Susan's Review of Secret's at Seaside by Addison Cole

Dive into the Newest Sweet with Heat Romance!

SECRETS AT SEASIDE

Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers #5

Addison Cole

Releasing Oct 25, 2017

Tony Black is the hottest surfer on the planet. He travels the world throughout the year and spends his summers on Cape Cod with his friends, at the Seaside cottages in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. He’s got his choice of women, but Amy Maples is the one he wants. Fourteen years ago she was his for an entire summer, until a devastating accident changed everything, and what they had seemed like it had never existed—at least for her.

Amy Maples is as consistent as the day is long. She’s spent summers on Cape Cod forever, she always does the right thing, and she’s spent years trying to reclaim the heart of Tony Black, the only man she’s ever loved. She’s back for a summer of fun with her friends at Seaside, only this year she’s been offered the opportunity of a lifetime thousands of miles away, and she’s decided to try one last time to reconnect with Tony. But having a relationship with Tony means dealing with her past—and dealing with her past may knock her to her knees.

Secrets at Seaside is the sweet edition of the steamy romance novel Seaside Secrets by Melissa Foster.

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Read, Write, Love at Seaside

Addison Cole is the sweet alter ego of New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Melissa Foster. She writes humorous and emotional sweet contemporary romance. Her books do not include explicit sex scenes or harsh language. Addison spends her summers on Cape Cod, where she dreams up wonderful love stories in her house overlooking Cape Cod Bay.    

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Addison Cole’s Secrets at Seaside is a heartfelt romance filled with secrets and surprises. The second chance theme sets this story apart from the other books in the series and creates a sense of drama from the first page of the novel.

Amy Maples and Tony Black had a sexual relationship when they were teenagers. Their romance was private, special and a secret from their Seaside friends and their families. Their relationship ended abruptly. Neither Amy nor Tony recovered emotionally from the break up. They care deeply for each other however, now their relationship is strictly platonic.

Amy has sat on the sidelines for the past few summers as she has watched her friends: Leanna, Bella, Jenna and Jamie find happiness and love. The Seaside friends attend Jamie and Jessica’s wedding. The wedding is a turning point for Amy; she realizes that she needs to take steps to change her career and love life. Amy accepts a job in Australia. This choice impacts Amy, the Seaside sisters and Tony. Amy realizes that she needs to come to terms with her feelings for Tony before she leaves.

The author does a fabulous job presenting both characters feelings, emotions and reactions by using the third person narrative in the novel. Ms. Foster’s decision enabled me to understand both characters perspectives. Also, this narrative technique added to the depth and intensity of emotions. Amy and Tony had unresolved feelings about their past that needed to be explored and dealt with honestly.

There were several stand out scenes in the book. I loved the scene when Amy comes clean with her relationship with Tony to Leanna, Bella and Jenna. Ms. Foster captures each characters reaction to the news perfectly, the reader can imagine Leanna’s looks of concern and acceptance and hear Bella’s blunt questioning of Amy’s story. I loved the traditional and magical elements that were woven into the last few chapters of the novel.

All of the books in the Seaside Summers series can be read as standalone novels. The second chance at romance, the secrets and the deep personal connection between the characters in Secrets at Seaside appealed to me. Secrets at Seaside is a sweet with heat book—however, Amy and Tony’s journey is very romantic and passionate!

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

ARC porvided by Tasty Tours

Amy wanted to believe them and to see what they apparently saw when he looked at her, but she never had. It was the secret memories of being in Tony’s strong arms that long-ago summer, feeling his heart beat against hers, feeling safe and loved, that made her hopeful there would come a day when they’d find themselves there again. But then her mind would travel to the end of those recent nights when she’d had too much to drink and he’d carried her home. When he’d tucked her into bed and gone along his merry way back to his own cottage across the road, quickly dousing her hope for more with cold reality. Whatever they’d had that summer, she’d ruined.

“Exactly, Leanna. That’s why she’s not making a decision about Australia until after this weekend,” Jenna said. “Right, Ames?”

“Yes. That’s my plan. I’m going to talk to Tony, and if he looks me in the eye and says he has no interest in anything more than friendship, then I’m going to take the job. It’s pretty stupid, really, because how many times has he had the opportunity to…you know?” She dropped her eyes to her glass and ran her finger along the rim. Amy was as sweet as Bella was brash, and even thinking about trying to seduce Tony and finding out where his heart really stood had her stomach tied in knots. When her friends had come up with the idea of seducing Tony, she’d fought it, but they’d insisted that once he kissed her, he’d never look back, and she’d grabbed that shred of hope as if it were a brass ring. Now her fingers were slipping a little.

“Talk? That’s not the plan,” Jenna said.

Jessica shook her head. “So, seduction? You’re going to try?”

“If I can muster the courage.” Amy drew in a deep breath, hoping she wouldn’t back out. As much as she wanted closure, the idea of actually hearing Tony tell her that he didn’t see her as anything other than a friend made her almost chicken out. But she didn’t want to chicken out. She had a great job opportunity, and at thirty-two, she was ready to settle down and maybe even start a family. But that thought was even more painful than Tony turning her away.

Tony set a disconcerting stare on Amy as he moved confidently across the floor with the other guys, heading for their table. Her pulse ratcheted up a notch as his eyes went dark and narrow. She broke the connection, grazing over his low-slung jeans and short-sleeve button-down shirt, afraid to try to decipher if it was an angry or an interested look in his eyes. She’d probably see only what she really wanted to see anyway.

Big mistake. Now she was even more nervous.

women in the bar turned and watched the four gorgeous men crossing the floor, but Amy knew they had to be looking at Tony. She was held prisoner by his sun-drenched skin, sandy hair that brushed his devilishly long lashes, and squared-off features that amped up his ruggedness and made her pulse go a little crazy. She reached for a glass of liquid courage, having no idea whose it was, and drained it as Tony slid in beside her. His thigh met hers, and his irresistible scent made her hot all over again. She grabbed another glass and drained it, and another, until the glasses were all empty and the nervous stirrings in her stomach stilled.

“Since when did you become Beyoncé?” Tony grumbled.

Beyoncé? Was that good or bad? Amy couldn’t form an answer. All she could think about was that no matter what the outcome, after tonight her life would never be the same.