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Our Little Secret
Lauren Sutherland tries to set a good example for her twin sister, from her practical job to her dependable, if boring, fiancé. So when impulsive Meg elopes with her boss, a U.S. senator twice her age, Lauren hops on a plane to talk her into an annulment...but comes face-to-face with the senator's handsome son, Drew, instead.
Demanding to know what she's done with his father, Drew is as infuriating as he is annoyingly irresistible. But he's not the only one who mistakes Lauren's identity. A relentless foe is on a deadly hunt for the missing newlyweds -- unless Lauren and Drew can find them first.
Venturing into the elite Washington social scene, they discover an elaborate web of explicit photos and blackmail, but the biggest surprise is the fiery attraction they can barely control. The clock is ticking, and while the sparks between Lauren and Drew burn hot, the trail of clues is growing cold....
Demanding to know what she's done with his father, Drew is as infuriating as he is annoyingly irresistible. But he's not the only one who mistakes Lauren's identity. A relentless foe is on a deadly hunt for the missing newlyweds -- unless Lauren and Drew can find them first.
Venturing into the elite Washington social scene, they discover an elaborate web of explicit photos and blackmail, but the biggest surprise is the fiery attraction they can barely control. The clock is ticking, and while the sparks between Lauren and Drew burn hot, the trail of clues is growing cold....
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 2, 2009
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338 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 26, 2009
I was really looking forward to Ambrose's second book. The blurb teased my curiosity and I'm always interested in a little political suspense. Her first book, "Tell Me Lies" was a good debut.
"Our Little Secret" was a fast and fun read but just wasn't quite what I had hoped it would be. I felt the romance between the h/h was so rushed and not very well developed. As for the political suspense, it was a bit choppy as well. Also, there were some editing errors in the book which happen to be a big pet peeve of mine.
"Our Little Secret" was a fast and fun read but just wasn't quite what I had hoped it would be. I felt the romance between the h/h was so rushed and not very well developed. As for the political suspense, it was a bit choppy as well. Also, there were some editing errors in the book which happen to be a big pet peeve of mine.
April 13, 2018
One twin runs off and marrys congressman, other twin thinks she is in danger and goes to DC to help her, of course falls for son of ". Gratuitous sexual preludes, over and over.
Not believable.
Not believable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
July 20, 2010
Starr Ambrose's debut novel Lie to Me was one of my favorite reads in 2008. It was funny and well written, had great characters and was an easy, quick read so when I saw Our Little Secret was available, I was really looking forward to reading it.
Welcome to the live styles of the rich and famous in D.C. where mistaken identities, blackmail, corruption, foreign dignitaries and politicians are the order of the day. Mmmmm sounds just like every other regular day in Washington. The only thing missing was Chris Matthews from MSNBC's Hardball.
Identical twin sisters Lauren and Meg Sutherland couldn't be more different. Where Lauren is the responsible, reliable, practical twin, engaged to an equally boring man, Meg is promiscuous, lives life on the wild side and is now newly married to her boss and a man twice her age US congressman Harlan Creighton. And it turns out instead of enjoying wedded bliss and a honeymoon get-away, the newlyweds are in fact M.I.A. and on the run.
With her sister missing, Lauren Sutherland hightails it to Washington D.C. where the first person she encounters is Drew Creighton, ski instructor and son of the missing congressman. Drew immediately mistakes Lauren for her twin sister and thinks she's a gold-digging hussy interested only in his father's wealth and power. The sparks immediately fly between Drew and Lauren with a close call involving a hair pulling incident and a well-placed kick to the shin (I'll let you figure out who did what).
Since Lauren was an engaged woman at the start of the book, I was interested to see how Ambrose would develop the relationship between Drew and Lauren. Turns out Jeff the fiancé was a bit of a dud and I could see why Lauren would dump his ass in favor of the gorgeous, irresistible ski bum...or someone she thinks is a ski bum. You know what happens when you ass-u-me and both are guilty of jumping to the wrong conclusions about each other.
As Drew and Lauren put their amateur detective skills to work, they are actually a good team once they get past their initial misunderstandings (ohh and Lauren dumps the BF), then the hot and steamy action really heats up between them. But they've got a job to do as they dodge bullets, an attempted kidnapping (Drew's not the only one who mistakes Lauren for her twin sister), and car chases while trying to figure out the good guys from the bad.
At this point the suspense plot involving the political blackmail plot, doctored pictures, secret service agents and foreign nationals was a bit long winded and tedious and I was ready for it to be over. To Lauren's credit she was surprisingly strong and smart and really held it together at the end when she was faced with some uncomfortable circumstances.
