Twisted Secrets by Amy McKinley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the story of Riley Evans and Xander Hale, she is a grad student and works in a coffee shop, he is a SEAL who is on leave after a medical procedure to remove shrapnel from his shoulder after his latest mission took a turn for the worse and a last minute change of plan meant that one of his brothers in arms was killed. He is not happy and when he finds out that he guy who was leading the team has also stolen his girlfriend, he is in no shape to go on missions, so he is made to go on a further few weeks of leave and he decides to make the most of it and do some renovations on his families homes on a nearby island.

Next Riley is at the coffee shop and about to start her shift, she greets a customer, a customer who has become a friend over the time she has been frequenting her coffee shop while she writes her books and complains that the other servers get her order wrong, unlike Riley. She chats with a coworker as she finishes her shift about the pizza get together she missed because of her homework and about a customer, she also hints that she has had some books published herself under a pen name. As she delivers the customer’s order, Riley is intrigued by the book she is reading and asks about it, it turns out that her coworker recommended it and that it is a really good one, Riley considers getting a copy for herself, just as a customer is putting it away, the book, a pair of designer sunglasses fall out of her bag, Riley picks them up for her, compliments her on them and then gets back to serving coffee until a new customer peaks her interest.

As Xander is heading to the local hardware store to buy what he needs for the renovations, while he thinks about how it would be nice if he could find someone to have a relationship with like the one his parents have, but he doesn’t think that it is something which will happen, he also thinks about his friend who was killed, that is until he hears a voice which calls to him from inside the coffee shop he is passing, this is where he sees a woman who looks like his type and he feels a connection to her which he cannot explain, so he goes inside and when he locks eyes with her, he knows she is something special. Riley has no idea how to react when she is face to face with this gorgeous man who has just walked in, so she serves him and when he starts to flirt with her, she has to put some distance between them or she would lose her mind, so when she serves him his black coffee and when her boss shouts that it is on the house, she asks him who it was, little does she know that this isn’t going to be the last time that they bump into each other.

A few days later, Riley is exhausted after working a double shift and exercising to chase away her demons in her nightmares, she is heading to the hardware store and when she steps through the doorway, she slams straight into the guy from the coffee shop, she apologises and then has the most awkward conversation with him, until he asks her to lunch, she tells him she has a boyfriend, but he counters with he would just like her company, so she agrees to go. This time the conversion isn’t as awkward and they have a good time and as they say goodbye, her mind wanders to her boyfriend and how they were arguing more and he seemed distant and when he cancels on her by text, she is even less impressed. When he calls her up demanding to know where she is her hackles raise and she tells him that she didn’t agree to go see him, he makes his excuses for not spending time with her and blames it on her as usual, but when she gets home and sees that her front door is open, she has something else to worry about, but she is late for a shopping trip with her friend and so she tries not to think about it while they have a girls afternoon together.

As the days pass, Riley begins to wonder why she is even with her boyfriend, how everything is on his terms and how he seems to act like she is just a warm body and nothing else, she is also thinking about Xander and how it is so easy and different while she is spending time with him and eventually makes the decision to break up with him, but when he refuses to give up on her and someone breaks into her apartment again, she has to get the police involved and things start to take a more sinister turn, including her night terrors and the past memories they bring with them. Can her and Xander’s budding relationship develop while her past is threatening to tear them apart and who is breaking into her apartment, is it her ex, or someone else? The only way to find out the answers is to read along with this thrilling adventure which twists and turns so much, you won’t know until the very end what will happen.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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