Dark Secrets 1: Legacy of Lies & Don’t Tell by Elizabeth Chandler

In Legacy of Lies, Megan is invited to stay with her uptight and judgmental grandmother. It’s bad enough that Megan doesn’t want to be there in the first place, but it’s also clear that she isn’t entirely welcome there either. When strange nightmares that seem more like memories start to coincide with rumors of a family secret, Megan wants to dig deeper and find out the truth. Unfortunately, the truth may have deadly consequences. In Don’t Tell, Lauren finally revisits her godmother in the town where her mother drowned seven years earlier. The place is plagued by memories, including the most unpleasant one, as well as something more. But as soon as Lauren settles in, she is the object of strange events—the same ones that occurred before her mother’s death. It turns out, that drowning seven years ago may not have been an accident—and Lauren may be next.

Dark Secrets 1 contains two separate but very similar stories about the past, supernatural events in the present, and the lies running through all of this. In a nutshell, these stories are paranormal mysteries with a hint of romance. The first part of this equation, the paranormal mystery, works well for both stories. Chandler’s skillful writing draws readers quickly into all the unusual situations she creates. What I didn’t like as much was the romance. In both of the stories, the heroine predictably ends up falling in love with a guy, but for me, this deep love was a little hard to believe as it was always so sudden and more abstract than concrete. The attraction was obvious, but it doesn’t translate that quickly into something so profound. Nevertheless, the stories in Dark Secrets 1 are highly interesting and enjoyable for their supernatural elements.

Dark Secrets 1 will be enjoyed by fans of Kissed by an Angel, also by Chandler, Dark Visions by L.J. Smith, and Possessed by Kate Cann. Personally, I liked Kissed by an Angel better, maybe because I bought into that romance, but Dark Secrets 1 is still a great read.

Rating: 4.0

Review copy from publisher Simon & Schuster UK