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Where Secrets Are Safe #11
The Fireman's Son
Secrets are burning out of control
After she broke his heart in college, Faye Walker is the last person fire chief Reese Bristow ever expected to see again, especially as his new EMT. But that's not Reese's only surprise. Faye has an eight-year-old son, Elliott, whose counseling at The Lemonade Stand shelter is her first priority.
It's nearly impossible to accept that she had a child with another man--and married that man--right after their breakup. Trusting Faye won't be easy. Especially when she reveals a secret about the boy that might tear them apart for good.
After she broke his heart in college, Faye Walker is the last person fire chief Reese Bristow ever expected to see again, especially as his new EMT. But that's not Reese's only surprise. Faye has an eight-year-old son, Elliott, whose counseling at The Lemonade Stand shelter is her first priority.
It's nearly impossible to accept that she had a child with another man--and married that man--right after their breakup. Trusting Faye won't be easy. Especially when she reveals a secret about the boy that might tear them apart for good.
- GenresRomance
316 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2017
5 people are currently reading
382 people want to read
About the author
Tara Taylor Quinn
374 books1,459 followersTara Taylor Quinn began her love affair with Harlequin when she was fourteen years old and picked up a free promotional copy of a Harlequin Romance in a hometown grocery store. The relationship was solidified the year she was suspended from her high school typing class for hiding a Harlequin Romance behind the keys of her electric typewriter. Unaware that her instructor loomed close by, Ms. Quinn read blissfully on with one finger resting on the automatic repeating period key. She finished the book in the principal’s office. Forced to leave her romances in her locker after that, Ms. Quinn’s typing skills improved - a fact for which she is eternally grateful.
With over 80 original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestselling author with more than seven million copies sold. She is a winner of the 2008 National Reader's Choice Award, four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, the Holt Medallion and appears regularly on the Waldenbooks bestsellers list. Ms. Quinn writes for Harlequin and MIRA Books. Reviewer, Cindy Penn, wordweaving.com says, “Amazing character development is the hallmark of author Tara Taylor Quinn’s work. Indeed, Taylor’s profound observations of human nature and intimate understanding of values and priorities lends extraordinary psychological depth to all her work.”
Tara Taylor Quinn was born and raised in Ohio. Though she wrote her first story at the age of seven, her professional writing career began ten years later when she was hired as a stringer with the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Wright State University and graduated from Harding College in Arkansas with a degree in English and Journalism. She published several magazine articles before turning to writing as a full-time occupation.
Ms. Quinn is a Past President of the Romance Writers of America and served for eight years on the Board of Directors of that association. She has a wide range of experience as a public speaker and workshop presenter for writers groups around the country.
When she’s not home with her owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara loves to travel with her husband, stopping wherever the spirit takes them. They’ve been spotted in casinos and quaint little small town antique shops all across the country..
With over 80 original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestselling author with more than seven million copies sold. She is a winner of the 2008 National Reader's Choice Award, four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, the Holt Medallion and appears regularly on the Waldenbooks bestsellers list. Ms. Quinn writes for Harlequin and MIRA Books. Reviewer, Cindy Penn, wordweaving.com says, “Amazing character development is the hallmark of author Tara Taylor Quinn’s work. Indeed, Taylor’s profound observations of human nature and intimate understanding of values and priorities lends extraordinary psychological depth to all her work.”
Tara Taylor Quinn was born and raised in Ohio. Though she wrote her first story at the age of seven, her professional writing career began ten years later when she was hired as a stringer with the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Wright State University and graduated from Harding College in Arkansas with a degree in English and Journalism. She published several magazine articles before turning to writing as a full-time occupation.
Ms. Quinn is a Past President of the Romance Writers of America and served for eight years on the Board of Directors of that association. She has a wide range of experience as a public speaker and workshop presenter for writers groups around the country.
When she’s not home with her owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara loves to travel with her husband, stopping wherever the spirit takes them. They’ve been spotted in casinos and quaint little small town antique shops all across the country..
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 16, 2017
Okay, its me again with another 5 Harlie read from Ms. Quinn. But what sets this apart from the others in the series, is the content. Ms. Quinn took a very touchy, taboo subject and made it very grown up. Yes, grown up. Faye isn’t looking for a man to make her “right” again. She just wants to know that her son, Elliot, has the proper care after everything that they have been through. Faye and Reece’s story isn’t an easy one to read but read it, I did. My heart broke for them; it still does. This story hasn’t left my heart. I can’t imagine what Elliot heard and how his “father” hurt his mother all those years. He still has a ways to go but with the help of the Lemonade Stand and Lucy, he will come through.
