Well, I really want to scream at Dora as soon as she said yes to Daniel. And when they arrive at the château, she meets with Daniel’s eccentric friends who act like they see an exotic creature as soon as they say hi to her. And one of them is a very dangerous man! Dora absolutely knows who he is! And wouldn’t you know it, one look at her bruised, abused face is all it takes for her bestie Evan to propose marriage. They’ve never had sex – it’s been refreshing for Dora to have a friend without benefits in her life – but they are as intimate as two people can be without it. They share nearly everything with each other – Evan is one of the few people who knows just what Dora does for a living, and he loves her anyway. Dora knows all his foibles and hangups, too – and loves him anyway. They come from two different worlds – she’s the daughter of immigrants who had to flee their wartorn homeland, and he’s the son of one of the richest and most powerful men in Britain, but that has never mattered. Several years into their unexpected friendship they’ve found they connect more with each other than they do with their so-called peers. They’ve been circling the idea of taking their relationship to the next level, but Dora is pleasantly surprised and delighted by the fact that Evan is willing to skip the in-between steps of dating and living together to head straight to the altar. She says yes, and just like that, they’re engaged. Evan does demand she quit her job, however, worried there could be another incident like the one she just lived through. Dora also fears a repeat of that experience and is happy to hang up her stilettos and start planning a wedding. The novel builds well, there is tension and suspense though disbelief suspenders are required on occasions but hey, it’s fiction! There are several twists and turns although one is easy to figure out but not entirely the reasons behind it. The end twist is good. Even though this high end escort/sex workers name is the same at my sweet deceased grandma I'm happy to say I did not picture her face at all. What unravels is predictably dark and dangerous but bizarrely hyperbolic and unbelievable. It’s also really, really repetitive. The characters are all stereotypes (including Dora’s Serbian mother) and the ending feels forced.

One Last Secret: From the Sunday Times Number One bestselling One Last Secret: From the Sunday Times Number One bestselling

Dora is a sex worker. Or a ‘hooker’ or ‘whore’ - words that are littered throughout the text…not sure that was necessary. When she’s beaten by a dangerous client, she’s more than a little shaken and her millionaire boy best friend offers her an out. Dora has always known her job was dangerous. As a high-end call girl, she doesn’t experience the same level of risk as her street worker counterparts, but clients tend to think of those in the sex trade as less than human and treat them accordingly. She’s experienced more than her share of petty abuse, but nothing had prepared her for the beating given by the allegedly carefully vetted new client her handler had connected her with. Dora leaves the expensive hotel where she met him battered and bloody and ready to get out of the game altogether.

A week at a beautiful chateau in the south of France—it should be a straightforward final job for Dora. She’s a smart, stunning and discreet escort, and Daniel has paid for her services before. This time, all she has to do is to convince the assembled guests that she is his girlfriend. Dora is used to playing roles and being whatever men want her to be. It’s all about putting on a front. Dora is an high classed escort who happens to fall into a doting relationship with her friend Evan. They get engaged. He knows her history and feels nevertheless that they would be a good match and Dora is pretty OK about getting married. It would be such a novelty to be loved for her and not admired, for the services she provides. Adele Parks MBE is one of the most-loved and biggest-selling women's fiction writers in the UK. She has sold over 4 million books and her work has been translated into 30 different languages. This was a sultry, suspenseful read. It is quite slow to get going but the tension builds to unexpected revelations at the closing.

Book review: One Last Secret by Adele Parks - Debbish

Dora goes on one last girlfriend experience (without the sex) to a super secluded mansion in the south of France. She is gaslit, drugged, and raped while drugged. She does not figure out that her “naps” right after politely eating or drinking something forced on her mean she was drugged even though it happens multiple times. The guy who beat her up is an employee of her daughter’s father who has brought her out there to be murdered by that employee. One Last Secret by Adele Parks is engaging and twisty, this psychological thriller will hold your attention that’s for sure!As for the plot, you don't want to read too much into that at all, best to go in as blind as possible. All you need to know is this: This one wasn't too bad. There were moments in the middle that were slow and some things were a little fat fetched. Overall it was a decent thriller and there are a bunch of times that I totally wasn't expecting and the ending was well done. I say if you like thrillers, you may want to give this a try!