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72nd out of 72 books
—
2 voters
Secrets (Guardian Trilogy #1)
by
Liz Schulte (Goodreads Author)
While Olivia Martin observed life through her camera, the abyss gazed back at her. She discovers mysterious men follow her around, people close to her are dying, and her dreams are no longer her own as she falls head over heels for a perfect stranger. A chance encounter leads to an obsession that could destroy everything she has ever known or loved. Olivia is about to find...more
Paperback, 318 pages
Published
November 19th 2011
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Secrets indeed! Blergh. Olivia is a (conveniently) self-employed photographer who is a bit of an introvert and a loner until two mysterious guys show up in her life and make mysterious statements, all the while mysterious things start to happen to and around Oliva. Around page 134 of this 207 page book, we readers are finally clued into the nature of the paranormal activity, but at this point I was pretty much beyond caring.
This book consists of one chapter of events from Olivia's point of view...more
This book consists of one chapter of events from Olivia's point of view...more
Set in St. Louis, Missouri, Secrets, is the story of Olivia Martin, a shy photographer who sees life best through her camera lenses until mysterious things start to happen to her and she discovers her perfect world is often full of evil. Two men start to follow her everywhere she goes, they are dark and mysterious, and remain so through much of the book.
Olivia meets Holden Smith, a drop dead gorgeous guy far out of her league, in her humble opinion and soon finds that he may be the only person...more
Olivia meets Holden Smith, a drop dead gorgeous guy far out of her league, in her humble opinion and soon finds that he may be the only person...more
As far as paranormal romances go, this one seems rather pedestrian. The dialogue has some problems (people tending for the most part to speak in long paragraphs rather than in short, conversational bursts), and the prose lacks originality. Although the characters come across as flat and unreal at the beginning, they do seem a bit less cardboard by the middle, which is nice. What's not so nice are the small errors that riddle the manuscript: regular comma splices, full-on run-on sentences, occasi...more
The first thing I want to say about the book is I love the different perspectives for each chapter. There really are two main characters instead of the normal single main character. You have Olivia as main female and Holden as the main male. It is obvious since they alternate perspectives every other chapter that their destinies are intertwined. Olivia is a photographer with an unnatural ability to read people. She can figure out who they are in a matter of minutes. She can see their desires and...more
There were a ton of things I adored about this book. Number one was the characters. Even in a situation that goes above our own comprehension of reality, Liz managed to create believable, lovable characters that you will celebrate in their triumphs and sob in their defeat. The friendship between Olivia and Juliet almost reflected perfectly the relationship between M and myself. And if you love a great bad boy, you'll be swooning over Holden. Second, I loved the format of the book. It switches ba...more
This book seemed as though it had an interesting premise. The whole light vs dark theme has been done many, many times, and Schulte's attempt started off okay, but by the end it lacked any teeth. I basically skimmed the last 20% or so of the book just to finish it. I wasn't a fan of the way in which she told the story from everyone's perspective. You would think it would pull you in more and make things more personal, but it just irritated me and I didn't connect with the characters at all. Oliv...more
I had the privilege of reading Secrets: Guardian Trilogy Book 1 by Liz Schulte. Unlike most books I never looked at the description before reading I wanted to have no preconceived ideas regarding it. Boy was I glad that I did this because this book was a real page turner. I was not able to lay the book down once I started it. I was really interested in the building mystery regarding the characters Olivia, Holden, and Quintus. I loved the way Liz gave the story in both Olivia's and Holden's persp...more
Who in this book did you like the most? I liked Olivia and the way the story was told from her point of view and Holden's point of view. She is a lovable character that comes to life from Liz's words and you keep reading because you can't wait to get to the end.
Do any characters grow or change during the course of the novel? Olivia grows a lot. Her friendship with Juliet changes and Holden becomes a central part of her life. Or at least that's how she thinks she wants it.
Do you find the charact...more
Do any characters grow or change during the course of the novel? Olivia grows a lot. Her friendship with Juliet changes and Holden becomes a central part of her life. Or at least that's how she thinks she wants it.
Do you find the charact...more
This book was such a pleasant surprise for me! I downloaded it for free and had no idea what it was about, other than being somewhat of the supernatural genre.