Reese is an angry person when it comes to Faye. I was really surprised at his reaction to Faye when she starts working with him. I could sorta understand in the beginning but once Faye starting telling him what she and Elliot had gone through, I could see his heart melting a bit. What I didn’t except was reaction to Elliot once the whole truth came out. At that point, I really wanted to slap him but in the end, I think he finally understood what needed to be done.
Another in the book, is there are NO smexy times. I know, right? But once you start reading the book, you will understand. Faye doesn’t see herself as capable of having sexual thoughts, urges anymore. But what I truly like was seeing Bloom again as her counselor and helping her through her feelings toward Reese and how to cope with them and figure out what she really wanted in a relationship with Reese. I miss Bloom. It was nice to see her hubby again, too. Once the whole awful truth comes out about that night with Reese and Faye in college, I nearly wept. Miscommunication at that time, I can understand but the way that they finally come together…beautiful. I was crying a little.
Overall, Ms. Quinn tackles a hard subject and hits it head on. She doesn’t sugarcoat it with her characters but let’s her characters speak for themselves. This series is fast becoming one of my all time favorites. Her stories in this series just keep getting better and better. I can’t wait to see in future books how Elliot is doing and how the Lemonade Stand is and the characters that surround it. Bravo, Ms. Quinn. You did it again.
Reese is an angry person when it comes to Faye. I was really surprised at his reaction to Faye when she starts working with him. I could sorta understand in the beginning but once Faye starting telling him what she and Elliot had gone through, I could see his heart melting a bit. What I didn’t except was reaction to Elliot once the whole truth came out. At that point, I really wanted to slap him but in the end, I think he finally understood what needed to be done.
Another in the book, is there are NO smexy times. I know, right? But once you start reading the book, you will understand. Faye doesn’t see herself as capable of having sexual thoughts, urges anymore. But what I truly like was seeing Bloom again as her counselor and helping her through her feelings toward Reese and how to cope with them and figure out what she really wanted in a relationship with Reese. I miss Bloom. It was nice to see her hubby again, too. Once the whole awful truth comes out about that night with Reese and Faye in college, I nearly wept. Miscommunication at that time, I can understand but the way that they finally come together…beautiful. I was crying a little.
Overall, Ms. Quinn tackles a hard subject and hits it head on. She doesn’t sugarcoat it with her characters but let’s her characters speak for themselves. This series is fast becoming one of my all time favorites. Her stories in this series just keep getting better and better. I can’t wait to see in future books how Elliot is doing and how the Lemonade Stand is and the characters that surround it. Bravo, Ms. Quinn. You did it again.
May 14, 2017
Latest of the Where Secrets are Safe series, and the best of the batch. How the author handles spousal abuse in this story is both sensitive and all to real, insofar as the abuse is among the worst a woman could endure. Faye Walker is desperate to help her son, whose become an unwitting victim, too. She takes him to the Lemonade Stand for observation and counseling. To keep him there, Faye takes a job as a paramedic in the local fire department even though the fire chief is the man Faye loved as a high school and college student. She's suspected he might be her son's father, but unless he agrees to a DNA test will she know for sure and asking him for his DNA also means she has to tell him what's happened to her.
Reese Bristow already has his hands full trying to find a serial arsonist and he wants nothing to do with Faye, who broke his heart even as he broke hers years earlier, each of them operating under a misunderstanding of the other's actions. Suffice it to say that until they own up to their feelings--then and now--moving forward to help Elliott isn't going to happen.
When Reese begins to suspect that Elliott may know something, but the boy refuses to open up to him, complications make his knowledge that he is, indeed, the boy's biological father, even more fraught. He doesn't see himself as a family man, for all kinds of reasons, but maintaining careful distance between himself and the troubled child becomes more difficult by the day. Distancing himself from the paramedic who works for him also becomes impossible, particularly when Elliott disappears.
How this story resolves brings us full circle and into the creation of a new family--for all the right reasons.
Reese Bristow already has his hands full trying to find a serial arsonist and he wants nothing to do with Faye, who broke his heart even as he broke hers years earlier, each of them operating under a misunderstanding of the other's actions. Suffice it to say that until they own up to their feelings--then and now--moving forward to help Elliott isn't going to happen.
When Reese begins to suspect that Elliott may know something, but the boy refuses to open up to him, complications make his knowledge that he is, indeed, the boy's biological father, even more fraught. He doesn't see himself as a family man, for all kinds of reasons, but maintaining careful distance between himself and the troubled child becomes more difficult by the day. Distancing himself from the paramedic who works for him also becomes impossible, particularly when Elliott disappears.
