The Best-Kept Secret (Harlequin Intrigue, No. 496) [Paperback]

Adrianne Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

This Christmas Mac Coy was glad to be alive…

But to the world, he was dead. And until Mac found his would-be killer, he'd take cover in his twin brother's identity. Mac had always been the quiet twin. To become his brother, he needed the one woman he wanted more to avoid. The woman he loved. His brother's fiancée….

Tia Larken was ending her engagement—and she wanted no part in turning Mac into his tough, arrogant brother. But her own secrets and desires were against her. She couldn't say yes…but when she looked into Mac's seductive gaze, she found she couldn't say no….

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin; 1st edition (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373224966
• ISBN-13: 978-0373224968
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,686,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been married to my high school sweetheart since those good old rock and roll days when Elvis was The King and The Beatles were galloping over the horizon.

We live on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula; the Olympic mountains range is the eye candy out my office window. My adopted cat, Spooky, is always curled up near me as I create my stories these days.

My career as a writer started in junior high school in the form of poetic rhymes and continued to my senior year, when I contemplated writing a book, dreaming up characters disturbingly reminiscent of my classmates. But other than a few notes, the book never left the planning stage. I had a discouraging experience in a creative writing course I was taking at the time and being a sensitive teenage girl. . . I didn't attempt writing stories again for twenty years.

I restarted my writing career by taking a community college writing 101 course. The teacher was wonderfully encouraging and luckily for me, I met my first critique group in that class. At the time, I was writing Mysteries and the others in my new critique group were all writing Romance. Since I've always been a romantic at heart, I ended up adding romance to my mysteries. Lots of romance.

I call my stories Sexy Whodunits.

Or as one of the characters in my new mystery series would say, "Sex and Murder!"

visit my website @ www.adriannelee.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Mystery, A Great Hero, April 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Best-Kept Secret (Harlequin Intrigue, No. 496) (Paperback)

Adrianne Lee brings her usual skill at juggling a big group of suspects to this mystery, which features a good plotline and an even better hero. Shy toymaker Mac Coy had traded places with his detective twin brother to investigate the industrial espionage in his toy company. As the book opens, Mac learns his brother has been murdered. Grief-stricken, Mac decides there's only one way he can get to the bottom of it, and for that, he needs the help of Tia Larken, his brother's fiancee, a woman he's always wished was his own.

Coy Toys provides a big cast of characters to keep the true villain's identity a secret until the end, and unlike "The Runaway Bride," which kept all the suspects at a distance until the final third, Lee does a good job characterizing them all. It really is impossible to know who it is. The story did move a little too fast for me, with emotions and suspicions that are discussed at great length, but come across as skimmed over because we're already moving on to something new. I couldn't help wishing it was paced so that some of those details could sink in more.

Still, if I wound up loving the book, it was because of the uniqueness of the hero and how much I cared about the romance. Mac is just so perfectly human, a wonderful change in a genre where every man is superman. Tia's subplot was a little familiar, but Mac was refreshing and sympathetic the whole way through. With insecurities and imperfections, he's just a man, but he's also a great romantic lead. Even if the book had been terrible, I probably would have recommended it on the strength of him alone. Fortunately, Lee provides a satisfying story to go along with her characters. "The Best-Kept Secret" (and her original title was most definitely better) is certainly worth investigating.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid story telling wrapped in a very sweet ending., November 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Best-Kept Secret (Harlequin Intrigue, No. 496) (Paperback)

I want one of these bears for myself! They sound wonderful.

Tia and Mac are both people I'd love to meet and to have as friends. Best Kept Secret will touch your heart in many ways. Add to that a really intriguing bit of suspense that leaves you wondering in a big way.

It's cleverly done, and definitely emotionally satisfying in the end. You couldn't help but love this man and this woman. You'll find a part of you in each one of them.

Great going, Adrianne! -Lee Emory