The Secrets We Keep Blog Tour: Excerpt + Giveaway

 

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE SECRETS WE KEEP by Nikki Lee Taylor Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

THE SECRETS WE KEEP
Author: Nikki Lee Taylor
Pub. Date: January 11, 2021
Publisher: Magpie Creative Media
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N,

Read for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited Membership!

Not all mothers are created equal… Some are better at hiding the truth.

Crippled with anxiety, Sophie is desperate to overcome the pain of losing her husband and only child in a freak car accident. Living and working in isolation with only the company of her dog Miss Molly, Sophie agrees to take on a job reviewing the manuscript of an up-and-coming writer. But this isn’t any story. It is one that unearths old secrets and to discover the truth, Sophie must find the courage to embark on a search that will change her life forever.

On the outside, Love Mommy blogging queen Madelyn-May has it all. To her online community she is the perfect mother. She has a successful husband, perfect twins, and an idyllic life. What they don’t know is Madelyn-May also has a secret. When her past collides with the present, Madelyn-May is forced to make a choice that could destroy everything she loves.

Would you risk destroying a family, if it meant healing your own heart? Would you tell the truth, if it meant losing everything you love?

The Secrets We Keep is a confronting look at the complexities of family and lengths a mother will go to for her child.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:

 “If you want to add this to your To Be Read List, you certainly can because this nail-biting thriller gets you and at the same time makes you emotional. There is a beautiful pain this book leaves behind, and I certainly couldn't figure out the cover till the end and that is also something that I was not expecting... NOT AT ALL”

 “This is one intense, twisted, addictive, complex, jaw-dropping novel! Not only is this a very well-written book with wonderfully interesting characters, but the suspense builds at just the right pace as the story unfolds.”

“This novel had quite a few twists and turns and the twists are so juicy that I couldn't stop reading”

“The story and how the characters are interconnected is an interesting twist, I can’t say I’ve read before. This book was hard to put down because I felt like I was a spectator with a front row seat to one highly dysfunctional family.”

“The book touches on so many sources of pain addressing each with intelligence, empathy, and humanity. It is a true thriller in women’s fiction”

‘The Secrets We Keep was by far the best book I have read this year. Many twists and turns throughout kept me looking forward to my reading time each day. The ending was fantastic.”

The blinds are drawn because I need them to be. There are days the light is welcome, but not today. Today I need the darkness. It is the best way I know to pull them in close, here in the dark, in the empty spaces where they no longer exist and yet still take up every particle of air.

My life. My love. My family. James and Josh. My husband and son, stolen while I was sleeping, peacefully unaware at that very moment that the entire world was shattering.

It’s the small things that hurt the most. An unexpected letter with his name on it. A television commercial for Linvilla Orchards – where we picked peaches every July, just the two of us at first, and then with Josh. His familiar scent trailing behind a stranger, its ghostly arms wrapping around my lungs and squeezing. The crisp sting of empty sheets as autumn turns to winter. Worst of all: the sudden ring of a child’s laughter breaking the silence and tearing my heart into a thousand tiny pieces.

I stroke the fur on Miss Molly’s golden head and close my eyes. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, even though dogs don’t understand apologies. “It’s this day, it’s….”

I let the words trail off, unable to say out loud that five years ago my husband and son took their last breath, trapped in a car wreck, and I hadn’t been there. Unable to say that while they were dying, I lay peacefully in bed, useless and selfish, taking an afternoon nap. It hadn’t even woken me. I hadn’t sat up, my instincts kicking into overdrive. I hadn’t experienced so much as a bad dream.

At the time friends told me I should try to forgive myself, that it wasn’t my fault. They brought soup, and sent messages. They held me and promised things would get better. They stood on my stoop and reminded me, “There’s nothing you could have done.”

Therapists call my depression and anxiety a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Survivor’s guilt, they say, although that’s not the official term. Apparently it’s natural for parents who outlive their children to experience a sense of blame, but I have struggled to believe there is anything natural about it. Could there be anything more unnatural than for a mother to bury her son?

