Three Little Secrets

I have never been more surprised by a book than I am by Three Little Secrets. I wasn't particularly interested in reading the last of this trilogy (books one and two were pretty good). There isn't a lot of romance in the traditional sense here until the end. It is the story of two people terribly hurt by each other and their coming to terms with this after finding themselves unexpectly together again. The development of the characters in this book is so complete that I fully understood their emotions. This was a big misunderstanding that I felt was completely believable (which is rare). I was as excited about Geoff's storyline as I was about Merrick and Madeleine's. I couldn't put this one down. I highly recommend!!!

Three Little Secrets by Liz Carlyle is a historian romance based around Scotsman Merrick Maclahlan and his estranged wife Lady Madeleine. They were married very young and torn apart by her father. Merrick has become cold hearted and focused on making money. Lady Madeleine is a widow and mother of 12-year-old psychic boy. Merrick and Madeleine meet again after 13 years and sparks fly - but they are so much for fun to watch.... The order of the series is One Little Sin, Two little Lies and Three little Secrets.

Carlyle brilliantly caps off her latest connected series with THREE LITTLE SECRETS-- a lively and gripping tale featuring Merrick MacLachlan, the dour `black' Scot brother of Alasdair MacLachlan, hero of the initial book in this series, ONE LITTLE SIN. Thirteen years ago, Merrick MacLachlan eloped to Gretna Green with seventeen year old Lady Madeline Jessup. Tracked down by her ruthless father, Merrick was set-up, brutally beaten, and left for dead. Lady Madeline was led to believe Merrick was a grasping rotter, whose sole purpose in marrying her was to, ruin her, blackmail her father into financing his architectural dreams, and then annul the marriage. By the time Merrick was able to travel to reclaim his wife, he discovered he was weeks too late. She'd been married off to a man twice her age and shipped off to parts unknown. Despising her for having so little faith in him and with additional lies told to him about her, any visage he had of a heart was torn to shreds. In the intervening years, Merrick became an embittered, ruthless but overwhelmingly successful and prosperous businessman. Now, coming face to face, their secrets would be revealed with a finality that both had dreamed of, but never dared hoped for. Guilty of pride, they believed the worst of each other, yet, in their innermost hearts, Madeline and Merrick still harbored the deepest passion they once felt for one another. In order to save their son, they would come to an accord, which would finally let them sort through the secrets in order to reclaim a passion that never fully died. *** As always, Carlyle weaves magic into her sensual laden prose, giving the reader a bonanza of a treat and completely mesmerizing the reader from the very beginning. Since her very first novel, I have been hooked by this author! Her writing is sensual, passionate, and will hook you from the very first pages to a most satisfying and heartwarming end. This is definitely another book for my `keeper' shelf and one I most HIGHLY recommend!

I really can't believe this book got a single bad review I absolutely positively loved it. the plot in three little secrets was wildly engaging, more so than the first two books of the series, and the prose definitely lives up to the usual Carlyle style. please give this book a chance.

Liz Carlyle is a remarkable writer. Her singular talent is showcased in this emotion-filled finale to the "Sins, Lies and Secrets" trilogy. Merrick MacLachlan and Lady Madeleine Howard - young and madly in love - are ruthlessly torn apart after only one day of marriage. They eloped to Scotland because her father, the powerful Earl of Jessup, would never give his consent. The Earl wants Madeleine to wed a man who will gain him political influence, whereas Merrick is poor and untitled and, though a promising architect, the Earl views him as a nobody. The morning following their wedding, when Merrick goes out to check on his horses, the Earl arrives and abducts Madeleine from her sleep. He tells her that Merrick is a fortune hunter who has agreed to annul their marriage in return for 30,000 pounds. In reality, the Earl and his henchmen viciously attacked Merrick in the stables, then ran him over with a horse and carriage and left him for dead. Several months pass before the badly broken Merrick recovers enough to pursue his wife, but by then she has married an earl and has moved with him to the continent. Merrick is left to believe that Madeleine abandoned him for greener pastures. Thirteen years pass with no contact between them, but neither has ever forgotten or forgiven the other. Merrick has become a cynical and bitter man for whom work is everything. Although hugely successful in his business enterprises, his life is joyless. He has never married, believing himself still bound to Madeleine. Madeleine has been widowed for four years, following an indifferent marriage. She has a son, Geoff, who is twelve years old (raising the obvious question of his true paternity). She has returned to England and has contracted to buy a new home in a London suburb, not realizing that Merrick's company is the builder. They meet accidentally one day at the building sight, and soon all hell breaks lose with their lives and emotions, as years of pent up anger and frustration - as well as longing - come rushing to the fore. This emotionally charged story grabs the reader from the very first page and never lets go. Every thought and word and deed of the characters only further draws one in. The depth of the couple's loss, and the weight of their memories, skillfully sets the stage for their passionate reunion. The chemistry and sexual tension between Merrick and Madeleine is tangible. They clearly care more for each other than they are willing to admit, even to themselves. The author makes fine use in vital roles of characters from her previous novels. These include Helene from "Beauty Like the Night" and Alasdair and Quin from the two previous books in this series. Geoff is also a delight - intelligent and thoughtful the way adolescents so often are - with an intriguing touch of the mystical. This book completes one of the best romance series I have read. It is passionate, well-written and very satisfying. Highly recommended.