I got an eARC of The Secret Blush by Ethan Jones from librarything.com. The Secret Blush is the second book of the Jennifer Morgan series. Since, I got book two, I need to read book one first. Fortunately, when I signed up for Ethan Jones' newsletter, I was sent The Secret Affair as a freebie. Just my lucky day.
Jennifer Morgan and her best friend Amber own a small ad agency called Creative Advertising. On her way to a campaign pitch presentation, she dropped by H2O cafe to get her bulletproof potion for the day . H2O - Holistic to organic. It was on this same cafe where he met a handsome guy who exploded in anger because the cups of coffee he ordered to pickup were already cold. Jenn unable to tolerate the guy's meanness to the cafe staff, stood up and told him off. Unfortunately, the jerk is actually one of the two owners of Blackwood Advertising. The President and CEO, no less. The same company she was doing the presentation for. Will they get the project? Or Mr. Jerk Blackwood give it to some other ad agency because of the incident in the cafe earlier? What would Jenn do? They need this project desperately.
At first, how the story started seemed to me like the preface for boy-meets-girl-and-they-fall-in-love. Would it be disappointing to say that it was not like that? Not at all. I am relieved that it did not go that way. Almost all love stories start like that. I want to hear something different. Which is to say, this is not exactly a love story. I am also grateful that this is not plainly one. There is a Nancy Drew-ish element to the story. Yes, I know, Nancy Drew is a girl in high school who pokes her nose where it doesn't belong and turned into a very good detective. Don't worry, I love Nancy Drew. But like Nancy Drew, Jenn acted on her gut and went nosing into the affairs of the Blackwoods just to satisfy and prove that Mr. Jerk is up to no good. Excuse the Nancy Drew comparison, I could have used Veronica Mars instead, which means the same thing since they are both sleuths in high school. I just want to stress that this is Jenn's first attempt on her investigative skills, if any. I wanted to portray her amateurish sleuthing just like these two when they first acted on their curiosities.
,
I like Jenn's character. I like that she was able to see through the guy and was not dazzled by his charms. Maybe just a teeny teeny bit but she knows what's good for her. Good girl! Her curious nature turned out to be her strength and it saved the day, though almost cost her everything. Way too close to the bumper as I may say. The turn of events were very fast and the author did not waste any time on any other unnecessary dalliance which would not play any importance to the story. Thank you very much. This is not to say that it took the suspense out of the whole thing. It just made me even more anxious to get to the end. In fact, I was praying that Jenn would be able to expose who needed to be exposed soon so I can stop fidgeting. It was like I was watching a race and I was cheering and rooting for Jenn to get to the finish line first before anyone could get his hands on her. I was crossing my fingers that her plan would work.
I give The Secret Affair four coffee beans. I enjoyed the suspense like going through someone else's purse and wishing you won't get caught. Not that I have done that. Again, just making a comparison to let you see my point. Anyway, what Jenn did was something like that. What this story reminded me was to always read whatever documents you are going to sign. It can't be helped that even if you are very conscientious in all your dealings, whether business or personal, there are always people who are going to take advantage. Even plan thoroughly to scheme off and profit from unsuspicious people. So, always read the fine print, front and back, between the lines, inside out, to make sure that what was stipulated is as agreed by all parties involved. Everything should be black and white. There should be no vague terms or conditions.It would save you a lot of trouble and thousands of attorney fees.
Yes, I hate Amber. I don't know why she became Jenn's best friend. She was not helpful at all. Other than that, I have no qualms. It was a good run with Jenn on this one. I would like to know what else she is up to after this. Not to mention her taste in exotic organic coffee. I can picture myself inhaling their aromas while Jenn was sipping them. Not that I drink coffee, I just to smell them. My tummy reacts violently to them. I am more of a tea and hot cocoa person. I can still remember my first time to drink iced coffee from a local coffee shop and I ended up in the hospital for gastroenteritis. Looking back, it was not entirely the coffee's fault but something I ate for dinner. The acid from the coffee just added to the punch. Still, that first sip was very unforgettable and literally painful. Traumatic. To the point that I stayed away from it as much as I can. Fast forward few years later, I tried a sip of Dunkin Donuts (in the US) hazelnut cafe latte from a friend's cup and it was the best one I ever had. The coffee in Dunkin Donuts here in my country is not the same so there is a very notable difference. And I liked 7-Eleven's hazelnut coffee too. I don't know what's with hazelnut but all I know is it's in Nutella also.
So, that wraps up The Secret Affair. Never mind my blabbering on about coffee. I am no expert but definitely, Mr. E. Jones has done his research.
Thank you again, Ethan Jones, for this freebie.
Other books in the series.
