Secrets In The Shadows [Kindle Edition]

T. L. Haddix (Author)

Book Description

Book One in the Shadows/Leroy's Sins Collection. 

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Life can go on after tragedy...

After surviving a traumatic attack as a teenager, as well as a disastrous first marriage, Lauren Taylor Grant is content with her life. So what if she gets lonely from time to time? With a healthy, beautiful daughter, and a successful coffee shop-cafe, the divorced single mother convinces herself she doesn't have time for love. When she gets her first glimpse at her parents' handsome new neighbor, though, she starts reconsidering her stance. Once Charlie Clark begins breaking through her defensive walls, Lauren finds him hard to resist.

Nothing stays hidden forever...

Just as Lauren is learning to let go of the past and embrace the future, her personal demons rear their ugly heads in the guise of a vandal hell-bent on destroying Lauren's happiness. When another local businesswoman is brutally murdered, the investigation into the crime reveals an unexpected connection to Lauren's past. The message is clear--the past has come calling, and it's out for blood.

Note for Readers: This book does deal with the issues of incest and sexual abuse, more with the effects on the victims than the abuse itself. Reader Discretion Advised.

"Secrets in the Shadows" is the first book in the Shadows Collection, Romantic Suspense novels set in small-town Indiana. Other titles include "Under the Moon's Shadow," "Shadows from the Grave,""Hidden in the Shadows," and "In the Heart's Shadow."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A self-proclaimed bibliophile, T. L. Haddix has had a life-long love affair with the written word. After trying several different career routes, including medical transcription, genealogical research services and a very brief career as a sandwich artist, she finally took the plunge she had been avoiding for years and started writing. She is constantly creating, whether it is painting, drawing, designing house plans, cooking, baking, crocheting, knitting or quilting, the drive to create an intrinsic part of who she is. Living in Southern Indiana with her husband and their three cat children, she is currently hard at work on her next novel. T. L. loves to hear from her fans, and can be reached through her website at www.tlhaddix.com.

Product Details

• File Size: 570 KB
• Print Length: 314 pages
• Publisher: Streetlight Graphics Publishing (March 29, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003ES5S7U
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,983 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Secrets is a Well Kept Secret Needing to be Discovered April 21, 2010

By Jesse D. Wright

Format:Kindle Edition

This book is not a genre mystery (though there is a mystery in it). It is not a romance (though there is plenty of romance). It is not a psychological thriller (though the psychology is as twisted and creepy as any you might read about in your most lurid of true-crime exploitations). What you have here is an honest-to-God literary work that deals with the secrets of people that could very well be your next door neighbors. Secrets masqueraded beneath the thin skin of normality, that take us all by surprise when they erupt in sudden and dispicable violence. And it is pulled together by a newly published author who is only going to get better. The prose is sometimes lyrical, but the dialogue is as rough and real as the every day America. You never have the feeling she is putting words in her characters' mouths.

The author is not dealing with mythical monsters, but the real ones that feed off that dark stream of malignance that runs through the heart of every idyllic American town. Living in the shadow of evil affects us all. And she tells us through the lives of her people that even the best of us are scarred. Even those who fight evil are touched by it and can never be the same.

The true mark of a good book is that reading it makes you want to read more. I was about fifty pages into this better than three hundred page book and I was already wanting the next one.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Secrets in the Shadows February 2, 2011

By Jaidis Shaw

Format:Kindle Edition

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in reading stories about sexy supernatural beings, fairytale endings and demonic monsters, that we push aside the reality that you don't have to have supernatural abilities to be a real life monster. The monsters I am referring are like those found in the book one of the Leroy's Sins series, Secrets in the Shadows by T. L. Haddix. These monsters can be your best friend, your next door neighbor, the guy who always smiles and says hello as you pass each other on the street, or even your closest family member. Living a seemingly normal life by day but lurking in the shadows at night, they leave a trail of emotional destruction where ever they go. In Secrets in the Shadows, such is true for cousins Margie and Lauren, as we follow their shared story and learn why sometimes people have to do the unthinkable just to be able to survive. T. L. Haddix covers some real life issues such as rape and abuse and how hard emotionally it is to overcome such terrible struggles, especially when there are unanswered questions preventing the healing process. The first couple of chapters are a little slow moving, but it quickly found its pace and moves along and keeps the reader intrigued and wanting to know what happens next! One thing that I particularly liked, was that T. L. Haddix doesn't sugarcoat these issues and have the stereotypical fairytale ending, where everyone goes skipping off happily into the sunset. The reader feels the raw emotions and struggles that they character is facing and not everyone is lucky enough to make it out alive. I can't wait to see what happens in book two of the Leroy's Sins series, Under the Moon's Shadows.

33 of 41 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not very interesting March 22, 2012

By Sarah Berry

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this because so many people raved about it. It didn't live up to the expectations.
It's writing isn't terrible, but it is often stilted or contains unnecessary information. I don't care that she stopped at a gas station to pee, when going to the bathroom has absolutely nothing to do with the story. But that's (hopefully) a new author issue that will improve over time.
What really bothered me was how one dimensional and stereotypical each character was. The "bad guys" had absolutely no redeeming quality and got what they deserved. The "good, moral people" get rewarded in spades. The token "slightly immoral" people go undeveloped, remaining flat and uninteresting. The woman is always rescued by a man and when it truly counts, can't take care of herself. By the time I got 80% through the book, I just skimmed the last few chapters to snag the highlights of how the author was choosing to end things. Which was, unsurprisingly by then, so predictable I didn't even need to bother. Not a single twist, or even an attempt at understanding the "villian's" point of view.
If you want something bland with black and white morals and a completely predictable story line with only a little clunkiness to the writing, then this book delivers.

More About the Author

T.L. Haddix was born in Hazard, Kentucky, a small town in the center of the Appalachian coal fields. Taught to read by her grandmother, T.L. has had a life-long love affair with books, devouring whatever she could get her hands on. From childhood favorites such as the Trixie Belden series and Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books, to her current favorites from authors like Tami Hoag, Alex Kava, J.A. Jance and Lisa Kleypas (among many others), T.L. still finds refuge in the written word.

"Growing up, I wanted to be everything - astronaut, police officer, doctor, teacher, reporter, psychologist - there was no clear choice for me. I wanted to do it all. Becoming a writer has allowed me to do just that, because I can live vicariously through my characters."

A resident of southern Indiana, T.L. is hard at work on her next book, when she isn't chasing after her three cat-children with her husband.