However… she’s (far too easily!!!) coaxed into one last gig for a regular customer and it’s then her life is threatened. A whip-smart protagonist, immensely satisfying twists and turns and powerful emotional undercurrents’ Karin Slaughter If you have ever read an Adele Parks book, you know that her plots are never as straight forward as they may seem. Once Last Secret is a compelling read, with so many twists and turns you will not know if you are coming or going! I loved it. When a book continues to surprise me, it is a good thing as I don't think that I am easily surprised anymore. There are good points. The prose is smooth, and the pacing is excellent. Another positive is that the beginning – where Dora talks about her life as a prostitute, and the setup for the trip takes place – is intriguing. Dora finds herself face-to-face with a man she has never forgotten, the one man who really knows her. And as old secrets surface, it becomes terrifyingly apparent that one last secret could cost Dora her life…

One Last Secret by Adele Parks | Waterstones One Last Secret by Adele Parks | Waterstones

The new incredible domestic thriller from the Sunday Times Number One bestselling author of sensational books like Both Of You…When taken as a whole, the storyline isn't all that surprising in the end. I pretty much called everything that was going on. That said, it's still a uniquely told story from an interesting point of view. I don't typically like first person storylines because it's too much "I did this and I did that" rather than letting us in on the action, but in this case it really works. Her best friend/ trust fund baby Evan sees her condition, trying to convince her to quit her job as like he did before but when he realizes, Dora has no intention to leave this life behind, he does something unexpected, he PROPOSES!

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

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. 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. This was my first time reading an Adele Parks book, and it did not disappoint. Dora’s character was so well done and had me rooting for her the entire time. Dora is a high priced escort. She knows at some point she needs to put this life behind her. And after her latest ‘date’ with a new client left her beaten and bruised, that time was now! Then Dora gets a call from Daniel. Among her former clients, he was a favorite; he didn’t just come for the sex and the two of them had been friends of sorts. Dora was his confidant for all the things he couldn’t tell those he knew and loved. Daniel had told only her about his secret longing for his best friend’s wife, how said longing had kept him from dating and marrying, how he just couldn’t seem to move on. Now he’s telling her that said bestie, bestie’s wife, and Daniel are all supposed to attend a corporate event at a French chateau. It’s meant to be a luxurious, decadent retreat for couples – and since Daniel has been lying to everyone that he has a significant other, he’s been invited to attend. He absolutely needs Dora to go, because she’s the only female acquaintance he has who knows him well enough to pull off being his fake girlfriend.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. 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:

One Last Secret by Adele Parks (Review by Kelly Glecoff) One Last Secret by Adele Parks (Review by Kelly Glecoff)

Dora is an escort, the oldest profession in the world. She is quite upfront about her career but after one client treats her horrifically her friend Evan, a trust fund baby, asks her to marry him and she says yes. However, one client begs her to do one last job which is to accompany him to France and fake a relationship and so she reluctantly agrees. What could possibly go wrong? I can honestly say I got very flabbergasted after getting blown away by several twists. Some of them are unnecessary! Her fiancé shows up at the murder house. Dora explains little about what happened and her fiancé is confused about his dad. He leaves the room, seeing to agree to MURDER HIS FIANCÉ because his dad says so. Her captor gets drunk and explains everything while her fiancé is out of the room. She stabs dad, who falls into the pool and drowns because she and fiancé can’t swim. Fiancé has overheard drunken dad confession. Dora and fiancé cover up murder and/or self-defense homicide by burning down mansion which was also fiancé’s family summer home.One Last Secret by Adele Parks took me on quite a ride. I didn’t know what to expect at any given time, and I like that in a thriller. In fact, I usually don’t like super-gonzo twists, but in this case, the ones that occurred were just plausible enough to keep them from being too over-the-top. Dora was an interesting character, hardened by life but still caring enough to help a friend out – at her own peril. The author carefully chooses when to reveal another piece of Dora’s puzzle so that it coincides with what is occurring in the present narrative. I would argue the best way to approach One Last Secret is without much insight to the plot so that one can fully experience reading about the heart-racing events that Dora, a high-end escort, gets into during her one last job in the field at a glamorous chateau in the south of France.