What do you think?
Rate this book
Scandalous #2
Secrets From Her Past
Wishful thinking never fixed anything…but it’s better than facing the truth.
Scandalous, Book 2
Cori’s automatic response to trouble has always been to run in the opposite direction. The last time she left her hometown of Pebble Cove, it was to escape the kind of heartbreak no sixteen-year-old should have to endure.
Now she’s back, mostly to help out with a family crisis. But partly to escape a scandal that the unrelenting eye of the media has blown out of all proportion, and wait for the dust to settle.
People have disappointed Dylan nearly his whole life, but he’s a big boy; he’s learned to move on. Except when it comes to the love of his life, the now-famous, one-name supermodel Corinne. Despite what she put him through—abandoning him when he needed her most—to him she’ll always be just Cori.
When a series of events throws them together, they fall back into old patterns—and into each other’s arms. But even as love rekindles, Cori fights the rising urge to run…before the truth of the night she ran away shatters both their hearts beyond repair.
Contains a flight-risk heroine who must learn to stand her ground, and the man whose love still burns bright enough to guide her home.
- GenresRomance
200 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 14, 2013
83 people want to read
About the author
Jules Bennett
620 books457 followersUSA Today Bestselling Author Jules Bennett has written for multiple publishing houses and currently has books with Harlequin and Kensington.
She loves to chat with readers through Twitter or her Fan Page on Facebook. You can also contact her through her website as well as stay up to date on her latest releases, book events, and awards. julesbennett.com
She loves to chat with readers through Twitter or her Fan Page on Facebook. You can also contact her through her website as well as stay up to date on her latest releases, book events, and awards. julesbennett.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 26, 2013
Title: Secrets From Her Past
Series: Scandelous Series Book #2
Author: Jules Bennett
Genre: Romance
Blurb: Wishful thinking never fixed anything…but it’s better than facing the truth.
Cori’s automatic response to trouble has always been to run in the opposite direction. The last time she left her hometown of Pebble Cove, it was to escape the kind of heartbreak no sixteen-year-old should have to endure.
Now she’s back, mostly to help out with a family crisis. But partly to escape a scandal that the unrelenting eye of the media has blown out of all proportion, and wait for the dust to settle.
People have disappointed Dylan nearly his whole life, but he’s a big boy; he’s learned to move on. Except when it comes to the love of his life, the now-famous, one-name supermodel Corinne. Despite what she put him through—abandoning him when he needed her most—to him she’ll always be just Cori.
When a series of events throws them together, they fall back into old patterns—and into each other’s arms. But even as love rekindles, Cori fights the rising urge to run…before the truth of the night she ran away shatters both their hearts beyond repair.
Warning: Contains a flight-risk heroine who must learn to stand her ground, and the man whose love still burns bright enough to guide her home.
Both Sarah and Danita read and reviewed this book and their reviews are below.
Sarah's Thoughts: Even though this book was part of series, it also reads like a stand alone novel. You don't feel like you're missing anything as you're reading along, so you don't need to worry about coming into it and being lost, or missing pieces from a critical part of the storyline. I really liked this book - it was great story about love recaptured. The characters were likeable, but each one had their moments where you found yourself irritated at their behaviors. The sex scenes were usually a bit quick and non-descript for me, certainly not anything to scorch the pages. The aspect is more on the romance for this book, so if you're looking for some really hot erotic scenes it may fall a little short.
I thought that for such a huge secret standing between the two characters - and with the way Cori just ran off - they re-connected awfully quickly. It was a bit too fast, and hard for me to buy into, with the author relaying on their past history together to build on, but for me there could have been more build up. But it was not something you couldn't overlook in the story and continue to enjoy it. And for me, Dylan was a bit inconsiderate in the end before he manages to get some sense knocked into him.
A good read overall, typical of the romance genre.
Rate: B
Danita's Thoughts:
This is the first book I've read by Jules Bennet.
The hero in this book is Dylan who is a carpenter who has a past with the heroine Cori (professional name is Corinne). Cori and Dylan were in love and had their lives planned out before she left town abruptly when she was 16 leaving Dylan behind with no explanation. Cori left town for her own protection and with a secret that could destroy those she cares about the most.
Cori becomes a successful super model going by the name Corinne and time moves on as Cori rebuilds her life but things come tumbling down when she's been accused of a crime she was innocent of and starts losing modeling jobs which was her living. She came back home not only to get away from her legal problems and to help her parents.
As the story progresses the people of Cori's home town look down on her and pass judgment. She and Dylan become close but she still keeps him at arms length because of that one dark day when she was 16 and the reason she left down abruptly with no explanation will change everything if he ever learned the truth.
