No One Has To Know

by Carin Hart

Angela
I love flowers. Being a botanist has always been my dream, but life got in the way—and, nowadays, I have a job at the flower shop near my crummy apartment. So that's something, right? Maybe it's not in the best neighborhood, but it's a bright spot in a dirty city, and at least there are usually cops around.

I've noticed one in particular lately, keeping an eye on the shop. Officer Mason Burns. I'm friendly enough—though I can't bring myself to trust anyone in a uniform after what happened to me a couple of years ago—and that ends up working in my favor when I'm attacked for the shop's deposit one night.

Burns comes to my rescue, arresting the would-be robber with the knife, and I'm super grateful for his help.

I'm a lot less grateful when I end up in handcuffs the next time we meet... or when he brings me home with him to be his prisoner.


Burns
On the surface, I’m a hero—but that’s the surface. The truth is that I'm a bad man. A possessive man with my own sense of right and wrong, and of justice. I've never pretended to be anything else, either. I do what I want... take what I want... and they let me because I have a badge.

I also have handcuffs and a gun, but they're not my only weapons. When it comes to Angela Havers, my best one is a deceptively charming smile.

She thought I was going to save her. That's where she was wrong. My obsession with the sweet little florist might have saved me—but it will be her undoing.

Unless she gives in to me, body and soul. Because my angel is mine...

...and no one has to know.


** This is a dark romance — including stalking and captivity — and is written for adults. It has mature themes and language, and a hero who thinks he knows exactly what the heroine wants... and if she doesn't, she eventually will. There is also a HEA, though I do recommend readers check the 'look inside' before committing to reading.

Genres: Dark Romance, Dark, Romance, Contemporary, Smut, BDSM, Contemporary Romance

282 pages, Paperback

Published December 26, 2022

Reviews

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m impressed

For a debut novel (I think), I couldn’t stop flipping the pages…

Was it perfect? Nope. There’s grammar mistakes. But they were minuscule compared to how enthralled I was with the storyline.

Plus, I found myself googling kiftsgate rose to get a better picture of what was being talked about 😈 (IYKYK).

Angela (25) has been trying to get away from her past by working at a flower shop by being a botanist (flowers and plants are her passion). 5 years before, she had an awful experience in college, one that affected her enough to get away. All’s going well until a known troublemaker holds her at knifepoint when she tries to deposit the money from the store.

Officer Mason Burns (32) has been obsessed with Angela for a while. He makes it a point to walk around the flower shop when she’s working, watches her to make sure she gets home safely, and… well… watches her sleep too👀😅. One night, a local thug dares to grab her and hold a knife to her throat. Good thing he was around to take care of the situation 💁🏻‍♀️.

She’s thankful, and he only becomes more vigilant when it comes to her safety.

He decides to finally act on his obsession when she goes on a date with another man 😅😬. So, he does the only thing he can do…

He abducts her 🤷🏻‍♀️.

What I liked/loved: (possible spoilers)
—Officer Mason Burns is O B S E S S E D 😉. He wants Angela, so he’s gonna have her 💁🏻‍♀️. He hasn’t been with anyone in years and once Angela gives him a Daisy as a token of her appreciation, it’s end game for him.

—the 🔥. It’s on the slow burn side (full smeeex past 80%), but I didn’t feel it because Mason is ALL about Angela’s pleasure. Dear LAWD. If he could only feast and survive off Angela, he would 🥵💦😉. Why is he different from other men she’s been with? Because he👏🏻is👏🏻not👏🏻selfish 💁🏻‍♀️.

—the way he barters 🥵😅💦😮‍💨. Angela wants her hands to be free? Well, pay up girl 😉🔥

—retroactive revenge 🥰. How freaking swoony is that? Get you a man like Officer Burns who will protect your past, present, and future self and you’re set 😮‍💨👏🏻

—the dark stuff. Umm… well, I ain’t mad at it 🤷🏻‍♀️. They’re in this together

—the TWIST 😱. My eyes were BUGGING OUT 👀… yeah, like that… I didn’t see it coming… I like being surprised

—he calls her Angel, and baby… sigh 🥹

—tattoos 🥰

What I wanted more of:
—for it to be longer… an epilogue maybe? I’ve been spoiled too much lol. I signed up for the author’s newsletter, so hopefully I’ll get one

—grammar mistakes. They didn’t take away from the storyline, but yeah… I found myself rereading lines to double check what should’ve been there

Overall, I really enjoyed it ❤️

⚠️safety squad⚠️possible spoilers
-no cheating/sharing/owd
-dubcon/noncon ish
-no virgins/h has been celibate for 5 years but has experience/H has been celibate for 3 years but has experience
-OMD- the h goes on a date with OM. This is before H and h get together. Nothing happens
-SA-h was previously abused
-branding (tattoo)/praise kink/
-violence/bloodshed/deaths
-no condoms
-HEA/no epilogue

[Sydney Holmes · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish i didn’t know

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread and second time reading for the year. Still 5 stars.
--
4.5 stars. I really liked the story and the "twist" at the end. For me I liked the story more because of that. But both characters are very flawed and does things isn't right. Don't know what else to say without spoiling the book.

[Shalisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gosh, if I weren't working toward my annual reading goal, no one would have to know I read this dumpster fire.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped reading less than 100 pages in. I can’t seem to get over the cops name being MACE BURNS

[Darlene I read WAY to many books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book then.. for some reason, I just didn't care at all.. Mason gave me ugh vibes, and I couldn't like him and I loved Angela until her secert came out, and I didn't enjoy her either. Which sucks.

Honest guys, I would pass on this.

Slowinsta, Ow (jelly woman)/Om (she goes on a date nothing haopens)Drama, sexy times, no virgins

Recommend-eh no
Cover-⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat level-🌶🌶🌶

Prologue
Tiny age gap
25h/32H
Celibate H3 years and h 5
Captivity
Dub con
Cnc
Abuse of power
Violence
Murder
Mentions if SA
Gun use
Hea
Epilogue

[Mildred · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is getting a two-star review rather than a one star. The reason is simple - when the FMC admits in an internal dialog to paying a drug addict to attempt to steal her purse I thought “What a fucked up bitch”. So, the author did a great job making me hate a character.

When the big reveal came - that the FMC had wanted everything to happen to her - I was fairly mad. She knew she wanted to be abducted. She knew she wanted to be forced by gunpoint to give a blowjob. She wrote it all out. I just… can’t even. editing to add - she wrote it all out in a diary that the MMC had read.

The book has a fair number of errors. Fresh eyes reading the story one last time would have caught the issues.

[Sally]

No one has to know…. how bad this is

[alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

✩‧₊˚ 𝟏.𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

･ ｡ﾟ☆: 𝐍𝐨 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 (h) gives Officer Burns a daisy to brighten up his day, and that’s when he knows she’s his. 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 (H) is obsessed with Angela and refers to her as his “angel,” and he takes her captive because he feels it’s the one way he gets to have her until she willingly accepts her role as his soon-to-be wife.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: 𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆*.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

CRICKETS. I’m unsure what I just read, and that’s okay.

Mason deserves an award for the most unhinged MMC I’ve ever read. Tell me why he takes her captive, brands her with a tattoo with his badge number and name, and then tells her that he loves her — and yet this wasn’t the part that deterred me from liking the book. She told him she loved him, and apparently she does because she orchestrated their interactions the entire time — what did I just read? She had a journal that detailed how she got Mace to notice her, I mean, it would have happened regardless because the obsession was on both sides, but the entire time reading it, the reader thinks it’s one-sided, and leads you to believe he’s a walking red flag. Well, he is, but so is she.

Angela and Mace are unhinged, and the plot twist did throw me for a loop, but it was not a good execution considering it was introduced in the final chapter. It would have made sense if the book was longer and she had revealed her secret obsession for him earlier because now they expect me to believe that she was pretending to be cautious the entire time when she was equally obsessed with him. I’m not convinced that she didn’t tell him the truth because she was afraid she would scare him off when he was an actual psychopath – the man was deranged, and he proved that she could do anything, and he would still be obsessed. Angela did a good job hiding her obsession, considering she never wanted to accept his advances, I’m not saying she had to, but suddenly there is a shift in the power dynamic because she wants to take control, so was she pretending to be a docile girl for his benefit? I just don’t understand how she was as twisted as him because I only got that energy from him. He was a red flag to the biggest degree.

🎵What if I told you none of it was accidental? And the first night that you saw me. Nothing was gonna stop me They are both masterminds at this point. I am wondering how he’s not getting caught. I understand that he’s a cop, and that gives him an alibi and sense of security, but he is straight-up kidnapping people in public. If someone saw Mace “arrest” Angela but never made it to the station, and now she spontaneously “quit” her job, would that not raise alarms? He has her phone, and he’s texting everyone as her, but then she gets the opportunity to have access to her devices and does not say anything. At this point, she falls for him in 4 days, until we know that she’s wanted to be his for the longest time. They are insane and that’s why they are good together.

