Secrets Rising

I've been on a reading marathon since I returned from RWA. Hey, I have to read some of these books I've been getting, right? I picked up Suzanne McMinn's Secrets Rising and got a quick, compelling read: 4 out of 5.

Keely Schiffer is having the strangest day. There's the skull in her rose garden and she receives a gift from her dead husband. Then an earthquake hits, and Keely's trapped with a handsome, gun-toting stranger.

Detective Jake Malloy heard that nothing bad ever happened in the town of Haven, but this so-called R & R has turned into a nightmare. Except for being stuck in a dark cellar with a sexy woman till help arrives. For Keely and Jake, near-death stokes hidden fires, but the earthquake seems hell-bent on stirring up all the people of Haven, past and present . . .

Secrets Rising (love the title) is a story that moves quickly. The set up is good, and I enjoy the way Jake and Keely are trapped in the cellar together. The action starts quickly and keeps on going.

What I enjoyed most was the chemistry between Jake and Keely. The tension between them when they in the cellar is amazing, and it leads to a great consummation scene.

The second half of the book slows down a bit as the mystery takes center stage. The story kept my interest, but it doesn't have the same tension as the first half.

I closed the book with the sense that Jake and Keely's relationship is just beginning. There's a lot they don't know about each other. That doesn't diminish the feeling that they are a couple that will stay together. This is the first book in a new series. I'm interested in seeing what happens in the next one.