THE BEST KEPT SECRET

A long-single young woman must battle her conscience when she develops romantic feelings for her sister’s hunky ex-husband.

Nyla, a dedicated nurse, daughter, and sister, has always been close to her family. She even stays friendly with her ex-brother-in-law, Leo, after he and her sister, Mandi, divorce. Nyla helps shuttle her nephew, Seth, between his parents’ homes, and she even stops by to check on Leo after he has dental surgery. Unfortunately, while doped up on painkillers, Leo confesses an enormous secret to her about Seth’s parentage. Nyla is a notoriously poor secret keeper, and when Leo sobers up, he begs her to protect Seth’s innocence by keeping mum about what she knows. Nyla finally agrees, but she and Leo keep running into each other at one family affair after another, and it grows increasingly difficult for Nyla to remain silent. As Leo tries to appeal to her conscience, Nyla realizes that she is developing feelings for him that are decidedly not sibling-y. They begin trading secretive looks and meeting in private to discuss strategy. Nyla finally realizes that the attraction is mutual, but she can’t imagine ever betraying her sister by pursuing a relationship with her ex-husband. Unfortunately, the longer she forces herself to stay away from Leo, the more she feels she is betraying herself instead. In close third-person narration, the perspective shifts between Nyla and Leo from chapter to chapter, allowing readers to taste the complicated thoughts swirling inside each character’s head. A larger portion of the story is dedicated to parsing family drama than is typical of Fenske, but it adds strength to a plot that would have otherwise felt flimsy. The close relationships among siblings, parents, and extended family are drawn in a manner that is both realistic and heartwarmingly enviable. With a healthy dose of slapstick humor and steamy sex scenes, the novel should satisfy most romance readers. While the plot points are largely predictable, the author renders them in such a way that the journey to the inevitable conclusion is still great fun.

A feel-good romance about unexpected change, second chances, and seeing old relationships in new light.