Reviews

A Secret Splendor by Erin St. Claire, Sandra Brown

chrissypink80's review against another edition

3.0

Good, easy, romantic read.

ela_35's review against another edition

2.0

I liked this book but things happened really quickly in it and I wanted to see more relationship development as Arden and Drew get married really quickly.

Although things happen really quickly, the writing isn’t rushed which I liked.

I wanted to see more relationship development not only for Arden and Drew but for Arden and Matt too as he was shown but it would always be very brief.

The only thing that I didn’t really like was that Arden kept her secret

Spoiler

till the end. I wanted her to be the one to tell Drew but that didn’t happen.

I thought that there could have been more chapters after the final conflict as it seemed too quick, how it was resolved and not really talked about.

mag_da's review against another edition

4.0

The book was a little bit different than I expected, but I found it really likable. It read really easily, it had a good flow of the plot. Not too sweet as it sometimes happens with these kind of books. Both funny and sad at times. The secret which is mentionted in the title is revealed at the end of the first chapter which was a little disappointing because I was hoping that I would get to guess at least for a little while what the secret actually was. As to characters I found both: those I loved and those I hated - and those feelings came naturally as I read the book, I didn't have to consider if and why I like or dislike a character. The background stories of the characters are important to the events that are happening at the time of the plot and we get to see the past through the series of the memory flashbacks, we get to create the whole story from the pieces which we receive - one piece at a time, just like puzzles.

rainnbooks's review against another edition

3.0

Sandra Brown's earlier book as Erin St. Claire, A Secret Splendor is a simple love story. Like all her other earlier works when her books were focused on absolute romance, there's not much mystery element in this. Drew is a hot shot tennis player who is working towards regaining his No.1 rank chances to meet Arden in the island of Maui. But is their meeting purely chance or cleverly plotted by Arden. We are clearly shown Arden's dilemma in the decisions that are made but the whole focus of the romance seemed to be on the secret she's holding.

agnieszka85's review against another edition

1.0

In a matter of full disclosure, I need to say that I've won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. It came autographed and all and I was really excited about reading it. Which makes what I'm about to write even more difficult.

Boy, is this book riddiculous. I mean everything about it is riddiculous: the main characters, the main characters' motives, the plot, the entire "mystery"... I felt like strangling the heroine at least every two pages. And the guy... I have absolutely no positive feedback about this book, sorry. It's 240 pages I will never unread.

taraddonai's review

5.0

A good story about a woman, who was emotionally abused by her husband and basically done wrong. She finally gets her life back on track, under false pretenses and it all comes out. Her new husband, tennis player realizes why she has don the things she has done and all is right.

ibeforem's review

3.0

Yes, it’s a romance. It’s even *gasp*, a Harlequin romance. I like to read these once in a while, if only in homage to my grandmother, who reads nothing but Harlequins with covers featuring Fabio look-a-likes dipping the beauty and planting a kiss between her volumputous bosoms. Anyway, Sandra Brown has made it onto my acceptable list of romance authors, if only because her plots aren’t completely implausible. I had a little bit of an issue with them getting married 2 weeks after they met, but I’m not really looking for believability when I’m reading something published by Harlequin.