Title: Dirty Secret (The Burke Brothers #1)
Author: Emma Hart
Conner Burke never
expected Sofie Callahan to come back.
Where she’s been for the
last two and half years is a mystery, and so is the reason she left in the
first place. Now, though, she’s back in their hometown of Shelton Bay, South
Carolina, at the same time Conner’s band Dirty B is home on a tour break.
Sofie Callahan has spent
the months since her father’s death avoiding anything to do with her home town.
But with her brother in Afghanistan, she has no choice but to return and sort
out her father’s house, even if it means facing the boy she fell in love with
and revealing the reason she left.
Conner has questions, and
when his broken heart and her guilty one collide, Sofie has to start answering
them. Their present is rocky, their future unknown. Only one thing is certain:
Sofie’s daughter will
change everything.
That
kid that could be mine.
I
get up and let the empty bottle drop to the floor. The woods are eerily quiet,
as if it can sense my anger. As if it knows the bitterness that lingers in my
veins, as if it knows the burn of not knowing anything.
Like
the woods, I’m left in the dark. Completely.
Branches
and twigs crunch under my feet as I increase my pace to a gentle jog. And
again, to a slow run. Then to a sprint.
The
need to know increases with every footstep, as evenly paced as the ticking of
the clock. It doesn’t matter that I’ve probably drunk too much beer to be here
or that we’ve only been back for a matter of days.
I
can’t be in this shithole full of memories without knowing. I can’t move on
until I know. I can’t forgive her for a single fucking thing until I know—and
even then, maybe I won’t be able to.
Maybe
she’s unforgivable.
Instead
of knocking on the back door like I did yesterday, I round the side of the
house to the front door. The front room light glows softly through the
curtains, but the rest of the house is dark.
My
chest heaves with the exertion of my run here and I grab the doorframe to
balance myself. I’m definitely too fucking drunk for this conversation, but
what the hell.
I
bang on the door, once, twice, again and again and again. “Sofie! Open the
fuckin’ door!”
“Shut up!” she hisses, yanking it open. “The hell’re you doing here?”
I smirk, leaning against the wall. “Shouldn’t I be askin’ you that, princess?”
“Are you drunk?” Her voice rises a little at the end, and her eyes widen.
Those eyes. Fuck, those baby blues that have always undone me.
“Drunk? No. If I was drunk I’d be sitting at home like a miserable bastard and not here facing the cause of my misery.”
“You’re being an asshole. I don’t have to listen to this.”
She pushes on the door, but I wedge my foot in front of it. I let go of the wall and grab the edge of the door.
“Actually, you do.”
She can’t overpower me, and she knows it, because she lets up and the door swings open. “Why are you here, Conner?”
“You have a kid.”
She smacks her lips together. “Yep.”
“When? When did you have her?”
Sofie takes a deep breath in and presses her hands to her stomach. They’re shaking, even as she links her fingers to hide it. I can see that fucking tremble.
She whispers something but I’m too pre-occupied by her hands to hear it.
“What?”
“August last year,” she repeats, still a whisper.
August. Last year. My stomach clenches as I meet her eyes. “When? When in fuckin’ August, Sofie?”
“August fifteenth.” Her voice hitches halfway through the ‘fifteenth.’
Almost seven months to the day she walked out on me and the rest of Shelton Bay.
Adrenaline hums through my body, and I stare at her. At the tears building in her eyes, the quiver of her lips, the bob of her throat as she swallows harshly.
It’s no different from the burn in my chest, the twisting of my stomach.
“Is she mine?”
She shudders and a tear drips from her eye.
“Sofie. Is. She. Mine?!”
Dirty Secret by Emma Hart is book 1 in The Burke Brothers series. A story told about a girl who ran away from a love that consumed her when the boy she knew she didn't want to live without, had his dreams of being a famous rock star within his grasp. Afraid of what would become of their relationship and even what would become of his budding career if he knew the truth that she kept from him had her leaving her hometown without a word to anyone without return for 2 years. Only after her father's death and dealing with the estate that she left behind does she return home to Shelton Bay where she hopes to make some serious decisions about her life and the life of her daughter Mila without outside influence specifically any input from Connor Burke. When she faces him for the first time after two years, every careful plan and idea she had for herself is quickly abandoned as she begins to fall in love with him all over again. This was a 4 star read for me and I cannot wait to read more about the Burke Brothers. Emma Hart has a way of telling a story like no one else can, grabbing your attention and keeping it from the very first words to the final page. I highly recommend this book to everyone!
Connor was on the verge of making it big in the music business and he thought he had everything he ever dreamed of; a successful band with his brothers and the girl that he loved by his side. All of that shattered when she walked out of his life without a word and never looked back. Coming home for a break from their tour, Connor is confronted with a past that he struggled but failed to forget; the love that he had with Sofie.
Sofie moves home to Shelton Bay with her daughter Mila in the hopes of deciding whether or not to sell her late fathers house and deciding what she will do next with her life. She hopes to put off seeing COnnor as long as possible, because the questions that will come when she finally does are ones that she isn't prepared to answer. Unfortunately for her those questions come more quickly than she hopes and Connor is thrust into her life in the biggest way possible, wanting to spend time with a daughter that he was unaware he had.
The book follows the struggle of Sofie and Connor to find their footing in co-parenting Mila; a struggle that is real and out there for the entire world to witness due to the fame of his band. Although Sofie tells Connor on more then one occassion that she will never keep Mila from him, she tries to keep a life from him seperate, desperate to not fall back in love with the boy that she never could forget. They slowly begin to find their way with their daughter and maybe even with each other but once the papparazzi are involved all bets are off and things become increasingly difficult; making all of Sofie's fears from two years ago front and center. Can they make it work despite the fame that Connor has? Can they keep Mila out of the spotlight? Will his family accept her and her daughter after she kept them in the dark all of this time? All of these questions will be answered and more in this amazing book.
Dirty Secret my Emma Hart was an excellent read! I loved the character development and Mila that little baby girl had her fingers wrapped around my heart from the first chapter. This is the first book in the The Burke Brothers trilogy and I'm pretty sure I'll be reading the next. This is also the first book I have read by author, Emma Hart and I'll be changing that real quick!
Sofie thought she was doing the right thing by walking away from the only man she has ever loved. She knew that he had high possibilities of fulfilling his dream as a songwriter/singer and she didn't want anything to hold him back. Not even his own daughter. So when she found out she was pregnant she fled. But when she goes back home to Shelton Bay, the feelings she thought she left behind are back in full force. Her father has passed away, so she is home to either clear out the house or move into. A decision that will forever change her life.
Conner is shocked to hear that his one true love is back in town after deserting him over two years ago. He's bound and determined to get answers out of her if it's the last thing he does. What he wasn't expecting was Mila. Mila will change his world forever. Since, she left him he has been very successful with his band Dirty B's that his brothers and he created, but with that comes the paparazzi and they don't let lead man, Conner out of their sites when he comes home on a hiatus.
Secrets are revealed, rumors are spread and feelings are hurt, but will they be strong enough to get passed it all? You will have to read to find out!
By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies - usually wine - and writes books.
Emma is working on Top Secret projects she will share with her followers and fans at every available opportunity. Naturally, all Top Secret projects involve a dashingly hot guy who likes to forget to wear a shirt, a sprinkling (or several) of hold-onto-your-panties hot scenes, and a whole lotta love.
She likes to be busy - unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life.
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: http://www.amazon.com/Emma-Hart/e/B00A3QSV0M/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1410362990&sr=8-2-ent