Our Little Secrets had it's moments with funny clever writing, some madcap adventure and great chemistry between Drew and Lauren. Although I enjoyed the story, it wasn't in the same league for me as Lie to Me.
Welcome to the live styles of the rich and famous in D.C. where mistaken identities, blackmail, corruption, foreign dignitaries and politicians are the order of the day. Mmmmm sounds just like every other regular day in Washington. The only thing missing was Chris Matthews from MSNBC's Hardball.
Identical twin sisters Lauren and Meg Sutherland couldn't be more different. Where Lauren is the responsible, reliable, practical twin, engaged to an equally boring man, Meg is promiscuous, lives life on the wild side and is now newly married to her boss and a man twice her age US congressman Harlan Creighton. And it turns out instead of enjoying wedded bliss and a honeymoon get-away, the newlyweds are in fact M.I.A. and on the run.
With her sister missing, Lauren Sutherland hightails it to Washington D.C. where the first person she encounters is Drew Creighton, ski instructor and son of the missing congressman. Drew immediately mistakes Lauren for her twin sister and thinks she's a gold-digging hussy interested only in his father's wealth and power. The sparks immediately fly between Drew and Lauren with a close call involving a hair pulling incident and a well-placed kick to the shin (I'll let you figure out who did what).
Since Lauren was an engaged woman at the start of the book, I was interested to see how Ambrose would develop the relationship between Drew and Lauren. Turns out Jeff the fiancé was a bit of a dud and I could see why Lauren would dump his ass in favor of the gorgeous, irresistible ski bum...or someone she thinks is a ski bum. You know what happens when you ass-u-me and both are guilty of jumping to the wrong conclusions about each other.
As Drew and Lauren put their amateur detective skills to work, they are actually a good team once they get past their initial misunderstandings (ohh and Lauren dumps the BF), then the hot and steamy action really heats up between them. But they've got a job to do as they dodge bullets, an attempted kidnapping (Drew's not the only one who mistakes Lauren for her twin sister), and car chases while trying to figure out the good guys from the bad.
At this point the suspense plot involving the political blackmail plot, doctored pictures, secret service agents and foreign nationals was a bit long winded and tedious and I was ready for it to be over. To Lauren's credit she was surprisingly strong and smart and really held it together at the end when she was faced with some uncomfortable circumstances.
Our Little Secrets had it's moments with funny clever writing, some madcap adventure and great chemistry between Drew and Lauren. Although I enjoyed the story, it wasn't in the same league for me as Lie to Me.
May 3, 2010
Our Little Secret is the second book by Michigan author Starr Ambrose. As soon as I found out Ambrose was from Michigan, I had to go support a local author, went straight to Borders and bought her first novel, Tell Me Lies. When I found out she had a second book, I had to get my hands on it too! Ambrose has some serious skill with steaming up the pages of her novels; it’s hard to find the kind of chemistry her principle characters demonstrate in any novel, but she does it masterfully. Let me give you a little background: Straight-laced and serious planner Lauren Sutherland believes her twin sister has lost her mind. Getting an invitation to visit her sister and her new Senator husband, thirty some years her senior, and of about 3 weeks, Lauren is concerned that Senator Creighton has seduced her sister and is taking advantage of Megan. When Lauren attempts to rescue her sister from an imprudent marriage she meets the gorgeous and intoxicating son of Senator Creighton, Drew. Sparks fly right away, but Lauren refuses to give into her impulses, because of her “plans” to marry her fiancé, boring predictable Jeff. (definite stick in the mud!) Drew and Lauren soon discover that Meg and Senator Creighton have run away together – and not for a spontaneous honeymoon. Blackmail plots, the secret service, more senators and aides complicate plans for finding Megan and Harlan (Senator Creighton). After Lauren dumps her fiancé, her relationship with Drew begins to heat up. The book eventually comes to a predictable end, but the journey getting there was a blast to be on. This is a great second contribution by Starr Ambrose. I’m looking forward to her third novel, the sequel to Tell Me Lies titled “Thieves Like Us.”
September 25, 2010
3.5 stars. Pleasant reading, but not as good as her first book.
STORY BRIEF:
Lauren and Meg are identical twins. Meg is impulsive and wild. Lauren is responsible and predictable. Meg elopes with her boss, a U.S. senator twice her age. Lauren flies to Washington D.C. to talk Meg into an annulment. When she arrives, she finds that Meg and the senator are missing. Others think Lauren is Meg and try to kidnap her. Drew is the senator’s son. Together Drew and Lauren search for Meg and the senator and try to unravel the mystery. Although Lauren is engaged to a dependable, boring guy, she is attracted to Drew whom she believes is a ski bum.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
This was ok, but I was expecting more. Her first book wowed me, but this book felt more like other romantic mysteries. Nothing was wrong, but I was hoping for more fun with mistaken identities or something new and different. The characters, plot, and relationship development were all good. It’s mostly solving the mystery with a little suspense. I like this author, and I’m definitely planning to buy her third book “Thieves Like Us” coming Fall 2010.