The main characters were great and I liked getting the different narrated versions from each one as the story progressed. At first I was confused as to who was thinking about what was happening, but then it all started to flow easier for me. Olivia and Holden were terrific characters and it was killing me trying to figure out what they we...more
The main characters were great and I liked getting the different narrated versions from each one as the story progressed. At first I was confused as to who was thinking about what was happening, but then it all started to flow easier for me. Olivia and Holden were terrific characters and it was killing me trying to figure out what they we...more
My thoughts:
Liz can really write a dark character that you fall in love with. I was so engrossed with what would happen next that it carried my happily to the end, where I was begging for more! I have to say that the dreams were really cool and I loved Holden. I would have totally given this book four stars, but there was quite a bit of grammatical errors: words missing, misspelling character’s (Liv, Livi) and thing’s (Jinn, Jinni) names, and some confusing sentences. It pulled me out of the st...more
Liz can really write a dark character that you fall in love with. I was so engrossed with what would happen next that it carried my happily to the end, where I was begging for more! I have to say that the dreams were really cool and I loved Holden. I would have totally given this book four stars, but there was quite a bit of grammatical errors: words missing, misspelling character’s (Liv, Livi) and thing’s (Jinn, Jinni) names, and some confusing sentences. It pulled me out of the st...more
I am really starting to hate trilogies. I think this probably could have been a one book event, but instead it is going to be painfully drawn across three books. The sad thing is that I started out really liking the book and being intrigued. Unfortunately the pacing was so bad that by the time there was a clue about what was going on (67% of the way through on my kindle), I was bored and was checking the snyopsis on Amazon to figure out what this book was supposed to be about (actually this was...more
Liz Schulte writes a well-crafted tale. She has the rare talent of immersing you in the story almost from page one. There is no stylization to overcome, there are no impediments to entering Olivia and Holden's world almost immediately. And discovering that world is a fascinating experience. I could not put the book down and read it through the night. Thank goodness I was on vacation and didn't have to get up.
I love the exploration of love and of preconceived notions of good and evil, and the ner...more
I love the exploration of love and of preconceived notions of good and evil, and the ner...more
Secrets: Book One of the Guardian Trilogy is a book that defies a genre assignment. Part Supernatural, Chick lit, and Romance, Secrets is a novel that will keep you turning pages in an effort to ferret out an enjoyable puzzle that will not leave you disappointed.
Olivia Martin is a photographer. She has a best friend and anchor, Juliet; a mother intent on getting her married, and she's to the point where she believes there's not a man meant for her in life. Olivia's past romances have been anythi...more
Olivia Martin is a photographer. She has a best friend and anchor, Juliet; a mother intent on getting her married, and she's to the point where she believes there's not a man meant for her in life. Olivia's past romances have been anythi...more
I think its pretty well written and its certainly keeping me interested. Don't think I've ever read a book almost entirely written in first person point of view. Its a type of writing that's probably one of the most difficult to do successfully. I will note that I did notice some dialog and syntax issues but they are rather minor overall. However they are the one thing that restrains from giving the book five stars. If I could I would give it four and a half stars. I'm looking forward to reading...more
I was surprised by how much I liked this book - most supernatural fiction comes off very silly, but somehow the author managed to draw me in with this one, and I wasn't rolling my eyes at the fantasy stuff. It started a bit slow for me, but I really got into the story of the two main characters. I liked that the author switched viewpoints, particularly in the beginning, when Olivia has no clue what's going on. There is a bit of repetition with this format, but I only really noticed it during one...more
A thrilling paranormal romance I could not put down. Earlier in the week, I started reading Secrets with a pretty hefty TBR pile that I planned to get to right after I finished. But that’s not how it worked out. Once I finished Ms. Schulte’s spectacular, unique story, I had to have more, as I’m sure that was her intentions with the way Secrets ended. So I dove head first into Choices and devoured that book too. I think it’s safe to say I’ve found a new author that I love and a story that I conne...more
Liz Schulte is a great writer. She has a tremendous skill at creating lean-forward-and-hope-while-biting-your-nails suspense. So much so that I read this book late into the early hours of the morning, caught a quick kip, then woke up early to finish it—I just had to know what was going to happen.
Sadly, I am not a great fan of the cliffhanger ending which is the only reason this book gets a 4 instead of 5 star rating from me. In all other respects it is an excellent story and very well written ri...more
Sadly, I am not a great fan of the cliffhanger ending which is the only reason this book gets a 4 instead of 5 star rating from me. In all other respects it is an excellent story and very well written ri...more
Oct 29, 2012
Elizabeth
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
reviewed,
series-i-want
Secrets, written by Liz Schulte, is the first in the Guardian Trilogy. Set in St. Louis, Missouri, Secrets, is the story of Olivia Martin and how many seemingly random occurrences all wind up intricately woven together in the end.
Olivia is a shy photographer who happily exists in the shadow of her best friend, Juliet. She has her “perfect” apartment, her “dream” job, her best friend and her mother…life is “perfect”. Then fate intervenes and she meets Holden Smith. Suddenly, Olivia’s “perfect” l...more
Olivia is a shy photographer who happily exists in the shadow of her best friend, Juliet. She has her “perfect” apartment, her “dream” job, her best friend and her mother…life is “perfect”. Then fate intervenes and she meets Holden Smith. Suddenly, Olivia’s “perfect” l...more
The summary of the book on various sites doesn’t really do justice to the storyline. It’s so much more.
