slkluke22's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
marilynmalloy's review against another edition
3.0
A good end to the trilogy :). Glad I picked it up....
imzadirose's review against another edition
3.0
While still a great book, I didn't like this one nearly as much as the others. Will was an ass, for most of it (which happens at the very end of the 2nd book), and Cassie was pretty stupid over some stuff (really? She didn't see that with Jesse?! She's blind). So yeah, some stuff that was pretty weak story wise, but overall a great series.
l1brarygirl's review
4.0
I am very satisfied with this final book. Great character development & it wrapped up very nicely.
dtaylorbooks's review against another edition
3.0
This is my first Blogging for Books/Random House review title and I want to preface this review by saying that I haven’t read the other two books in this series. When I read the blurb it didn’t seem like I had to and in hindsight I don’t think I needed to. While there’s a somewhat ongoing relationship in this book that appears to have been broached in past books I didn’t feel lost while reading. Everything was pretty straight forward and it didn’t leave me guessing at all.
The book itself was okay. The society known as SECRET is more of an underground female exploration club that helps women live out their fantasies in order to grow themselves in various ways. Their played-out fantasies would help get them there. Cassie is coming to grips with two rather tumultuous relationships that may or may not end well and after her divorce from a husband who appeared to be a rather big ass (there wasn’t a lot of detail on him, just some sidebar references) she doesn’t know if she can handle the destruction again so she immerses herself in her work, both in and out of SECRET. Solange is trying to come out of a decade-long sexless funk since divorcing her husband and diving headfirst into her job while trying to raise her son at the same time.
It became obvious pretty quickly that I’m not really the correct demographic for this book. This book is more aimed at women in a mid-ish life funk (for lack of better words), who’ve already done the married thing, the children thing and need to find themselves again after losing themselves for so long. That . . . is not me. So while the stories were intriguing and I found myself invested in them all the same I couldn’t really relate so it kept the book at a distance for me.
As for the sex, I would label this as erotica light. There’s a lot of sex being had in the book but it’s not . . . in depth, so to speak. The focus seems to be more on the exploration and personal growth coming out of the sexual act than the act itself, I found. It was okay sex but it was rather humdrum. It didn’t go as far off the deep end as it could have gone (or these women really don’t reach very far with their own fantasies) and it relied on pretty “safe” sexual scenarios that made it just a regular read for me. It was vaguely sexy but nothing that had be squirming in my seat.
I did like Solange as a character. I felt for her. Her ambition was something pretty big for her and it cost her a lot, namely her marriage and it somewhat strained her relationship with her son. I liked how SECRET allowed her to go back to someone she was before the stress of success and forced her to remember what carefree felt like, what risk felt like, what love really felt like. It was a nice story. I doubt that was the aim for a book like this but that’s what I would call it.
As for Cassie, meh. She was a bit all over the board and she really did string Jesse along for a while there. I’m guessing there was more in past books but just from what I saw she really toggled between Will and Jesse and basically used Jesse as a rebound for when Will wasn’t there. It wasn’t fair to him and it was plain to tell that even though he tried to keep it casual it didn’t really work. I liked when she stopped screwing around (not literally) with her life and really set her mind to her new restaurant. It awakened her out of her need for these two men and showed her that life was more than them. Things come full circle, though, which really didn’t surprise me but a happy ending was had by all.
I don’t think I’ll be reading the other books. I don’t really think I’m in the right stage of my life to really appreciate the stories and I prefer my erotica a little more . . . involved than what was offered in SECRET Revealed. The book was okay but that’s where I’d leave it.
3
The book itself was okay. The society known as SECRET is more of an underground female exploration club that helps women live out their fantasies in order to grow themselves in various ways. Their played-out fantasies would help get them there. Cassie is coming to grips with two rather tumultuous relationships that may or may not end well and after her divorce from a husband who appeared to be a rather big ass (there wasn’t a lot of detail on him, just some sidebar references) she doesn’t know if she can handle the destruction again so she immerses herself in her work, both in and out of SECRET. Solange is trying to come out of a decade-long sexless funk since divorcing her husband and diving headfirst into her job while trying to raise her son at the same time.