The story seems to focus more on the physical connection between Dylan and Cori. The rebuilding of their relationship seems to be based on their sexual attraction to each other.
When the secret that Cori is holding comes out it doesn't seem to be dealt with by either of them.
The story is full of misunderstandings between Dylan and Cori but it also contains a lot of forgiveness. The story also shows that you can go home again.
Overall the book was a good read but I think it would have been easier to follow if I had read he first book in the series.
I give it a B.
Reviewed by both Sarah and Danita.
http://www.thebookreadinggals.com
Series: Scandelous Series Book #2
Author: Jules Bennett
Genre: Romance
Blurb: Wishful thinking never fixed anything…but it’s better than facing the truth.
Cori’s automatic response to trouble has always been to run in the opposite direction. The last time she left her hometown of Pebble Cove, it was to escape the kind of heartbreak no sixteen-year-old should have to endure.
Now she’s back, mostly to help out with a family crisis. But partly to escape a scandal that the unrelenting eye of the media has blown out of all proportion, and wait for the dust to settle.
People have disappointed Dylan nearly his whole life, but he’s a big boy; he’s learned to move on. Except when it comes to the love of his life, the now-famous, one-name supermodel Corinne. Despite what she put him through—abandoning him when he needed her most—to him she’ll always be just Cori.
When a series of events throws them together, they fall back into old patterns—and into each other’s arms. But even as love rekindles, Cori fights the rising urge to run…before the truth of the night she ran away shatters both their hearts beyond repair.
Warning: Contains a flight-risk heroine who must learn to stand her ground, and the man whose love still burns bright enough to guide her home.
Both Sarah and Danita read and reviewed this book and their reviews are below.
Sarah's Thoughts: Even though this book was part of series, it also reads like a stand alone novel. You don't feel like you're missing anything as you're reading along, so you don't need to worry about coming into it and being lost, or missing pieces from a critical part of the storyline. I really liked this book - it was great story about love recaptured. The characters were likeable, but each one had their moments where you found yourself irritated at their behaviors. The sex scenes were usually a bit quick and non-descript for me, certainly not anything to scorch the pages. The aspect is more on the romance for this book, so if you're looking for some really hot erotic scenes it may fall a little short.
I thought that for such a huge secret standing between the two characters - and with the way Cori just ran off - they re-connected awfully quickly. It was a bit too fast, and hard for me to buy into, with the author relaying on their past history together to build on, but for me there could have been more build up. But it was not something you couldn't overlook in the story and continue to enjoy it. And for me, Dylan was a bit inconsiderate in the end before he manages to get some sense knocked into him.
A good read overall, typical of the romance genre.
Rate: B
Danita's Thoughts:
This is the first book I've read by Jules Bennet.
The hero in this book is Dylan who is a carpenter who has a past with the heroine Cori (professional name is Corinne). Cori and Dylan were in love and had their lives planned out before she left town abruptly when she was 16 leaving Dylan behind with no explanation. Cori left town for her own protection and with a secret that could destroy those she cares about the most.
Cori becomes a successful super model going by the name Corinne and time moves on as Cori rebuilds her life but things come tumbling down when she's been accused of a crime she was innocent of and starts losing modeling jobs which was her living. She came back home not only to get away from her legal problems and to help her parents.
As the story progresses the people of Cori's home town look down on her and pass judgment. She and Dylan become close but she still keeps him at arms length because of that one dark day when she was 16 and the reason she left down abruptly with no explanation will change everything if he ever learned the truth.
The story seems to focus more on the physical connection between Dylan and Cori. The rebuilding of their relationship seems to be based on their sexual attraction to each other.
When the secret that Cori is holding comes out it doesn't seem to be dealt with by either of them.
The story is full of misunderstandings between Dylan and Cori but it also contains a lot of forgiveness. The story also shows that you can go home again.
Overall the book was a good read but I think it would have been easier to follow if I had read he first book in the series.
I give it a B.
Reviewed by both Sarah and Danita.
http://www.thebookreadinggals.com
May 31, 2013
First reviewed at Red Hot Books: http://redhotbooks.com/2013/06/review...
After reading the first installment in this series “Sins From Her Past” I was excited to hear that Evelyn’s brother Dylan would be getting his own story and that I wouldn’t have to wait a painfully long time to read it. I must admit I love “fast reads” that involve the secret baby, horrible secret that will tear the couple apart and the hero believes the heroine did something bad and then finds out the truth. They are comfortably predictable and we know that there will be a fairly quick resolution to the story that ends with happily ever after. So in that respect this book was right up my alley and as a bonus I am a big fan of Jules Bennett.