There was no development at all, the prologue just informs the reader that Angela gave Mace a daisy, and that is why is obsessed with her, and it is destiny for them to be together. He believes she will be his wife no matter the circumstances, so he doesn’t let her leave the basement. However, she earns privileges, but the relationship is transactional, and he always wants something in return for being a decent human to her. She ultimately sees a different side to him when he allows her upstairs without her having to beg wow, her standards are so high because this is romance – seriously, what was this? I read my fair share of dark romance, but this was not even romantic, and the characters were so monotone and bland; they did not have chemistry and failed to keep me intrigued.

•.¸♡ 𝐎͢𝐕͢𝐄͢𝐑͢𝐀͢𝐋͢𝐋͢ ♡¸.•

Would I recommend it? Probably not, but if you want to be in disbelief over his behavior, than it could be fun. The writing was not great, but the potential was there.

[Mysti · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of potential here for a dark, stalker fic. It just falls short for me on the "love" side of things.

Mason (cop) is swept off his feet when the local florist, Angela, gives him a daisy. He's insta-lust / insta-love / insta-obsessed for her. He starts the stalking right away, sneaking into her bedroom, following her, etc. His plan is to let her get to know and trust him before claiming her. Unfortunately, she accepts a dinner invitation from a local vendor (platonic on her side), and he loses his shit. He kidnaps her and chains her in his basement, then starts his "seduction" of her. Never fear - Angela has secrets of her own.

This is where things go sideways for me. They go through this weird courtship and it's super confusing. They have these conflicts where they say one thing but do the complete opposite of what they're saying. As you can guess, they eventually land on the "in love" portion and I just never felt like we ever actually got there. I didn't develop any feelings for either of them - and it's seriously rare for me to at least not like the MMC. I always love the men!

Plus - the sex doesn't even happen until around the last 20 pages of the book. That's a hard no for me.

Overall, it's just ok for me.

My pal Sonia does a better review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so I end this 2022 very pleasantly surprised, I read this book in one single setting since it was simply impossible to stop once I started reading.
The requirements for what I consider a great dark romance and love story were all there: traumatized, sweet, loner heroine, a cop Hero with a deranged dark side, him stalking her and being completely obsessed over her, what else... a cabin, kidnapping, drugging, dub-con spicy scenes and I'm just gonna shut up now because you get the drill :) all this shit makes me extremely happy lol.
Definitely recommend this book, even more so since it's a first release for this author.

[DMN · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a debut novel, this story had SO much potential. But it fell flat on it's face very quickly.

The first couple of chapters hooked me and very quickly lost me as the story started going all over the place. I can usually overlook a few typos or grammatical errors, but they were EVERYWHERE - some sentences just completely stopped without getting a point across or being punctuated. The misuse of vocabulary within the context was very hard for me to get past. And a lot of the language used throughout was way too juvenile and childish to be in an adult book with trigger warnings. I almost (and probably should have) DNF on page 127 when the FMC really said "P in V" referring to having sex. She didn't strike me as immature at the beginning, but the further along I got, the more absurd her language became for her age.

The main characters really lacked true development and backstory. The dynamic felt so forced from the very first dialogue between the MMC and FMC (and it was NOT because she was his captive); I could feel the complete disconnect and breakdown. That's where the whole story fell apart for me. The pragmatics in their "conversations" were so disjointed. Even their internal monologues were disheveled and choppy. I would even go as far as to call them erratic, in the sense that whatever it was that they were trying to convey was all over the place.

I sincerely hope this book gets an overhaul at some point in the future; it needs a rewrite with better formatting and, most importantly, an editor to really be the story it deserved to be.

[Amanda Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this book in a random Facebook ad a couple months ago and I've been stalking it ever since.

This is a darkish romance--TW for kidnapping, stalking, violence, murder, dubcon, and pre-book noncon.

Mason Burns is a cop who acknowledges that he is not really a good guy and he was not drawn into his profession with noble intentions. He develops an obsession with Angela, a sweet florist with a traumatic past. After stalking her, eliminating threats to her safety, etc, he kidnaps her to his basement while he tries to get her to accept his advances and fall in love with him.

Not gonna lie, this far exceeded my expectations considering this is a debut novel (as far as I know). There are a few typos, but it was generally well-written in my opinion and I was thoroughly drawn into the plot. There is a bit of a twist to the ending which I wasn't sure about at first, but is kind of growing on me the more I think about it. All in all, I'm looking forward to what this author will release next.

[Łîłłîŧĥ · Rating 1 out of 5]

"No one has to know"

I wish I didn't fucking know.

[Sober Decay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yesssssss

It was what I thought it was and wanted and then ‘what in the Uno Reverso!?’ that I didn’t know I needed XD

Going back to Springfield for more !!

