Book Review: Deadly Secret by Tara Thomas

Deadly Secret (Sons of Broad #2) by Tara Thomas

Blurb:

SHE KNOWS THE TRUTH IS IN REACH

As a lawyer and aspiring Congresswoman, Bea likes to keep things professional. But she's hired to investigate past dark secrets embedded in the Benedict business empire - and, as secret wife to Knox Benedict, the job is about to become even more personal...

BUT THE CLOSER SHE GETS

Knox is the moral backbone of the Benedict Family, but even a modern-day saint can have a mysterious side. He's out to win back his estranged secret wife - but getting close to her again could destroy them both.

THERE IS NOWHERE LEFT TO RUN...

As Bea and Knox dig up the truth, Bea falls deeper and deeper into danger. Someone close by is watching her - and waiting to kill. Can Knox save the woman he loves from the enemy out to destroy them? And can their marriage survive the deadliest secret of all?

My Review:

I loved Darkest Night and was excited to continue the series with Deadly Secret. Each book centers around one of the Benedict brothers - Keaton, Knox, and Kipling. Deadly Secret focuses on middle brother, Knox and his (OMG) secret wife, Bea. 

Bea was attacked in Darkest Night and has now pushed Knox away for his own good, but Knox isn't ready to let Bea slip through his fingers. When her attacker begins sending her threatening notes it brings them back together again as they try to unravel past secrets in the Benedict family and figure out who is targeting the family and why. But the closer they get to  uncovering the truth the more danger Bea is in. Will deadly secrets spell Bea's demise? Or will Knox swoop in at just the right time?

I love the story concept of this series. The mysterious "Gentleman" hiding in the wings putting evil plots in motion, the implied threats, the romance and danger. My issue with the writing itself is a different matter. I read an eARC of Darkest Night so I assumed the grammatical errors throughout were just because it was an advanced copy and not the final book, but I picked up a finished copy of Deadly Secret and noticed significant grammatical errors throughout the book (words missing, incorrect words in places) as well as a few plot inconsistencies.

 At the end of Darkest Night, Bea shows up at Keaton and Tilly's party with the threatening note but in Deadly Secret the note is sent to her later at her office. Then in one section there's a scene when Bea and Knox arrive back from D.C. and the entire family is there but then a little while later the family arrive home and didn't know Bea and Knox were back from D.C. so unless they went again and it wasn't mentioned it doesn't make any sense. 

Overall, while I liked the story and want to uncover the identity of The Gentleman in Broken Promise (which the publisher has graciously provided me with an eARC of) I found this book hard to read. It really could have used another pass through an editor and proofreader.

Another thing I didn't like was that the threats seemed solely on Knox and Bea in this book. It's as if since Keaton and Tilly found their "happily ever after" the Gentleman is no longer interested in them when in my mind it should seem if he was after the whole family he wouldn't stop going after all of them...

My Rating:

Rating for Overall Story Concept: 

🌟🌟🌟🌟✭ 

4.5 of 5 Stars!

Overall Rating of the Book Taking Massive Grammatical Errors into Account:

🌟🌟✮

2.95 of 5 Stars!