How this story resolves brings us full circle and into the creation of a new family--for all the right reasons.
May 10, 2017
What an emotional ride!
All three of the main characters here--Faye, Reese, and Elliott, Faye's eight-year-old son--have been through so much before the story even begins. Watching them deal with the implications of the past, not to mention the new tension and drama that their present brings them, makes for a truly engrossing read. I literally couldn't put this one down until I'd seen them get to their HEA!
My only real...issue? I don't want to say "complaint" because it's definitely not that strong...is that their issues were so real and so all-encompassing that the romance part of the book is really only the last less than ten percent of it. There's angst galore throughout, of course, given their pasts and the secrets that they've both been keeping for so long, but seeing Faye and Reese together doesn't really happen until the very end, and when it does, it comes really quickly. I would love to see more of them (and Elliott!) as they navigate through the no-doubt not-always-smooth waters that lay ahead for them.
So hopefully they'll make some longish appearances in future series books? :)
The Fireman's Son, like the other books in this series that I've read so far, would work fine as a standalone. Other series characters play a role here, but if you haven't read their stories (yet!) you'll do just fine.
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
All three of the main characters here--Faye, Reese, and Elliott, Faye's eight-year-old son--have been through so much before the story even begins. Watching them deal with the implications of the past, not to mention the new tension and drama that their present brings them, makes for a truly engrossing read. I literally couldn't put this one down until I'd seen them get to their HEA!
My only real...issue? I don't want to say "complaint" because it's definitely not that strong...is that their issues were so real and so all-encompassing that the romance part of the book is really only the last less than ten percent of it. There's angst galore throughout, of course, given their pasts and the secrets that they've both been keeping for so long, but seeing Faye and Reese together doesn't really happen until the very end, and when it does, it comes really quickly. I would love to see more of them (and Elliott!) as they navigate through the no-doubt not-always-smooth waters that lay ahead for them.
So hopefully they'll make some longish appearances in future series books? :)
The Fireman's Son, like the other books in this series that I've read so far, would work fine as a standalone. Other series characters play a role here, but if you haven't read their stories (yet!) you'll do just fine.
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
May 10, 2017
This isn't a light reading kind of book! It brings out a lot of emotions and thoughts. While it may be a romance, the main character was sexually abused and is recovering. My head was going everywhere while reading this; sadness, anger, happiness.
I started out not really liking Reese. He was aweful to Faye. I get it that they had a past but I wanted him to grow up! Eventually everything works out but still! Both of them had things they needed to apologize for in their previous relationship. It's a really aweful story of Faye and Elliot (her 8 year old son). Since Faye was sexually abused for years she may never be whole sexually again. That just made me kind of angry. Not at her of course.
Elliot's story was even harder because he heard his mom being abused and is still in counseling and homeschooled at a shelter since he has anger issues with his mom.
This story just breaks my heart! And I wanted a happily ever after for all of them! If you like real stories of families with abuse issues and children of those abused, shelters, fires, firemen, great counselors, second chances then this might be for you!
I started out not really liking Reese. He was aweful to Faye. I get it that they had a past but I wanted him to grow up! Eventually everything works out but still! Both of them had things they needed to apologize for in their previous relationship. It's a really aweful story of Faye and Elliot (her 8 year old son). Since Faye was sexually abused for years she may never be whole sexually again. That just made me kind of angry. Not at her of course.
Elliot's story was even harder because he heard his mom being abused and is still in counseling and homeschooled at a shelter since he has anger issues with his mom.
This story just breaks my heart! And I wanted a happily ever after for all of them! If you like real stories of families with abuse issues and children of those abused, shelters, fires, firemen, great counselors, second chances then this might be for you!
December 14, 2017
I loved Tara Taylor Quinn books. I am hooked on her series “Where Secrets Are Safe.” The Lemonade Stand is a shelter for abused women and children that offer all types of help, including a temporary place to stay. The Fireman’s Son is about Reese, who is the fire chief, meets up with his ex-girlfriend from college who is now coming to work in his department as a paramedic. It has been seven years since Faye has seen Reese. He is her boss now since she came to the Lemonade Stand to get emotional help for her eight year old son Elliott. What I like about Ms. Quinn’s books are that they deal with real sensitive situations. Faye left her abusive marriage for the sake of her son’s wellbeing, and she will do anything she can to help her son get better. It was a sad book but very uplifting to know that there is help out there for abused women and children. I have read all of her books in this series and they all left me sad, but feeling good that these ladies and their children would be okay with the help and lover of others in their lives. Now, on to her next book in this series. Thank you, Tara Taylor Quinn for your great books.
