A Perfect Secret

‘A Perfect Secret’ is the third installment of the Rogue Hearts series by Donna Hatch. This series takes place in Victorian England after they won the war with France. This story can be read alone, but it makes more sense if you read the first two, since they refer to those stories from time to time. The first story is The Stranger She Married and I reviewed the book under that title. The second is Guise of the Gentleman which I reviewed under the title The Pirate Who Was A Spy.

This story is about Christian, the youngest brother of the Amesbury family. While Cole is the Earl, Jared is the former pirate, and Grant is the brooding brother, Christian is the ‘perfectly perfect Christian’ as his brothers always teased him. He was mother’s favorite and tried to be a good boy for her. He came to hate that nick name. Even though he was the good boy among them, he feels a great burden and blames himself for the fracturing of his family.

While in Bath with his father, Christian fell in love with the beautiful Genevieve Marshall. Maybe he could finally have some happiness in his life. But something happened beyond his understanding and she played him for a fool. She up and married another man on the day he planned to ask her father for her hand. She sent him a letter that tore his heart apart and made him harden his heart.

Genevieve gave up the love of her life to save her parents. Her father was being blackmailed, and the only payment the evil man would take was her hand in marriage. If the information the man had ever came out, her family would be disgraced, her father would be hanged, and her mother’s poor heart would surely give out and die. She had always been scared of Viscount Wickburgh. He was always watching her and gave her the creeps. But she had a difficult choice to make. Should she tie herself to this frightening man or let her parents die because she wasn’t strong enough? She sacrificed everything to save her family, never fully knowing what life she will live. If only she had known about the horrible things that await her in her married life. (She mostly talks about how he locked her away and how he slapped her around and injured her, but no details are given about the other things he did to her.)

One year later Christian pulled Genevieve from the swollen river in only her shift. What could have happened that she felt that she had to kill herself? But that doesn’t matter to him, because she tricked him and betrayed him. Didn’t she? Or was there more going on than he knew? Does he still love this woman? Or had her trickery totally destroyed his love for her?

This book was wonderful and will keep you on the edge of your chair wondering what Wickburgh will do when he finds his wife gone. Will he drag her back and punish her further or will he decide that she has gone too far and kill her instead?

I recommend this book for ages 15+. It has action, intrigue, and romance. It only comes in e-book form at the moment, but hopefully it will soon come out in book form too.