[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of A Secret Fate

About Susan Griscom:  I daydream often and sometimes my daydreams interrupt my daydreams. So I write to remember them. If I didn't write, I think my mind would explode from an overload of fantasy and weirdness. To the annoyance of my friends and family, my characters sometimes become a part of my world. During my childhood, I would frequently get in trouble in school for daydreaming. Eventually, my vivid imagination paid off and I had the privilege of writing and co-directing my sixth-grade class play—a dreadful disaster, though not from my writing, of course, I must blame it on the acting.

I enjoy writing about characters living in small quaint towns and tend to lean toward the unusual and spooky.

My paranormal playing field delves into a different milieu, abandoning vampires and werewolves, but not discounting them. Someday I might like to write a novel about vamps and those furry creatures. But for now I like the bizarre mixed with romance. A strong hero or heroine confronted with extraordinary forces of nature, powers and capabilities gets my blood running hot.

Connect with Susan online at her Website, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on GoodReads.

A Secret Fate, book #3 of the WHISPER CAPE Series

by Susan Griscom

Coming Fall 2013

Buy Links to come...

Synopsis:

The third book in the Whisper Cape trilogy, A Secret Fate has taken an unexpected turn.

Gerry, Addie and Cael almost captured Careen’s murderer only to lose Cael in the battle. Is he alive? If so, will he return? And the bigger question, thanks to Gerry's handiwork, will Cael remember Addie? Is their love lost with him?

Addie’s family and friends think she should keep the relationship a secret from Cael so he isn't forced into feelings he can't remember. Just what she needs, more secrets and on top of everything else, someone stole the crystal. How is she supposed to get over the loss of her lover, a lover she'd barely had for only a few short months and deal with the secret of the lost crystal at the same time?

Aiden wants nothing more than to help Addie overcome her grief and get over Cael. Or is that all he wants? What happens when too many people know the secret and someone slips up?

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L. Olson:
*eARC received from the Author

Oh, it's so bittersweet... I have been following Addie and Cael's tale since day one when Susan reached out to me (as Regan) and asked if I'd be interested in reading Whisper Cape. At that time, it was one of the best books I had read and I instantly developed a serious book boyfriend crush on Cael. That didn't change through the utter enjoyment of Reflections, and now that the series has come to a conclusion, I don't know if I want to laugh at the amazing ride, or cry because it's over.

A Secret Fate is another highly emotional read. Picking up after the intense conclusion of Reflections, we get to follow Addie and Cael through separate stories initially while they're separated, sharing in Addie's grief and heartbreak and the developing relationship between she and Aiden, and joining Cael for some fun in the sun while he struggles with his missing memory.

When their paths finally overlap again, it's...intense. There are some serious secrets being kept, a bit of jealousy over a love triangle that really isn't a love triangle, a super sweet (and yes, erotic!) romance as Cael and Addie relearn each other, and a highly action packed sub-story with unusual outcomes.

I really enjoyed the ride, and if you're a WHISPER CAPE series follower, you most certainly have to read this to wrap things up.

I only have 1 critique as a reader. I sort of feel like this book might have been told better as 2 novellas and a full length novel. It may have had more impact if the separation and eventual rejoining was told as a short, with the re-kindling of the couple's romance, the parallel story of Gerry & Maia's twins being born, and the action packed sub-plot I mentioned above being told as the full length, and then the skip into the future, prologue and conclusion of the series being told as a follow-up novella. I just think it might have made things flow slightly better and allowed for some additional detail in areas where it wasn't possible here without making the book really, really long. Even with that said though, I was still invested throughout A Secret Fate and didn't find myself wishing it would hurry along at any point. I did wish for a bit more in areas, but never to a point where I was frustrated about it.

A Secret Fate