Then there were the people who told me to have faith. I’ve never been a religious person, but I have stood alone on a rainy afternoon and heard the hollow thump of dirt shoveled onto a tiny white casket. I’ve heard the mournful cry of a loon as people, not knowing what else to say, turned and made the sad walk back to their cars. I have stood as day turned to night, staring at two holes in the ground, hoping my husband and son wouldn’t be cold on the first night away from their beds. Away from me. Having faith would mean believing James and Josh were taken for a reason, that there was some divinity to their absence. There is not. There is only pain and empty spaces.

I get up from the couch and pull the curtains further across. But no matter how dark I make the room, there are always slivers of light that keep me in the place I don’t want to be.

Slivers that never let me bury the one question I still have no answer for.

How do I ever find the strength to step into the light when they are forever lost in the dark?

 

Nikki Lee Taylor is a long-time newspaper journalist turned fiction writer. She is also a dreamer, a doer, a storyteller, a coffee lover, and fur mum to two golden retrievers Max and Sam.

She spends most of her time staring into space, walking between worlds, and creating out-loud character dialogue that sounds a lot like talking to herself in the shower. She stays up late plotting and planning the lives of characters yet to be created and starts every day embraced by the warmth of a good coffee.

She is a courageous booktrovert who lives life with her right foot in NSW, Australia and the left in a world that exists only in her head.

She reads books out loud to anyone who’ll listen and drives her husband mad spending all her free time with friends who exist only on the page.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads

 

(1) lucky winner will win a $10 Amazon Gift Card - International.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

1/18/2021	Rockstar Book Tours	Kickoff Post
1/19/2021	The Momma Spot	Guest Post & Instagram Post
1/20/2021	Jaime's World	Excerpt
1/21/2021	JaimeRockstarBookTours	Instagram Post
1/22/2021	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt

Week Two:

1/25/2021	The Phantom Paragrapher	Review & Instagram Post
1/26/2021	She Just Loves Books	Review
1/27/2021	Lifestyle of Me	Review
1/28/2021	Hurn Publications	Excerpt & Instagram Post
1/29/2021	Jazzy Book Reviews	Review

Week Three:

2/1/2021	Down The Rabbit Hole	Guest Post & Instagram Post
2/2/2021	Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers	Guest Post & Instagram Post
2/3/2021	BookHounds	Guest Post & Instagram Post
2/4/2021	Fire and ice	Review & Instagram Post
2/5/2021	Books A-Brewin'	Excerpt & Instagram Post

Week Four:

2/8/2021	A Dream Within A Dream	Excerpt
2/9/2021	Three gals and plenty of books	Excerpt
2/10/2021	Westveil Publishing	Review & Instagram Post
2/11/2021	Pick a good book	Review & Instagram Post
2/12/2021	Books and Zebras @jypsylynn	Review & Instagram Post

Release Week Blitz + Giveaway: The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver

I am so excited to help spread the word that THE SECRETS WE KEEP by Trisha Leaver is now out in paperback!

If you haven’t yet added this awesome book to your shelf, now’s the perfect time. Just scroll down to learn more about the book and author, to read an excerpt, and to enter the giveaway for a chance to win an Amazon gift card! 

THE SECRETS WE KEEP
Author: Trisha Leaver
Genre: YA Contemporary
Paperback Release Date: April 26, 2016
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) | Square Fish
Pages: 304
Formats: Paperback, hardcover, audio, eBook
Ages: 12 and up

Description:


Twin sisters. A fatal accident. A devastating lie. Which girl survived?

"A girl takes over her twin sister's identity in this emotionally charged page-turner about the complicated bond between sisters."
 
Ella and Maddy Lawton are identical twins. Ella has spent her high school years living in popular Maddy's shadows, but she has never been envious of Maddy. In fact, she's chosen the quiet, safe confines of her sketchbook over the constant battle for attention that has defined Maddy's world.

When--after a heated argument--Maddy and Ella get into a tragic accident that leaves Maddy dead, Ella wakes up in the hospital surrounded by loved ones who believe she is Maddy. Feeling responsible for Maddy's death and everyone's grief, Ella makes a split-second decision to pretend to be Maddy. And everyone believes her. Caught in a web of lies, Ella is faced with two options--confess her deception and risk devastating those who loved Maddy, or give up her own dreams and live her sister's life.