It became obvious pretty quickly that I’m not really the correct demographic for this book. This book is more aimed at women in a mid-ish life funk (for lack of better words), who’ve already done the married thing, the children thing and need to find themselves again after losing themselves for so long. That . . . is not me. So while the stories were intriguing and I found myself invested in them all the same I couldn’t really relate so it kept the book at a distance for me.
As for the sex, I would label this as erotica light. There’s a lot of sex being had in the book but it’s not . . . in depth, so to speak. The focus seems to be more on the exploration and personal growth coming out of the sexual act than the act itself, I found. It was okay sex but it was rather humdrum. It didn’t go as far off the deep end as it could have gone (or these women really don’t reach very far with their own fantasies) and it relied on pretty “safe” sexual scenarios that made it just a regular read for me. It was vaguely sexy but nothing that had be squirming in my seat.
I did like Solange as a character. I felt for her. Her ambition was something pretty big for her and it cost her a lot, namely her marriage and it somewhat strained her relationship with her son. I liked how SECRET allowed her to go back to someone she was before the stress of success and forced her to remember what carefree felt like, what risk felt like, what love really felt like. It was a nice story. I doubt that was the aim for a book like this but that’s what I would call it.
As for Cassie, meh. She was a bit all over the board and she really did string Jesse along for a while there. I’m guessing there was more in past books but just from what I saw she really toggled between Will and Jesse and basically used Jesse as a rebound for when Will wasn’t there. It wasn’t fair to him and it was plain to tell that even though he tried to keep it casual it didn’t really work. I liked when she stopped screwing around (not literally) with her life and really set her mind to her new restaurant. It awakened her out of her need for these two men and showed her that life was more than them. Things come full circle, though, which really didn’t surprise me but a happy ending was had by all.
I don’t think I’ll be reading the other books. I don’t really think I’m in the right stage of my life to really appreciate the stories and I prefer my erotica a little more . . . involved than what was offered in SECRET Revealed. The book was okay but that’s where I’d leave it.
3
novelgoddess's review against another edition
4.0
Great ending to a great series...so sorry to see it end
shell74's review against another edition
4.0
“Why not? It’s just sex, right? That’s the easy part. It’s love that vexes.”
S.E.C.R.E.T. Revealed is the conclusion to the erotic Secret trilogy where women become empowered in their sex lives, one Step at a time.
This was the first book I’ve read in the series and I was a bit lost at first, figuring out what S.E.C.R.E.T. was really all about. I eventually picked up the gist of how the group helped women and how it all worked, but I would recommend reading the first two books before jumping in like I did. Still, I enjoyed L. Marie Adeline’s writing style…especially the uber sexy love scenes. I think, because they were based on the fantasies of S.E.C.R.E.T.’s clients, the scenes were a bit voyeuristic which, to me, only added to the eroticism.
See my full review here:
http://harlequinjunkie.com/review-s-e-c-r-e-t-revealed-by-l-marie-adeline/
S.E.C.R.E.T. Revealed is the conclusion to the erotic Secret trilogy where women become empowered in their sex lives, one Step at a time.
This was the first book I’ve read in the series and I was a bit lost at first, figuring out what S.E.C.R.E.T. was really all about. I eventually picked up the gist of how the group helped women and how it all worked, but I would recommend reading the first two books before jumping in like I did. Still, I enjoyed L. Marie Adeline’s writing style…especially the uber sexy love scenes. I think, because they were based on the fantasies of S.E.C.R.E.T.’s clients, the scenes were a bit voyeuristic which, to me, only added to the eroticism.
See my full review here:
http://harlequinjunkie.com/review-s-e-c-r-e-t-revealed-by-l-marie-adeline/
carmenchacon's review against another edition
4.0
Finished this yesterday wasn't expecting a lot of the things that happen in this book. especially with Jesse it was just like what the hell but in the end Will came around and it was magical. I liked it but I hated that I had to get through another characters story it was a good story but I just wanted to know what was going to happen with Cassie in the end I wasn't disappointed.
librarianryan's review against another edition
4.0
What a perfect end to the series. I will admit I did not care that much for Solange's side of the story but I had to know what happened to Cassie and Will. And let me tell you if it did not have a happy ending, I would have been disappointed. I will say thing unraveled in ways I did not expect, and I was also happy to see some characters of different ethnicity. The only thing I can complain about is that Solange's steps seemed bland and repetitive of each other, even if the guys were not. But I loved the series.