Savannah's Secrets by Reese Ryan Published by Harlequin Desire on March 6, 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
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Falling for the boss, or taking him down?
Savannah Carlisle had the perfect plan. By infiltrating the Abbott family’s Tennessee bourbon empire as their events manager, she’d be one step closer to claiming half of the business they stole from her grandfather. Now she’s not so sure. Because sexy Blake Abbott, heir to it all, is simply intoxicating. He’s supposed to be the enemy. But after one long, stormy weekend, she’s pregnant with his child…
Look. At. That. Cover. Seriously, guys. Just gaze upon it for a while. I’ve never read anything by Reese Ryan before, but once I caught a glimpse of that cover, there was no way I wasn’t reading this book.
Savannah Carlisle has managed to get herself hired at King’s Finest Distillery as their new events manager. Thanks in no small part to the immediate attraction between her and her new boss, Blake Abbott. What she doesn’t mention in her interview is that she has an ulterior motive behind her desire to work there. Her grandfather and Blake’s grandfather started King’s together, but Blake’s grandfather stole the recipes from Savannah’s grandfather, cheating him out of the business that eventually became a multi-million dollar enterprise. She expects to find a company run by an entire family of crooks and shysters, but what she finds instead is a real family, full of people who are warm and loving and are instantly kind and welcoming her to her.
Blake is disconcerted by his immediate attraction to Savannah. His family doesn’t exactly forbid employees from dating each other, but there is a bit of an unwritten rule about it. Even beyond that, he knows it’s a bad idea to mix business and pleasure, but the longer he works with Savannah and the more time he spends with her, the less he cares about that. But Savannah is insistent that nothing will happen between them. Until it does. Then she insists it’s just the one time. Ok, maybe twice. Etc.
Savannah and Blake were adorable together. I’m always a little uncomfortable when the main conflict is based on one of the characters lying to the other, but this one didn’t bother me as much. Maybe because it was more a lie of omission than an actual lie-lie. Other than not telling Blake that she was looking for evidence of his grandfather’s theft, she didn’t actually lie about anything. She used her real name, real family stories, and real details about her life. If he asked her something that got a little too close for comfort, she either changed the subject or just told him that she didn’t want to talk about it. I’m probably splitting hairs to make excuses for her, but I’m ok with that.
Overall, this was a good intro to Reese Ryan. I thought the middle dragged a little bit, and got a little repetitive. Savannah and Blake would get together, then she would pull back, think about why it was a bad idea to get involved with him, think about her revenge plan, then the cycle would repeat. It didn’t really break into something new until the first big event Savannah had put together for King’s Finest. Side note – that’s where she was wearing the outfit that’s on the cover, and the cover model nailed it. Seriously, I cannot get over this cover. I could stare at it all day.
Bottom line – I enjoyed this, I’ll read more Reese Ryan, but I don’t think it’ll end up in my list of favorites at the end of the year.
About Reese Ryan
Reese Ryan is the author of eight published works of romantic fiction, with five more hitting shelves in 2018. Her stories feature complex, deliciously-flawed characters. She presents her characters with family and career drama, challenging love interests, and life-changing secrets while treating readers to an emotional love story with unexpected twists.
Born and raised in the Midwest, she now resides in Central North Carolina. She treads the line carefully between being a Northerner and a damned Yankee, despite her insistence on calling soda pop. She gauges her progress by the number of “bless your lil’ hearts” she receives each week. She is currently down to two.
Past president of her local Romance Writers of America chapter and a panelist at the 2017 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Reese is an advocate for the romance genre and diversity in fiction.
