Lisa Jackson’s New Release, Our Little Secret, Makes Me a Fan of the Suspense/Thriller Genre —

By Jeneane J. Vanderhoof

Most women, at some time in their life, will date a man that, when it's time to call it quits, won't go away. However (luckily) it is that though, in time, somehow it comes to an end. But there are those few women, like Lisa Jackson's main character in her upcoming new release, Our Little Secret, that has a man who keeps coming and coming, and won't stop- no matter what is said or done.

Brooke Harmon has a good life however, when she suspects her husband, Neal, is having an affair, steps away from being the perfect wife she is, and decides to have some fun herself. Especially after she meets a man named Gideon- handsome, gorgeous even, eager to be with Brooke so much so that he would do anything, even kill, he says, for the woman he loves. And this woman is Brooke.

But with a teenage daughter and her husband now more focused on her, when Brooke realizes how far away she's been from the life she has lived- her home life falling apart and a daughter she loves very much becoming estranged, Brooke decides to call it quits with Gideon. However when she tells him, he gives her a firm NO– that this will not end. And then the threats begin.

Of the threats aren't bad enough, the incessant texts (luckily Brooke has a burner phone) go on, unanswered by Brooke- but when Gideon goes so far as to step into her “real life”- delivering the pizza they order, and turning up as a security guard at her daughter's dance, Brooke does all she can to fight back. She is even physically hurt by Gideon- in a knock down, drag out, runaway or die, fight. And on top of it all, when Brooke begins to find listening devices all over her house- she knows she is in much deeper trouble than she could have ever predicted.

If all that isn't enough- dealing with a psychotic, Gideon- her little sister Leah decides to show up. Leah is in line for her second divorce and, it looks like she has lost it all this time, her entire inheritance too, by signing a prenup that gives her soon-to-be ex-husband everything, in case of a divorce. And even though Leah does not want this divorce, she seems to be the one paying for it. However it turns out that Brooke will be paying for it, or better said, her husband, Neal, because Leah has asked them for a loan. Plus, there has always been the twist of Leah's fate she will never let be forgotten….

Leah has always been at Brooke's throat, it began when they were much younger,- At the time Leah had been 17 and in love- with Brooke's future husband, Neal, 26 at the time- their age difference, a big issue for Brooke (and probably others, had the relationship even been real and survived).

Their mother now gone, ever Leah's protector- Brooke marches over to tell this man off and she finds herself falling in love with him, dating and then pregnant. When Leah finds out that Brooke has cornered her man- and forced him into marriage by getting pregnant, Brooke has never really been forgiven. The past has always been Leah's way to blame every one of her problems on Brooke- and make Brooke pay for every way she can.

With Leah in the house, things are only worse and Brooke now, ever on edge. Gideon just won't go away- and as things escalate from threats to Brooke, to her daughter, then to her entire family- a physical assault from Gideon and then the theft and the return of the family dog, it seems like there is no end to what Gideon will do to get Brooke back. It seems he will go so far as to hurt Brooke, even kill her- if he needs to.

With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, Brooke must solve this problem herself. Even when she thinks he is finally done and gone, Gideon pops back up with a different name, face and story, in the arms of someone she loves. But, will anyone believe her when Brooke tells them who this new man is- especially when they never even knew about Gideon?

While suspense/thrillers like these aren't my favorite genre, I picked this book up and couldn't put it down- even discarding the books I had been reading at the time- to finish one I had started while waiting on an appointment (this one). Now I am a new fan of Lisa Jackson wishing that, in the past, I had stopped to read some of her things- because now I'm going to have to go back and seek them all out to read them now (along with finding the time to read them too, which is hard).

I highly recommend this book, even for those not fans of the suspense/thriller genre as I found it to be a book, for once, I couldn't predict- which made the whole story even better! This may even turn those not fans of the genre, into one- as it did me!

Thanks to Lisa Jackson for making me a fan of the genre and Happy Reading!