I received this book for free from the TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Best Kept Secret by Tawna Fenske Series: Where There's Smoke #3
Published by Entangled, Amara on February 22, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / Firefighters, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 364
Format: eBook
Source: TLC Book Tours
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Nurse Nyla Franklin knows three things to be true. Taking care of others brings more joy than a basket full of kittens. A triple-fudge sundae can cure just about anything. And no good ever comes from keeping a secret... So when her best friend spills his biggest one ever, Nyla knows she’s not just holding a secret. She’s holding a ticking time bomb.
Mr. Always Does the Right Thing Leo Sayre knows three things to be true. Piloting smokejumpers over burning forests is the best job in the world. His best friend Nyla is the smartest, funniest, and okay, sexiest woman ever. And pain meds are apparently his truth serum. Now his post-surgery confession has everything flipped upside down and turned inside out... including his relationship with Nyla.
Secrets have a way of piling up, and it’s just a matter of time before someone lights a match. Because while the truth can set you free, it can also burn completely out of control...
Each book in the Where There’s Smoke series is STANDALONE:
* The Two-Date Rule
* Just a Little Bet
* The Best Kept Secret
Turning away from suspense, thrillers, and mysteries, I read Tawna Fenske’s THE BEST KEPT SECRET. This book is full of family secrets, a little bit of drama, and a lot of comedy. The characters are well-developed, quirky, and quite realistic. I had a fun time reading this book in almost one sitting.
Nyla Franklin is a nurse who’s used to telling it straight to people, but that’s mostly because she’s the world’s worst liar. She really comes to life when she’s taking care of others, especially those she holds near to her heart. Her ex-brother-in-law Leo is still a big part of her life and they’ve become really good friends over the years, as well as her nephew Seth. She has always had a great relationship with her big sister Mandi. They’ve had each other’s backs and told each other everything, at least Nyla thought they did. When Leo lets slip something monumental while he’s on painkillers after oral surgery and Nyla’s left holding a very large secret that effects their entire family, the race is on to reign in Nyla’s inability to keep a secret.
While Nyla is sworn to secrecy, she has the worst time keeping secrets about anything, really. Her family knows somethings up when she acts weird, and the more time Leo and Nyla spend together, the attraction grows. So then there’s another secret added on top of the original, and as their relationship grows away from everyone’s eyes, the pressure increases until everything is out in the open.
I give The Best Kept Secret a four out of five. This was truly a standalone novel, which I really appreciated. The characters just jumped to life very early on in the novel. Nyla and Leo are both selfless caregivers at heart, and they are perfect for each other. Nyla and Mandi’s parents are well-formed characters, as well as Seth. The funny situations that Nyla walks into really lift this novel up and made me smile, especially when the consequences of the secrets got to be too much to handle. I’d call this book a friends-to-lovers/forbidden romance with a generous dollop of family drama, and Tawna Fenske has a new fan. The writing was top notch, vivid and entertaining.
Find THE BEST KEPT SECRET
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
About Tawna Fenske
When Tawna Fenske finished her English Lit degree at twenty-two, she celebrated by filling a giant trash bag full of romance novels and dragging it everywhere until she’d read them all. Now she’s a RITA® Award finalist and USA Today bestselling author who writes humorous fiction, risqué romance, and heartwarming love stories with a quirky twist. She lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband, step-kids, and a menagerie of ill-behaved pets, where she loves hiking, stand-up paddleboarding, and inventing excuses to sip wine on her back porch. She can peel a banana with her toes and loses an average of twenty pairs of eyeglasses per year. Check out Tawna’s website: tawnafenske.com.
Find Tawna Fenske
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
Tawna Fenske’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS for THE BEST KEPT SECRET:
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Instagram and TikTok features:
Saturday, February 26th: TT: @juliette_ariel
Sunday, February 27th: IG: @openbookbyleila
Monday, February 28th: IG: @nsiabblog
Tuesday, March 1st: IG: @bree.unabashedly
Wednesday, March 2nd: IG: @moonlight_rendezvous
Wednesday, March 2nd: TT: @moonlight_rendezvous
Thursday, March 3rd: TT: @lizzierecommendsbooks
Friday, March 4th: IG @theliteraryllama
Friday, March 4th: TT: @hrhleemorgan
Reviews:
Monday, February 28th: Bewitched Bookworms
Wednesday, March 2nd: IG: @bookworm.struggles
Thursday, March 3rd: IG: @bookish_eclectic
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Monday, March 7th: IG: @read.with.rach
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Friday, March 11th: Stranded in Chaos and IG: @sarastrand9438
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Wednesday, March 16th: Why Girls are Weird
Wednesday, March 16th: @sueylibrary
Friday, March 18th: Cheryl’s Book Nook and IG: @beastreader
Monday, March 21st: IG: @andkellyreads
Wednesday, March 23rd: IG: @readingforamoment
Thursday, March 24th: @readitandquip
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