DATA:
Story length: 356 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 13. Setting: current day Washington, D.C. Copyright: 2009. Genre: romantic mystery with some suspense.
OTHER BOOKS:
I’ve read one other book by Starr Ambrose. My 4.5 star review of “Lie To Me” Copyright 2008 was posted 1-22-09.
STORY BRIEF:
Lauren and Meg are identical twins. Meg is impulsive and wild. Lauren is responsible and predictable. Meg elopes with her boss, a U.S. senator twice her age. Lauren flies to Washington D.C. to talk Meg into an annulment. When she arrives, she finds that Meg and the senator are missing. Others think Lauren is Meg and try to kidnap her. Drew is the senator’s son. Together Drew and Lauren search for Meg and the senator and try to unravel the mystery. Although Lauren is engaged to a dependable, boring guy, she is attracted to Drew whom she believes is a ski bum.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
This was ok, but I was expecting more. Her first book wowed me, but this book felt more like other romantic mysteries. Nothing was wrong, but I was hoping for more fun with mistaken identities or something new and different. The characters, plot, and relationship development were all good. It’s mostly solving the mystery with a little suspense. I like this author, and I’m definitely planning to buy her third book “Thieves Like Us” coming Fall 2010.
DATA:
Story length: 356 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 13. Setting: current day Washington, D.C. Copyright: 2009. Genre: romantic mystery with some suspense.
OTHER BOOKS:
I’ve read one other book by Starr Ambrose. My 4.5 star review of “Lie To Me” Copyright 2008 was posted 1-22-09.
November 11, 2012
Ce livre, je l’ai rencontré à côté de Bastille avec marqué au dessus : 2 livres pour 1 euro. Comment dire… Je pouvais quand même pas lui faire ça. Surtout que je l’avais vu sur le forum des tentations (ou appelé familièrement « la mort de mon porte-monnaie »).
Je ne m’attendais pas à quelque chose de trépidant et de « trop bien ». Et bien, pour une fois, je ne l’ai pas lu de travers puis posé en me disant : un jour, peut-être, je ferai l’effort (ou pas) de le lire correctement.
Non, car dès le début, j’ai voulu savoir ce qui se passait aussi bien pour la soeur de l’héroïne que pour celle-ci avec le beau gosse parfait.
L’intrigue devient de plus en plus improbable mais elle reste plausible et surtout j’étais curieuse de voir le déroulement de l’histoire.
Le héros est assez fade, mais les personnages secondaires sont bien trouvés.
Ca reste une histoire collection « J’ai lu pour elle » et donc forcément, il y a des passages « chauds » (en même temps, il n’y a rien qui marque la mémoire). Vous trouverez quand même mentionner les mots « sex toys » dans cette histoire mais dans une scène qui m’a bien fait sourire.
Non, non, esprit libidineux et pervers, il n’y a pas forcément que des scènes de fesses où l’on peut trouver des sextoys.
Un roman lu en moins de 24 heures qui est divertissant.
Je ne m’attendais pas à quelque chose de trépidant et de « trop bien ». Et bien, pour une fois, je ne l’ai pas lu de travers puis posé en me disant : un jour, peut-être, je ferai l’effort (ou pas) de le lire correctement.
Non, car dès le début, j’ai voulu savoir ce qui se passait aussi bien pour la soeur de l’héroïne que pour celle-ci avec le beau gosse parfait.
L’intrigue devient de plus en plus improbable mais elle reste plausible et surtout j’étais curieuse de voir le déroulement de l’histoire.
Le héros est assez fade, mais les personnages secondaires sont bien trouvés.
Ca reste une histoire collection « J’ai lu pour elle » et donc forcément, il y a des passages « chauds » (en même temps, il n’y a rien qui marque la mémoire). Vous trouverez quand même mentionner les mots « sex toys » dans cette histoire mais dans une scène qui m’a bien fait sourire.
Non, non, esprit libidineux et pervers, il n’y a pas forcément que des scènes de fesses où l’on peut trouver des sextoys.
Un roman lu en moins de 24 heures qui est divertissant.