The protagonist is quite an introvert and thus her profession of a photographer suits her quite well. She is used to seeing the world through the lenses and she is quite comfortable with her life until she realizes that a couple of strangers are following her. Their entry in the book brings in a lot of mystery with them -- the mystery surrounding these two men and the mystery surrounding Olivia...more
The protagonist is quite an introvert and thus her profession of a photographer suits her quite well. She is used to seeing the world through the lenses and she is quite comfortable with her life until she realizes that a couple of strangers are following her. Their entry in the book brings in a lot of mystery with them -- the mystery surrounding these two men and the mystery surrounding Olivia...more
“While Olivia Martin observed life through her camera, the abyss gazed back at her. She discovers mysterious men follow her around, people close to her are dying, and her dreams are no longer her own as she falls head over heels for a perfect stranger. A chance encounter leads to an obsession that could destroy everything she has ever known or loved. Olivia is about to find out there is a lot she doesn't know and sometimes what you don't know can kill you.” Author description from Amazon.
This bo...more
This bo...more
Olivia is an idiot. This was perhaps the slowest book I've ever read. 64% of it according to my Kindle before anything happened at all. So much mystery and for what? All it did was stretch out a story that didn't need to be stretched out. And once the "plan" was made, all I could think was how big of an idiot Olivia was, and how Holden and Quintus were as well for going along with her. I won't be continuing with this trilogy because I just don't care.
I love when I find the kind of book that stays with me even when I'm not reading it. The kind of book that makes you sneak a few chapters in when you're supposed to be working because you just can't wait until you get home. This was definitely one of those books. I loved how each chapter was told from either Olivia or Holden's point of view (sometimes rehashing the exact same scene, but from the others perspective). It was different than anything I've read before, and I think it gave a lot more...more
I like the plot line of the story. Great idea. The characters are well defined as well and I like the way she flipped back and forth between their perspectives. Only real complaint is that I thought she held out on his real identity for a little longer than necessary. Can't complaint too much though as I enjoyed the read and am curious to see where she takes this. All SORTS of options. :)
Woah, this book was such a pleasant surprise for me! I downloaded it for free at smashwords.com and first I was a little skeptical, but after reading about 30% I couldn't put it down. The ending is not your typical Disney-happy-end, it was rather sad and heartbreaking, but for sure a good cliffhanger! To sum it up, I loved the book and can't wait to read the second one!
I liked the alternating narration between the main character Olivia and the mysterious man she is seemingly bound to, Holden. The book does a good job maintaining tension; from one chapter to the next we are never quite sure whether we can trust Holden. I found myself wanting to know more and I will probably pick up the second book in the series some day.
This was a great story where you can love the bad guy. The only thing I would do to make this novel better is to get it proofread. There are a lot of grammatical mistakes that can be alleviated by editing. If you can overlook some grammatical mistakes,you will love this novel. After all who doesn't like a war between lesser demons and guardians?
I got this book as a free download for my kindle. While I enjoyed this book, the thing that kept me reading was trying to figure out what the male main character (Holden) was. We know he isn't human, but I couldn't figure out what he was until later, so that was good. The theme of the book is quite dark, but it kept me guessing as to how it would all turn out. While I knew this was the first book in a trilogy, I thought it would come to some kind of conclusion, but instead, it ended rather abrup...more
This story has some potential, as do the characters. That said, it also has some problems. One of them was that the perspective change from chapter to chapter was not well used. The result was confusing and made it seem like I was having to read the book twice. Another issue was that it ended quite abruptly. So not a bad tale, but one with poor execution.
This book is a beautifully constructed masterpiece that kept my heart pumping until the very last word...and then I just longed for the next book. Just like Liz's last book, I couldn't put it down!
If you secretly love bad boys, Holden is going to blow your mind! I'm hooked on this series!
I highly recommend it as a MUST READ!
If you secretly love bad boys, Holden is going to blow your mind! I'm hooked on this series!
I highly recommend it as a MUST READ!
I immediately fell in love with the characters in this book. The author does an amazing job of making the reader empathize and even root for the most terrible people. You find yourself completely ignoring the fact that the main male character is a killer, excusing his behavior because of how he feels about her.
Just as with her first book, Dark Corners, Secrets reads like a movie. Her description of the characters and their surroundings is so clear that I felt like I was watching the story take...more
Just as with her first book, Dark Corners, Secrets reads like a movie. Her description of the characters and their surroundings is so clear that I felt like I was watching the story take...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Free Book Cha...: Secrets, by Liz Schulte | 2 | 11 | Jan 05, 2013 10:06pm |
Many authors claim to have known their calling from a young age. Liz Schulte, however, didn't always want to be an author. In fact, she had no clue. Liz wanted to be a veterinarian, then she wanted to be a lawyer, then she wanted to be a criminal profiler. In a valiant effort to keep from becoming Walter Mitty, Liz put pen to paper and began writing her first novel. It was at that moment she reali...more
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Aug 21, 2012 09:25pm