Review: What She Doesn't Know by Beverly Barton

What She Doesn't Know by Beverly Barton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book. I started reading just before going to bed….bad mistake….I ended up reading until 5am…..because??? I couldn’t put the book down!! What a roller-coaster ride!!!

A fast paced, tension filled plot set in the small, hot and sultry town of Sumarville, Mississippi, where the blue-blooded Desmonds and Royale families are forced to confront their hidden secrets. Lies, mystery, secret desires , fear, murder, misguided loyalties, greed, lust, sex , sensuality…….. antebellum mansions, bourbon, fast cars, gorgeous men and women…hell, it’s like a fabulicious southern soap opera!! It has everything for making of a great movie!!!
A quick breakdown…..Jolie Royale, age 14 had survived the massacre at her home, Belle Rose, where her mother, aunt and a worker had been savagely murdered. After being away for the last 20 years, she returns to attend her father’s funeral.

Confronted by her stepbrother, Max Devereaux, whose mother married her father just a year after her own mother’s death and the family and friends she had left behind, she’s soon faced with wanting to discover the truth about that horrific massacre those years ago.
Blonde, sensual, career minded and bent on revenge!!! Her resentment, anger, and her need to find the truth and justice, she joins forces with Max, even though she does not trust him entirely.
The character development is spectacular. I loved the slow build-up in the protagonist’s relationship and the sexually charged and explosive chemistry between the two.
Each breaking down the barriers and assumptions they had built around themselves. Their sensual and erotic moments together …incredibly sexy….

Chere, Max is some hot and dark and dangerous and gorgeous southern gentleman!!!
And then…there are all these secondary characters that just get under your skin…. and love stories that are interwoven so skillfully into the plot that just add to the enjoyment of every page you turn.

My favourite - the endearing, lovable, ditzy, caring Aunt Clarice, with her Harley-riding hippie “beau”….had me thinking of the actor Sam Eliott..I loved the scene where the 60 year old Clarice, fully decked out with her bike helmet arriving back home after a hot date with her biker..

..

It was just one of the many tender moments we get with this duo. And let me not forget that these two have some hot and sizzling sex…. I fell in love with her from the beginning.
Georgette, Max’s mother and Jolie’s much hated stepmother…I so felt for her….she’s like one of those lovely, fey, needy women, who you just want to take care of. Mallory, Max and Jolie’s half-sister….who is having a hard time facing her father’s death. Her interaction with the family is a total blast. Never mind that at first I thought her to be a bit of a brat and what…..is this with the transient town bad boy!!! But in the end, she did redeem herself!!!!
The rich and vivid imagery, evoke hot and lazy afternoons sipping mint juleps under the magnolia trees, sparkling dialogue, unexpected twists and turns that keep you guessing who the villain right until the end. , move the story in such a way that it held my interest right to the last page.
And the epilogue…….absolutely AMAZING!!!!! It just made such a beautiful ending to this story.

If you love romance, suspense, mystery, endearing and quirky characters, then this is the one book for you.

And I still think it would make a great TV min-series……….The Lives of the Desmonds & the Royales& the Deveraux’s of Belle Rose

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