December 18, 2010
Since I'm normally not a big fan of contemporary romance, this book took me by surprise by how much I enjoyed it. Lauren and Drew had some fun chemistry going on. Was I completely convinced that Lauren would just toss over her staid, boring fiance for a fling with smokin' hot Drew? Yes and no. I think she was primed to break out of her predictable lifestyle but I don't quite know that she would jump so wholeheartedly into an affair with someone she'd known for such a short time. However, the story and characters were so engaging that I just went with it.
There's a bit of a mystery thrown in as Lauren and Drew have to unravel where her sister and his father have disappeared to. The more they learn the more they come to see that there may be more going on than they originally thought. I'm actually terrible with mysteries but I figured it out before the big reveal, so take that as you will.
Overall, it was fun and sexy. Delving into Washington politics to sort through the mystery was interesting, although that's very much not my normal type of thing. I guess I'm saying that I enjoyed it quite a bit.
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
There's a bit of a mystery thrown in as Lauren and Drew have to unravel where her sister and his father have disappeared to. The more they learn the more they come to see that there may be more going on than they originally thought. I'm actually terrible with mysteries but I figured it out before the big reveal, so take that as you will.
Overall, it was fun and sexy. Delving into Washington politics to sort through the mystery was interesting, although that's very much not my normal type of thing. I guess I'm saying that I enjoyed it quite a bit.
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
July 31, 2016
In this story Lauren's twin sister Meg is missing and when she goes to find her she ends up falling for her newly married sister's hot and sexy step-son, Drew. Only there are a couple of problems. First, she's engaged to a very stable if uninspiring man. Second, someone is trying kill her after she is mistaken for Meg.
The plot of this story is really interesting and not your typical romance storyline, but there are few parts of it that really didn't work for me. I disliked how fast Lauren switched her affections from her fiancée to Drew. I also thought that Lauren and Drew's desire to find their missing family members, not to mention the threats to their life might have put a little more of a damper on their desire for each other. I just couldn't get past these two problems enough to really get into the story.
The plot of this story is really interesting and not your typical romance storyline, but there are few parts of it that really didn't work for me. I disliked how fast Lauren switched her affections from her fiancée to Drew. I also thought that Lauren and Drew's desire to find their missing family members, not to mention the threats to their life might have put a little more of a damper on their desire for each other. I just couldn't get past these two problems enough to really get into the story.
March 27, 2010
I rarely take the time to write negative reviews, but in this political climate, the theme of this book was more than distasteful.
The Secret Service are the people who put their lives on the line for the worthless politicians in this country. Constructing a story around "rogue" agents blackmailing a "hard working" senator and his upwardly mobile secretary took all the focus away from what was supposed to be a romance between the senator's son and the secretary's sister. After a couple of chapters, who even cared?
I read through the entire book hoping that there would be a plot twist at the end. Waste of time. Where did Ambrose learn to write? The Micheal Moore school of storytelling?
This author is off my future reading list.
The Secret Service are the people who put their lives on the line for the worthless politicians in this country. Constructing a story around "rogue" agents blackmailing a "hard working" senator and his upwardly mobile secretary took all the focus away from what was supposed to be a romance between the senator's son and the secretary's sister. After a couple of chapters, who even cared?
I read through the entire book hoping that there would be a plot twist at the end. Waste of time. Where did Ambrose learn to write? The Micheal Moore school of storytelling?
This author is off my future reading list.
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November 18, 2011I loved this book. It kept me interested from start to finish. The plot was excellent, intricate without being overly detailed to where your attention wanders as with some books. The romance was perfect for me. It was sweet and slightly feisty without being overly annoying with stupid misunderstandings and neither hero nor heroine behaved in a way that frustrated me (as with some other romance books). I highly recommend it! I thought the book was another quality read from this author and I can't wait to read more books by her!!
December 30, 2010
Actually not a bad little story. Not a favorite of mine but I don't like polical books and I really don't like contemp. romance novels. That being said I really did enjoy this story the mystery was enough to keep me engaged. The romance was good the characters were real and I enjoyed it.
January 1, 2012
I kinda expect more from the story. It a great read but rather forgettable. In fact, I dont really remember what happen after all i read this like a year n a half ago?? I guess i will recommend this book on a rain day when you are at home with a coco/tea by you.
December 21, 2010
I really found this to be a quick, fun read.
May 9, 2011
Great mix of suspence and romance
September 11, 2012
I really enjoyed this story. There was a good storybline and it was developed with strong characters.
May 28, 2016
***Very nice!!! it's got mystery, a little comedy, romance, passion and suspence all rolled in one!!
January 24, 2016
This was a good book to read. Never read a book by Starr Ambrose but I'm glad I picked it up. Very interesting book.
January 10, 2012
A lot like a lot of other books. Ok read.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews