REPRESSED is book one in the Deadly Secrets series by Elisabeth Naughton. I've been a long term Naughton fan, and my favorite series is the Eternal Guardians books, a wonderful PNR series. Naughton's more recent several series have all been contemporary romantic suspense, which have worked for me with varying degrees of success.

Hidden Falls is a small little backward town hiding some dark secrets. Eighteen years ago, Samantha Parker's brother was murdered here. Samantha recently came home to take care of her mother until her mother's death. Dr. Ethan McClane is a child psychologist who reluctantly returns to Hidden Falls to evaluate a troubled youth who is in Samantha's chemistry class. Ethan would rather not return to the town where he lived as a troubled teen himself, but no one seems to recognize him (it's pretty weird that no one recognizes Ethan, actually). As Ethan and Samantha work to solve the mysteries threatening them, the sparks fly between them, but do they need to avoid their attraction becoming a conflagration in order to stay alive?

I have a hard time buying into REPRESSED. There are so many things interfering with my willing suspension of disbelief. Starting with lots of minor things that predispose me to be distrustful of the story. Then we get to all the implausibilities of the major mystery. The whole premise is predicated on Samantha having amnesia about a murder that occurred when she was a child. There are all kinds of additional unlikely events that get piled on top of this that do ratchet the tension up, but just seem like a house of cards. The likelihood of any of the outlandish things occurring by themselves is low, but all of them happening together in a series? Nope, not buying it. Then there's the insta-love; a pet peeve of mine. Although, to be fair, Samantha and Ethan are under a lot of stress with murderer(s) after them, and that can cause rapid superficial bonding and the need for intimacy as a coping mechanism. But I don't believe in their falling in love so rapidly.

What this story IS good at is suspense. It has a lot of good gothic elements, set in a decrepit house with looming yet vague danger. There's a hero that we're not completely convinced isn't somehow a bad guy. I feel a constant sense of menace while reading, which is nicely done. Readers who are able to check their credulity will enjoy the shivers that this gothic tale imparts. REPRESSED is the start of a new Naughton series, and I hope that book 2 will keep the shivery feeling but feel more real.

Book Summary