[Dominique F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok. This was fun. Mace was a sexy alpha stalker cop which was cool

I appreciated how he took care of those sexual predator loose ends. Creepy carter gunna KNOW


Anyway. This was fun. I like dark captive insta love with the guy falling hard and that’s exactly what I got

[Sloth Incarnate 🍉 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tell me how he’s just a cop, not even a high ranking one, and has the delusions of doing everything he did 😭 HOW DID HE THREATEN A LITERAL GANG AND KEPT THEM AWAY FROM THE FMC?? I thought maybe the job was just a farce and that he was maybe from the mafia or something but?? No he’s just a cop???

[Alyssa Berry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I mean… it’s pretty bad. Poorly written, bad dialogue, spelling and grammatical errors, an unlikable MMC. The plot twist should have helped, but it wasn’t written well enough for it to even matter. Shoulda DNF-ed it.

[DemetraP · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of typos.

I was also upset because he tattooed her on her breast with his last name and badge number while she was drugged.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

He says all of this is ok because she wrote her fantasies in her journal, he read her journal, and brought her fantasies to life.

He pushes her to have sex but claims he won't force her. But he keeps making bargains "do this, or I'll do that" so she doesn't really have a choice.

[Hey Lin]

Meh.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read…a quick read that while I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it either.

[Sarah♡books · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️

♡ Stalker
♡ Captive
♡ Police Officer x Florist
♡ Celibate hero ( 3 years ) x heroine ( 5 years )
♡ Check TW !!!
🚩 no cheating or sharing

OM - she goes on a date but nothing happens ✨️

OW - just jealousy nothing serious !


This book was freaking crazy 🙊 they are both crazy 🫠

The plot twist blew my mind... did not expect it at all 🤭💥🤯


𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙖 - 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚 🩷

In the beginning I didn't really have an opinion but towards the end I did start to like her.

She went through much and I felt sorry for her but I didn't really FEEL her situation you know... 🫣

After he kidnapped her it got pretty lame and just picked up pace towards the end 😶
Buttttt the plot twist did really impress me hehe 🦋😻✨️


𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 - 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙤 🩵

This guy is SUPER crazy 🫶🤐
He is soooo jealous and possessive loved it even though it was sometimes too much 👀

Liked how the story unfolded and how he got even more obsessed with her overtime 🤞😍🔥



All in all if you want to read a nice short novel with a twisting plot try this one out 💥🦋✨️

[Anna Whin · Rating 2 out of 5]

gosh i wanted to love it more but it felt so lacking to me!! now i love my psychopathic men and this H was the definition of that but he wasn’t charming. like he did not win me over. i don’t like how the heroine was a real prisoner in his home. idk i love the kidnapping books where the heroine still has free reign in the house but is locked it, not this one where she is chained up. so not my fav. didn’t love the H, didn’t feel the connection between them…

safety: no virgins, no owd, dubcon
OMD: she goes on a date w another man, nothing happened but H is pissed
SA: h was previously sa’ed

[Julie ❤️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had so much potential to be way darker, but it still left me flabbergasted and dumbfounded nonetheless.

In no way did I expect that ending. I mean the PLOT TWIST.

If one thing Officer Burns can keep his promise to is that he certainly aims to please 🤭.

No One Has To Know because NO ONE ACTUALLY KNEW 😩.

[Mini_bookreader · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 48%
Didn't vibe with the writing style and story itself was not interesting.
If you like some dark romance with Stockholm syndrome- this book is definitely for you.

[Misty Welchel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this one, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. The spice was pretty okay, but everything else seemed rushed. I likely won't read anything additional.

[ashlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

No One Has to Know

If you love the stockholm syndrome vibe, this is it. I can see why some might not like this, but it was actually pretty good. The ending is..🤯

✨ T r o p e s ✨
Cop | Stalker MMC
Kidnapping
Stockholm Syndrome
Touch Her & Die
Forced Tattoo
Forced Proximity
Spicy

Book Cover ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Would I recommend this book to you? Yes

[Kodi Lecates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Color me shocked to find this was just straight smut after google told me it was a horror romance…..

[Inna ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Анотація одразу зачепила — здавалося, буде багато інтриги, пристрасті й таємниць.
Проте під час читання відчуття «вау» не настало. Деякі сцени були цікавими, але загалом книга здалася передбачуваною.
Для мене це 3.5⭐.

[Readiculous 📚🖤👱🏼‍♀️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I didn’t see that twist coming!! This book was intriguing. How can the Hero be totally creepy and hot at the same time? In real life he would be a total psycho you would run from as fast as possible…but in a fictional story this somehow works? Mason is as alpha as they come and obsessed with his Angela. He will do whatever it takes (and I mean whatever!) to make her his. But not all is as it seems…! Twisted, but thrilling. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️