When they were just teenagers Cori broke Dylan’s heart by running away one night shortly after his parents were killed in a car accident. She never explained why she was leaving and left Dylan with plenty of questions and unresolved feelings. Years later she returns to take care of her ailing parents who live right next door to the house Dylan grew up in and is now renovating. She is once again running away from a crisis and we learn fairly quickly that she had been arrested for possession of cocaine and eventually the charges against her were dropped. There was a lot of mention at the beginning of the novel that the District Attorney made it clear he wanted to pursue Corinne and could eventually arrest her again but then that storyline seems to drop and is not really mentioned again. I’m not sure if that is possibly going to be a plot point for a future story but it seemed a bit strange that we never really heard about the issue again.
I enjoyed reading about Cori and Dylan and I particularly liked seeing more of Evie and Vin. If I had my way they would not have jumped into bed so quickly after she returned to town because it didn’t really seem to fit with how much hurt had been caused when Cori ran away. Also at the time of their first encounter Dylan is still harboring doubts about her innocence with the drug charges so the fact that Cori would ignore that and just jump into bed with him kind of took her down a few notches in my mind. I also felt that the inevitable reconciliation after the big reveal of the secret Cori was holding was way too rushed and again didn’t fit with the hurt that each had caused the other, but with shorter books it is harder to play those things out.
That being said it did take me a little while to figure out what the big secret was and what I initially suspected turned out to be off base. I liked that because it meant the story, although predictable due to the nature of these books, still had the ability to take twists I didn’t expect. It doesn’t happen often with these types of books so I definitely appreciated that!
Overall I would give the book a B- because even though I thought some parts were rushed, it was still well written and I hope there are more books in this series so I can see more of these characters.
After reading the first installment in this series “Sins From Her Past” I was excited to hear that Evelyn’s brother Dylan would be getting his own story and that I wouldn’t have to wait a painfully long time to read it. I must admit I love “fast reads” that involve the secret baby, horrible secret that will tear the couple apart and the hero believes the heroine did something bad and then finds out the truth. They are comfortably predictable and we know that there will be a fairly quick resolution to the story that ends with happily ever after. So in that respect this book was right up my alley and as a bonus I am a big fan of Jules Bennett.
When they were just teenagers Cori broke Dylan’s heart by running away one night shortly after his parents were killed in a car accident. She never explained why she was leaving and left Dylan with plenty of questions and unresolved feelings. Years later she returns to take care of her ailing parents who live right next door to the house Dylan grew up in and is now renovating. She is once again running away from a crisis and we learn fairly quickly that she had been arrested for possession of cocaine and eventually the charges against her were dropped. There was a lot of mention at the beginning of the novel that the District Attorney made it clear he wanted to pursue Corinne and could eventually arrest her again but then that storyline seems to drop and is not really mentioned again. I’m not sure if that is possibly going to be a plot point for a future story but it seemed a bit strange that we never really heard about the issue again.
I enjoyed reading about Cori and Dylan and I particularly liked seeing more of Evie and Vin. If I had my way they would not have jumped into bed so quickly after she returned to town because it didn’t really seem to fit with how much hurt had been caused when Cori ran away. Also at the time of their first encounter Dylan is still harboring doubts about her innocence with the drug charges so the fact that Cori would ignore that and just jump into bed with him kind of took her down a few notches in my mind. I also felt that the inevitable reconciliation after the big reveal of the secret Cori was holding was way too rushed and again didn’t fit with the hurt that each had caused the other, but with shorter books it is harder to play those things out.
That being said it did take me a little while to figure out what the big secret was and what I initially suspected turned out to be off base. I liked that because it meant the story, although predictable due to the nature of these books, still had the ability to take twists I didn’t expect. It doesn’t happen often with these types of books so I definitely appreciated that!
Overall I would give the book a B- because even though I thought some parts were rushed, it was still well written and I hope there are more books in this series so I can see more of these characters.
June 19, 2013
4 out of 5 stars. Adult contents....lots of really steamy hot naked adult content.
Cori is a supermodel with a not so super past. Having just barely cleared her name on drug charges, she has turned tail and come back home to recuperate. Unfortunately, her hometown of Pebble Cove isn't welcoming her back with open arms. Not suprizing since she was forced to run and hide from this same town as a sixteen year old. Few people will speak to her and even fewer will believe her. Now the secrets that forced her to run at sixteen seem to be coming back and threatening to keep her from happiness again.
Dylan was one of those most hurt by Cori leaving abruptly so many years ago. Now suddenly she is back and he doesn't know if he can trust her again. Worst, she is very honest from the beginning about the fact that she is not staying. Every time he sees her he struggles with should he enjoy the time he has for now or still be pissed for the time that was in the past? Things have changed and she also wasn't there when Dylan and his sister Evie needed Cori for support. Why should he let her stomp all over his heart again?
