My Thoughts:
May contain spoilers
It Started with a Secret had me hooked from page one. I don’t know what I found so compelling about the story; I don’t usually find chef heroes very appealing. Maybe it was the age gap romance? The heroine is 40 to the hero’s 30. Or maybe it was the bustling bread and breakfast setting where privacy is in short supply. Or maybe it was just that that Tif Marcelo’s writing style just clicked for me. Whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Jared, our hero, is having an identity crisis. Raised by his mother and step-father, he hasn’t always felt that he fit in. Jared’s father, Louis, was Filipino, but he’s never had contact with his dad or his Filipino heritage. He feels that lack most acutely after a Filipino inspired dish he created for a TV segment is lambasted by a fellow Filipino chef for lacking authenticity. Jared is now questioning everything about himself, and he’s lost his confidence in the kitchen.
Though he’s resisted knowing anything about his birth father, who was killed in action, he suddenly feels the need to reconnect with his father’s family, the Espiritus. On his quest to discover himself, he meets Matilda Matthews, the manager of the Shenandoah B & B. Matilda is also facing confidence issues, after her disastrous marriage ended in divorce. Conflict adverse, Matilda stifled herself to keep her husband happy. After years of his gaslighting, she finally found the courage to leave him and return to her small hometown, where she rebuilt her life with the help of Jared’s biological family.
I love Tif Marcelo’s writing style. It’s evocative and emotional, and it kept me turning the pages. Jared’s and Matilda’s romance was complicated by the real reason for Jared’s presence in town. With a flurry of events at the B & B, Jared decides not to reveal his identity to the Espiritus until after a large wedding on the grounds. Every time Jared saw himself in his half-sisters or in his nephew, my heart gave a little squeeze. To think that all his life Jared had missed feeling grounded after seeing characteristics and mannerisms similar to his own in this family he had been denied space space in made me so sympathetic towards him.
Matilda, for her part, is really struggling with life after her divorce. She just can’t trust anyone enough to show her true feelings or share her deepest thoughts. Even her friends are held at arms length. As she and Jared become closer, she constantly throws up obstacles to keep some distance between them. I found the conflict so engaging and kept wondering how they were going to arrive at a HEA. Matilda was her own worst enemy here, turning her back on Jared instead of going all in with her emotions.
It Started with a Secret is the first in a series, and it looks like Eva, the Espiritus family matriarch, will be in the spotlight in the next installment. I am really looking forward to getting to know the side characters better, and after all of the heartache in Eva’s life, she definitely needs a happy ever after of her own.
About the Book:
Title: It Started with a Secret
Author: Tif Marcelo
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 291
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.75 Stars
From the back of the book:
When one unforgettable night…
Leads to a whole new life…
When Jared Sotheby arrives in Peak, Virginia, to search for his identity—and his Filipino roots—he doesn’t anticipate an instant connection with a stunning woman he meets on his first night in town. And he certainly doesn’t expect her to be managing the B & B owned by the biological family he’s searching for!
One passionate night aside, Matilda Matthews needs a cook, and Jared, a chef, needs a way in. She’ll give him the job if he keeps his identity a secret—for now. Their subterfuge quickly grows complicated as Jared yearns for a connection—not only with his family, but also with the once-bitten Matilda. But first he’ll have to convince her to let a younger man into her heart…
From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.
Spirit of the Shenandoah
Let's Read Good Books 