Find it: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | IndieBound | Goodreads

Praise:

*"Leaver's brilliant novel is the high school version of What Happened to Janie? The compelling premise will attract readers and the strong characterization will keep them enthralled." -VOYA, STARRED REVIEW

*“Leaver's story is certainly entertaining and intriguing. VERDICT This should be a primary purchase for any library with patrons who love melodramatic mysteries and romance.” SLJ, STARRED AUDIO REVIEW

"Trisha Leaver crafts a powerful and haunting novel that will keep you up long after you read the last page. Full of twists and turns and FEELS, this book questions how far a person will go for her family . . . even if it means losing herself." - Lynne Matson, author of NIL

I don’t remember her room being so cold. Even snuggled into her sweater the chill seeps in, settling into my bones like a whisper from beyond. That’s where I will sleep tonight...in Maddy’s bed, surround by her scent. Mom wants to change the sheets, but I won’t let her. The hint of vanilla mingled with Alex’s dark cologne brings a little piece of my sister back to me each night.

The only thing I have left of my old life is a few sketches and a poor replica of the friendship bracelet Josh gave me. It took me days to re-create, to weave the strings into the right pattern. It’s not perfect, but it goes with me everywhere, a tiny reminder of who I once was and what Josh still means to me. The real bracelet is gone, cut off and tossed aside just like my life.

I want to make peace with my choice, but Maddy’s secret haunts me. The dark pieces of her life are hidden in the back of her closet for no one but me to see. She’s not who I thought she was, but that doesn’t matter. Maddy was my sister, my twin sister, and I’ll do anything for her, including losing myself.

Trisha Leaver lives on Cape Cod with her husband, three children, and one rather disobedient black lab. She is a chronic daydreamer who prefers the cozy confines of her own imagination to the mundane routine of everyday life. She writes Young Adult Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Psychological Horror and Science Fiction and is published with FSG/ Macmillan, Flux/Llewellyn and Merit Press. Her YA Contemporary, THE SECRETS WE KEEP, was named one of the best YA novels for summer (2015) by Teen Vogue and received starred reviews from VOYA Magazine and School Library Journal (audio). For more details, check out her website at www.trishaleaver.com

Website | Twitter | Tumblr | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

There is a blitz-wide giveaway, courtesy of the author, for:

ONE (1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card

***Giveaway is open to anyone 13 or older who can accept an Amazon Gift Card***

Enter in the Rafflecopter below.

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The Secrets We Keep Tour: Inspiration Board, Review + Giveaway

Hey everyone! Welcome to my stop on the official blog tour for The Secrets We Keep! Today I have my review of the book to share with you, along with a Pinterest inspiration board that the author created - and don't forget to enter the awesome giveaway! To follow the rest of the tour, click on the banner above.

The Secrets We Keep

Author: Trisha Leaver

Genre: YA Contemporary Thriller/Mystery

Release Date: April 28, 2015

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR

Description:

A girl takes over her twin sister's identity in this emotionally charged page-turner about the complicated bond between sisters. 

Ella and Maddy Lawton are identical twins. Ella has spent her high school years living in popular Maddy's shadows, but she has never been envious of Maddy. In fact, she's chosen the quiet, safe confines of her sketchbook over the constant battle for attention that has defined Maddy's world. 

When—after a heated argument—Maddy and Ella get into a tragic accident that leaves her sister dead, Ella wakes up in the hospital surrounded by loved ones who believe she is Maddy. Feeling responsible for Maddy's death and everyone's grief, Ella makes a split-second decision to pretend to be Maddy. Soon, Ella realizes that Maddy's life was full of secrets. Caught in a web of lies, Ella is faced with two options—confess her deception or live her sister's life.

PRAISE FOR THE SECRETS WE KEEP:

"Trisha Leaver crafts a powerful and haunting novel that will keep you up long after you read the last page. Full of twists and turns and FEELS, this book questions how far a person will go for her family . . . even if it means losing herself." - Lynne Matson, author of NIL 

"Haunting and beautiful, THE SECRETS WE KEEP, is a gripping, evocative examination of siblings' complex relationships. It compels us to question what we know, or think we know, about our loved ones and--most of all--ourselves." ~Karen Rock, Award-winning YA author and co-writer of the bestselling CAMP BOYFRIEND series 

 

"I didn’t come here today for visual proof of what I had done, of the finality of the lie I had spun. I came to talk to the sister whose life I was trying desperately to figure out."

"That gnarly old willow tree sat in my front yard... It was always changing, a constant, inanimate object that gave me something new to capture each day."