May 8, 2017
4 1/2 STARS!
Emotionally raw and gut wrenching! You feel sorry for the child for what he’s been through, and as secrets and questions unravel, you find yourself feeling so sad that such little things caused such a monumental life change for all of them. Really connectible characters who we hope can find the peace they all need.
The last person fire chief Reese Bristow expected to see walk up to one of his fire scenes as his newest EMT is his high school/college sweetheart who broke his heart almost a decade ago! He’s become bitter about life over time, and he’s not interested in reconnecting with her what-so-ever. When he finds out she has a son who needs the counseling only The Lemonade Stand can give him, he agrees to work with her, but plans to keep his distance.
Faye Walker will do anything to heal her son from the damage her life choices have caused him. She needs to find a way to forgive herself for her mistakes and find the courage to reach out for the truth that may very well save her son.
Emotionally raw and gut wrenching! You feel sorry for the child for what he’s been through, and as secrets and questions unravel, you find yourself feeling so sad that such little things caused such a monumental life change for all of them. Really connectible characters who we hope can find the peace they all need.
The last person fire chief Reese Bristow expected to see walk up to one of his fire scenes as his newest EMT is his high school/college sweetheart who broke his heart almost a decade ago! He’s become bitter about life over time, and he’s not interested in reconnecting with her what-so-ever. When he finds out she has a son who needs the counseling only The Lemonade Stand can give him, he agrees to work with her, but plans to keep his distance.
Faye Walker will do anything to heal her son from the damage her life choices have caused him. She needs to find a way to forgive herself for her mistakes and find the courage to reach out for the truth that may very well save her son.
May 9, 2017
This story was far by more the most intriguing story I have read, it deals with so much of what is going on in our society then normaly does in a book.
Reese Bristow is in a conundrum now, the woman who broke his heart in college is now back and is his new EMT. There are more surprises in the book that, leave you speculating how this will unfold, he also discovers that she has an 8 year old son Elliott who is receiving counseling at the Lemonade Stand and that is Faye priority above anything.
Trusting her wont be easy for Reese, especially when she reveals the secret that she has been holding.
Will they survive the second chance, will they overcome what is plaguing them and the town, will other secrets be revealed.
Reese Bristow is in a conundrum now, the woman who broke his heart in college is now back and is his new EMT. There are more surprises in the book that, leave you speculating how this will unfold, he also discovers that she has an 8 year old son Elliott who is receiving counseling at the Lemonade Stand and that is Faye priority above anything.
Trusting her wont be easy for Reese, especially when she reveals the secret that she has been holding.
Will they survive the second chance, will they overcome what is plaguing them and the town, will other secrets be revealed.
May 9, 2017
This story was far by more the most intriguing story I have read, it deals with so much of what is going on in our society then normaly does in a book.
Reese Bristow is in a conundrum now, the woman who broke his heart in college is now back and is his new EMT. There are more surprises in the book that, leave you speculating how this will unfold, he also discovers that she has an 8 year old son Elliott who is receiving counseling at the Lemonade Stand and that is Faye priority above anything.
Trusting her wont be easy for Reese, especially when she reveals the secret that she has been holding.
Will they survive the second chance, will they overcome what is plaguing them and the town, will other secrets be revealed.
I received a free copy for my honest review!
Reivew by Jara
Reese Bristow is in a conundrum now, the woman who broke his heart in college is now back and is his new EMT. There are more surprises in the book that, leave you speculating how this will unfold, he also discovers that she has an 8 year old son Elliott who is receiving counseling at the Lemonade Stand and that is Faye priority above anything.
Trusting her wont be easy for Reese, especially when she reveals the secret that she has been holding.
Will they survive the second chance, will they overcome what is plaguing them and the town, will other secrets be revealed.
I received a free copy for my honest review!
Reivew by Jara
May 23, 2017
At first you think another boy meets girl in high school and they live happily ever after but not so-- this is a great story about falling in love and making one wrong move then changing both their lives. Felt so bad for Faye for what she went thru because she listened to gossip of evil person. So glad that in the end they found out Reese was Elliot's Dad. only wish it would have went further to show us that the little boy came out of his bad place and grew into a strong loving man.
September 13, 2017
Very well-written story covering a number of sensitive issues. Characterization was well-done; I just found the story to be depressing and the romance a bit lacking in tension and emotion.
August 28, 2018
This was not an easy read due to the subject matter.
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July 30, 2017received 5 stars @ harlequin.com (as of 7/30/17). To view reviews, go HERE> https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/...
Miniseries: Where Secrets are Safe
Miniseries: Where Secrets are Safe
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews