Part 1: Review and Giveaway of Secrets by Dawn Kirby!!

When I was asked to be a part of this blog tour, I jumped at the chance!!!  So, here is the first part, which is the review, and tomorrow I will be doing an interview with the author.  Also, we are doing a giveaway of the book!  Since I'm doing a giveaway of four books, I'm just going to consolidate them!  Four books after 100 followers!  It's easier that way!!  Not so confusing!!  

It is said that the truth will set you free, but for Leah it kills.

Leah always knew she was different. From her extreme light sensitivity, to her ability to read people by their auric scent, she kept these differences secret.

Not even Mia, Leah's mother, knew the fullness of her daughter's differences, but she held even greater secrets to Leah's past - the truth about her father and Leah's conception.

With the escape of an old foe, Mia is too late to reveal to her daughter
the truth before Judith can exact her revenge in a wash of blood and death.

Thrown into a world unheard of, Leah discovers that she is not alone in keeping her secrets. That there are people from her parent's past who would die to protect her. If she only knew why.

Raine, placed as her protector, hides deadly secrets of his own. Drawn to each other, Leah and Raine must uncover the truth before one of both are killed.

I gave this book four stars because I loved the story. I did get frustrated with this book, because it took so long for the story to actually begin.  I don’t know if it was done purposefully, but I was starting to get really frustrated along with Leah, the main character. 

This book is about Leah Phillips, who is special.  She has enhanced hearing, can see perfectly at night, and can heal very quickly.  Also, her eyes are sensitive to light.  She doesn’t know why she’s like this, but it’s how she’s always been.  Another one of her abilities, is to see people’s moods by a color haze that surrounds them.  She realizes while watching her mother with David, that this is what it is.  She also can smell people, and find out their character.  The color haze goes along with the smell.  The nastier the person, the nastier the smell.

She’s been led to believe by her mother, Mia, that her father disappeared when she was younger, and is thought to be dead.  When she asks about him, her mother always shuts down, and doesn’t tell her anything.  She works with her mother in a holistic shop. 

When she overhears her mother on the phone with someone named May, that’s when things start happening.  She first meets a man named David, who her is her mother’s accountant.  It is just after the phone call, her mother tells her to not tell anyone who she is.  Doesn’t tell her why, but says it’s for her own protection. 

                When someone comes into the store, asking about her, she realizes there is something going on.  When she tells her mother about this guy, again she is cryptic about what is going on, and who wants her.   This is was the starting of my frustration with all the evasiveness.  Every time I thought I would finally find out about this secret, it would be put off again and again. 

                One secret is realized about David, who is a vampire, and her father.  At first she is angry about why he’s not been around, and is again told to wait about who is after her.  When she realized that her mother is late coming home, she worries something is seriously wrong.  She and David go to the store and find her mother beaten and killed.  It is at this point, she meets two people who become very dear to her. 

                She tried again to get some kind of information about the person who killed her mother, but is again told to wait.  At this point, I felt her anger and frustration.  When she finds the person who killed her mother, dead in his own truck, this is when her exhaustion from the night catches up with her.  Also, her first run in with Raine, but she doesn’t realize it yet.  She’s taken to a house, where she meets May for the first time.  She realizes this is the woman who her mother was talking to on the phone.  The older woman instantly puts her at ease. 

                When she wakes up with Raine in her room with her, she knows he is different.  The attraction starts immediately, and I don’t really blame her.  He’s beautiful!!  This is when she asks him to tell her what is going on, and again she is told to wait.  I think I was screaming at this point!  How much more does this girl have to go through to find out the truth? 

                It is when she’s contacted with Raine there, by a vampire, who wants her for himself, that things start happening.  She is taken to Donovan, who is a friend of her fathers, and a very old vampire, who tells her everything.  She finds out there a psycho vampire who is obsessed with David, and wants her mother dead.  That this woman just wants David for herself and no one else. She finds out that this woman did things against David’s will that are mindboggling. 

She also finds out that Raine and Kale, Raine’s older brother are werewolves.  She is surprised that she doesn’t mind that they are werewolves.  She’s very understanding about everything she is told… sometimes too understanding.  There were times I just wanted her to get angry… In her circumstance, I think she was allowed to be very angry about everything that happened to her.  She had just lost her mother, and found out that the father, who she thought was dead, was very much alive!

When she finds out that Michael has kidnapped her father and her mother’s body, everyone gets into action.  In a way to save Raine and her friends, she sacrifices herself to the woman who killed her mother, and Dane, who wants Raine for himself.  While she is there, she is beaten and tortured by Dane and his son Mark.  She is forced to watch her mother’s body burn, and the father who she was just getting to know and care about, die in front of her. 

It is after she is beaten and tortured, she is able to attempt an escape with Donovan.  When they are caught by Michael, Raine and her friends come to save her.  He is finally able to confront Dane for everything that he has done.  Also, he’s able to come clean about the secret he has held since he was young. 

I did like this book, and I loved the characters in it.  My favorite was Drew, just because she was behind Leah all the way.  There was no wavering in her friendship with her.  This book did leave me hanging, which I like.  You don't get to find out who is after her, but when a vampire named Rafe, who had been close to Donovan steals her blood, and hints there another vampire after her, I was intrigued.  I can't wait for the second book to come now! 

About the Author: By day, Dawn is a typical mom running around after her children, catering to her husband’s needs, acting as a taxi driver, and gourmet chef living in Odessa, Texas, with her husband, and three children. Then by night she falls into a world filled with shirtless werewolves, lethal vampires, and dangerous adventures. Her short stories have been published in Seven Deadly Sins (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13517087-seven-deadly-sins) and 13 Tales of Paranormal (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12852482-13-tales-of-the-paranormal) 

Author Blog http://dawnmkirby.wordpress.com/

Author On Goodreads:

        http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5268211.Dawn_Kirby

Author on Smashwords:

        https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DawnMKirby

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Secrets/302970983827

Twitter: http://twitter.com/secretswriter

SECRETS ON SMASHWORDS

SECRETS ON AMAZON

To enter the giveaway, you must be 13 or older, and it is open to US and International fans!  Also, please blog or comment about the tour and giveaway!! 

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