a small
southern town.
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