Cori tries to keep her distance but events happen that keep bringing her together with Dylan. Soon they discover that he can't hate her for leaving him in the past and she tries to deal with her life crumbling around her. Fortunately for her Dylan specializes in knight in shining armor moments. Now if she can just figure out how to share the worst of her secrets with him without making him hate her forever.
This was a good book. Dylan is a great awesome guy and there are times that I just wanted to grab Cori and shake her and tell her to stop being to well mannered! You are just being a door matt! But I guess that there has to be a trade off for being so pretty, thin and being able to cook like a goddess.
complimentary book given for a free review. juliesbookreview.blogspot.com
Cori is a supermodel with a not so super past. Having just barely cleared her name on drug charges, she has turned tail and come back home to recuperate. Unfortunately, her hometown of Pebble Cove isn't welcoming her back with open arms. Not suprizing since she was forced to run and hide from this same town as a sixteen year old. Few people will speak to her and even fewer will believe her. Now the secrets that forced her to run at sixteen seem to be coming back and threatening to keep her from happiness again.
Dylan was one of those most hurt by Cori leaving abruptly so many years ago. Now suddenly she is back and he doesn't know if he can trust her again. Worst, she is very honest from the beginning about the fact that she is not staying. Every time he sees her he struggles with should he enjoy the time he has for now or still be pissed for the time that was in the past? Things have changed and she also wasn't there when Dylan and his sister Evie needed Cori for support. Why should he let her stomp all over his heart again?
Cori tries to keep her distance but events happen that keep bringing her together with Dylan. Soon they discover that he can't hate her for leaving him in the past and she tries to deal with her life crumbling around her. Fortunately for her Dylan specializes in knight in shining armor moments. Now if she can just figure out how to share the worst of her secrets with him without making him hate her forever.
This was a good book. Dylan is a great awesome guy and there are times that I just wanted to grab Cori and shake her and tell her to stop being to well mannered! You are just being a door matt! But I guess that there has to be a trade off for being so pretty, thin and being able to cook like a goddess.
complimentary book given for a free review. juliesbookreview.blogspot.com
June 5, 2013
This is a quick and intense read. Cori and Dylan have a past. First loves when they were teens. First everythings. It all fell apart over night. His parents killed in a hit and run car accident and Cori just gone. He was devastated. Ten years later she's back to care for her ailing mother. The feelings are still there no matter how hard each tries to deny it. It's one step forward and one step back for the pair. Cori has a few secrets locked up inside and in telling them she thinks will kill any hope of a life with Dylan. Their love is strong though and Dylan keeps at her and just when you think they will make it again it all falls apart. Wow! Like i said this was intense. Lots of emotions. Your heart goes out to both Dylan and Cori. Both were hurt very bad by secrets and events in their lives but both show how strong they are in character by fighting to keep going. Some of the conclusions were a bit rushed but that is to be expected in a book this length. If you like a fast read with a quick pace and exciting story this book fits the bill perfectly.
December 9, 2013
Even though Dylan would never admit it, when his best friend and love Cori left it broke something within him. Seeing Cori succeed as a super model didn’t help Dylan either, what could he possibly offer her that she couldn’t obtain herself?
Faced with the shame that an untrue scandal has shattered her career, Cori returns home to Pebble Cover. Guarding a carefully kept secret, Cori doesn’t plan to get close to Dylan again and his animosity towards her is not a big surprise. The rekindled chemistry is though and even though she tries to stay away being in Dylan’s presence makes it impossible. Cori believes if Dylan ever finds out the true reason she left, he will never be able to look at her again. -
Full review on Single Titles
http://singletitles.com/?p=9445
Faced with the shame that an untrue scandal has shattered her career, Cori returns home to Pebble Cover. Guarding a carefully kept secret, Cori doesn’t plan to get close to Dylan again and his animosity towards her is not a big surprise. The rekindled chemistry is though and even though she tries to stay away being in Dylan’s presence makes it impossible. Cori believes if Dylan ever finds out the true reason she left, he will never be able to look at her again. -
Full review on Single Titles
http://singletitles.com/?p=9445
November 16, 2015
Finished this pretty quick as anticipated! Snagged an autographed copy at Turn The Page bookstore in June after having met Jules at Lori Fosters RAGT! This book was amazing for a shorter simpler read! The cover is one of the prettiest ever & consider myself lucky to have this beautifully written story added to my autographed portion of my library! Jules writes with heartfelt family values & passion in anything I've read of hers! I look forward to Nooking the first book of this Scandalous series as well! Well done Jules!
May 5, 2014
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews May 2014 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/secrets-her-past-0
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews