Keeping Secrets in Seattle by Brooke Moss

Seattle hairstylist Violet Murphy always knew the day would come when her best friend Gabe Parker would want to settle down. She’d secretly wished it would be with her, but now that he’s chosen someone else – the prim, perfect Alicia – he wants Vi to be his best man.

Healing her broken heart isn’t easy, but when Violet meets Landon Harlow, a man who isn’t fazed by her funky style and less-than-delicate attitude, she takes a step in the right direction. Until Gabe’s fiancée’s gorgeous façade begins to crack, and Violet’s disturbing past comes back to haunt her, that is. Vi now finds herself armed with a series of lies that would break Gabe’s heart – and his engagement – if he knew their truth, and a secret from their childhood that could change everything.

With the wedding looming, her relationships unraveling, and the bachelor party of the century to plan, Violet must choose between a fresh start with Landon, or confronting her painful past and risking it all for a chance at a future with Gabe.

*I was gifted a copy of this book from Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review*

Here’s the thing – I’m not a big fan of love triangles. What?! How is that possible?!! Well, I’ll get to that eventually, but that’s one of the main reasons why I didn’t really enjoy this novel. I know what you’re probably thinking: Hey dumbass, if you don’t like love triangles, why even read a book that has one?! Fair question – and here’s the answer: there is always an exception. For every 30-some love triangles that I dislike, there is usually one that grabs me and sucks me in; one that makes me think for a minute that maybe I could like love triangles. Sadly, this wasn’t one of the exceptions.

The story of Vi and Gabe had potential, but I felt it lacked execution. I absolutely adore best friend romances, but this one just didn’t do it for me and I can tell you with almost 100 percent certainty as to why; the third wheels – Alicia and Landon. The quickest way to turn me off from a hero and/or heroine is to have them date someone while they are clearly in love with someone else. I don’t like that – IMO, I find that horribly selfish and rude. Unfortunately, this was the case for Gabe and Violet. It made me dislike both of them, and once you dislike both of the main characters, everything else pretty much goes down the drain as well. The only character I actually liked was Landon, which leads me to one other reason why I don't enjoy love triangles. I always end up rooting for the guy that is the clear underdog. And let's just be honest...how often does the underdog every really get the girl? Not often (at least not in the triangles that I've read).

This book wasn’t poorly written by any means, and the quality of writing is actually what kept me from giving it 1 star; the story line just wasn’t for me. If you dig love triangles, you’ll probably have the exact opposite opinion of this novel as me, but that’s the beauty of reading – no two people read the same book. I skimmed a lot once I hit about 60% and didn’t really bother to read much of the end after I knew exactly what I didn’t want to happen was going to happen. I wish I would have been able to say that Keeping Secrets in Seattle was an exception to my dislike of love triangles – but my reviews are based on honesty, and I’m not going to start sugarcoating my opinion now. So, in the name of honesty, I have to say that I just wasn’t a fan of this novel. 

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