Megan Hart

Still stuck in his small central Pennsylvania hometown, Ilya Stern is used to feeling like a disappointment. After his high school girlfriend Jennilynn drowned, he married her sister Alicia, only to divorce a decade later. The business they started together is threatened by a luxury development, and Alicia's already sold her stake. Now that Babulya, Ilya's gentle Russian grandmother, has died, there's no one left who believes in him. Or so he thinks.

All the Secrets We Keep

Becky

This book and the first were meant to be read together. They are stories which don't make sense apart and are intrinsically linked. That might have bothered me but it was very obvious upon reading the first book that there was plenty more story to explore. There were so many unanswered questions in regards to what would happen with Ilya and the fact that Theresa had a lot more troubles. And there were all the unanswered questions to be had with Jenni. And what on earth motivated Galina to come home. Basically, this book was both the story of Theresa and Ilya finding their happy, but also about tying up loose ends.

It was a really fast read and whilst it was angstier than my usual books I kind of enjoyed that. I was a bit wary going in, whilst I'd quite liked Theresa in the first book (despite her secretive ways) I was far more wary of Ilya. He came across as a bit of a dick in the first book and also very hung up on a girl he loved as a teenager. I didn't get how I was going to be convinced to like him and especially when he didn't seem willing to grow from the teenager he once was. Thankfully, Megan Hart is a far better author than I gave her credit for because whilst I'd been a fan of Theresa's in the first book it was actually Ilya I was cheering for because he really turned over a new leaf.

I will give this book that, there was plenty of character growth, far more than I experience in the first. I like Nico and Alicia as a couple but they seemed like they were falling back into something which could have happened if given a chance anyway. They were inevitable. Theresa and Ilya, on the other hand, had to grow as people before they were ready to even think about moving forward together. I liked that level of growth they experience, but especially Ilya growing into the adult he should have been long ago.

I was a little disappointed with the mystery surrounding Galina and Barry and what happened to Jenni all those years ago. I predicted back in the first book (not precisely, but I knew bits of what must have happened) and that obviousness about something which was in the background through two books was a bit of a letdown. I know it wasn't the focus of the books so I won't let it affect my rating but it was a bit meh.

As a whole, the book was brilliant and a fantastic close to the story of these characters and I will definitely be visiting Megan Hart's books in the future.

All the Secrets We Keep

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