Book Info
We Keep Secrets by AJ MerlinSeries: Behind Closed Doors #2
Rating: Book ratings explained
Genres: Dark Romance, Romantic Suspense
Pages: 311
ASIN: B09MR8RWW9
Published: 29/03/2022
Available on
Purchase at: Amazon | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU
Find on
Things were supposed to get better once no one was actively trying to kill me. Not a lot worse.
With my murderous stalker dead and buried, I really should be able to enjoy getting to know my two men more intimately and focusing on how Iβm going to move forward with my life.
Not worrying that one of them is a murderer and that the other is way too okay with that.
No matter how much they try to convince me that nothing is wrong and that I should be looking to move on instead of concentrating on whatβs behind me, I canβt shake the feeling that the problem was never my stalker.
It was always Ashwick.
And Iβm not the only one who thinks so, either. While Iβm trying to stay out of jail and keep myself level headed, another group has come to Ashwick who claim to be friends of Maggie. Theyβre here with wild accusations and assumptions, saying things that are too crazy to be real.
But Iβve been wondering the same things, Iβm just too afraid to say them out loud. No matter how much I want to look the other way, I donβt think thatβs an option.
This time, the choice I make will have deadly consequences to at least one person. I just have to pick which one.
AUTHORS NOTE
WE KEEP SECRETS is a MMF dark romance. It features MM and MFM scenes, along with graphic violence and cult themes. It is the second book of the Behind Closed Doors Duet.
We Keep Secrets - My Review
When I read We Tell Lies I said that the book was an epic tease. AJ Merlin continues that theme in the first chapter of We Keep Secrets when Kayn appears in Parker’s bathroom. You think Parker’s about to get some, then Kayn backs off. He moves forward and then retreats again. The tension got so high that I was practically ready to re-write the story just to see the smexy times happen. I was glad that this didn’t continue through the rest of the book because I don’t know how I would’ve coped.
In terms of the story, after the incident with Maggie (I won’t say more because, spoilers), Parker’s mind has dragged up a memory from before her kidnapping by the Ashwick Butcher. That memory has the potential to cause a negative shift in her relationship with Everett and her view of the whole town. The first 60% of the book covers Parker’s desire to uncover the truth and what it may mean for her if she does so. If I’m honest, this part was a little slow. It was necessary to build towards the better part of the story but aside from odd moments, it dragged.
The final part of the story sees Parker discover just what that memory was, and the events surrounding it. She has to come to terms with seeing her friends and family in a whole new light, comparing that with what she knows about Kayn’s proclivities, and all the while protecting everybody she knows and loves from the danger of outsiders.
The book takes us through all of Parker’s emotional torment surrounding her boyfriends and the people around her. To the very end, she finds the truth difficult to accept. At the same time, she never stops embodying the final girl that she was in the first book. I found that I didn’t need her to get on board with the craziness surrounding her, but I wasn’t happy with her accepting and becoming a part of it through the lack of another option. I wanted it to be an active choice on her part.
One thing I felt I missed out on as a result of the single point of view was the thoughts and emotions of Everett and Kayn. They really would have added to the story and the struggles going on in Ashwick, along with their own emotional torment surrounding Parker’s investigations and subsequent indecision.
If you want twisted secrets and dangerous lies, along with some steamy MF, MFM and MMF action, then the Behind Closed Doors series is definitely for you. But, beware, you might not be able to handle Ashwick’s secrets.