 

 

"We were different. Maddy was skirts and heels and flat irons, where I was jeans and T-shirts and ponytails. She was Friday night parties and Homecoming dances. I was B-rated horror movies on the couch with microwave popcorn."

We had this planned out since the middle of freshman year. We’d submit our applications on the same day, to the same schools, then start obsessing about it four weeks out.

 CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE INSPIRATION BOARD HERE!

The Secrets We Keep is a gripping young adult contemporary novel that asks the question - what would happen if one twin sister took over the identity of the other? The story follows identical twins Maddy and Ella as they go about their normal teenage lives. Although they're twins, they are complete opposites - Maddy is popular and outgoing, while Ella is quiet and would rather sketch than hang out with lots of people. Even though they don't have very much in common, the twins are incredibly close to one another. The story takes a tragic turn when an argument causes the sisters to get into a fatal accident - one in which Maddy dies. When Ella wakes up in the hospital, full of guilt and surrounded by people who all believe that she's Maddy, she quickly decides to take on the role of her sister. As Ella delves deeper into Maddy's personal life, she discovers that her sister had lots of secrets and she might not have been the person Ella thought she knew. Ella's left with one choice - come clean about her true identity or take on Maddy's for good.

This book is one of the ones that instantly grabs you from the very beginning and doesn't let go until long after you've finished reading. I was sucked into Ella and Maddy's world from the first paragraph on - and I got so wrapped up in the story that I ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. Although the plot isn't completely original, the author sets the book apart from the rest by creating incredibly realistic characters and a story line full of secrets, lies, mystery, and some romance. I loved both of the twins - Maddy and Ella. Although Maddy dies in the story, we're able to get to know her through Ella's thoughts and memories. Each of the girls has a distinct personality with flaws, strengths, and weaknesses - among many other things - that set them apart from each other. It does sound a little cliche that one twin is the pretty and popular one, while the other is quiet, shy, and does her own thing - which is sketching in Ella's case. Even though some of these aspects weren't wholly unique, the intimate details of each girl and their lives - along with the story that follows Maddy's death - certainly made it stand apart for me. I loved discovering the truth about Maddy alongside Ella. Nobody is exactly who they seem to be on the surface, which plays a large part in the story. There were definitely some twists in the plot that I didn't see coming, which made me rethink some things I thought I knew about the girls. I love that the author added in these twists to keep us on our toes. There's definitely a bit of mystery going on in the book and I really enjoyed trying to get to the bottom of it all with Ella.

Although this book has some serious twists and suspense, it was also a book that focuses on the twins and their bond to one another. That being said, the book was definitely somewhat of an emotional roller coaster for me. Having that deep of a bond with someone, losing that person - the grief, guilt, loss, pain - it definitely had my emotions all over the place. Some places were happy with good memories, while other parts focused on the not so great things that happen. Ella's emotions are incredibly vivid and written in a way that touched me in a way that most other books don't. The writing was incredibly well done. It had a fast pace and a great flow that made it basically impossible to stop reading once things got going. The author used a great amount of description and attention to detail that brought Ella's world to life, and made it very easy for me to slip inside the book and experience it all as if I was there myself. There's a bit of something for everyone mixed into the novel, so it will definitely appeal to fans of most genres. Even if this type of story isn't your normal go-to or favorite genre - I highly encourage you to give it a shot. I honestly don't think you'll be disappointed in the least - actually the opposite. I very highly recommend this book to readers of all genres, especially those who enjoy YA contemporary fiction, mystery, suspense, and thrillers.

Trisha Leaver lives on Cape Cod with her husband, three children, and one rather irreverent black lab. (He is actually half Dalmatian so that could explain a bit of the excitability.) She is a chronic daydreamer who prefers the cozy confines of her own imagination to the mundane routine of everyday life. She is a member of the SCBWI, the Horror Writers Association, and the YA Scream Queens -- a group of nine female authors who are deathly serious about their horror. 

Author Links:
Website: www.trishaleaver.com 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tleaver 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorTrishaLeaver 
Instagram: @trishaleaver 

Buy Links:
Amazon 
Indiebound 
Barnes and Noble

 Giveaway: (10) Winners will each receive a finished copy of THE SECRETS WE KEEP by Trisha Leaver (Open to US/CAN only!)

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