Author: Adele Parks
Publisher: Harlequin Books Australia
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, General Fiction
Year of Release: 2022
Release Date 15th June 2022
Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Synopsis
One last client
A week at a beautiful chateau in the south of France – it should be a straight-forward final job for Dora. She’s a smart, stunning, and discrete escort and Daniel has paid for her services before. This time, all she must 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.
One last chance
It will be a last, luxurious look at how the other half live, before Dora turns her back on the escort world and all its dangers. She has found someone she loves and trusts. With him, she can escape the life she’s trapped in. But when Dora arrives at the chateau it quickly becomes obvious that nothing is what it seems…
One last secret
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…
Review
31-year-old Theodora (prefers Dora) is a highly sort after Escort, not exactly living life in the spotlight as she once hoped she would be, but her life took an unexpected turn. Dora did what needed to be done she turned away from the dreams she once had of becoming an actress and the opportunity of seeing her name up in lights fading fast, swapping the celebrity life for a life behind closed hotel doors with the wealthy men of London instead at least this way she can afford to keep food on the table and the electricity bill paid.
Little does Dora realise her life is about take a turn once again but this time for the better Dora is engaged! Finding someone she can love and trust that won’t be returning home to their wives once time is up, she can leave her escorting days behind her she just has one last job in a chateau in The South of France, convincing the friends of a previous client that Dora is in fact his girlfriend quite a simple role.
Upon arrival Dora soon realises the grass is not always greener on the other side nor does it appear to be straight forward where these people are concerned Dora begins to feel she made a mistake in accepting this job, should she just return the payment and return home? But the more she tries to leave the harder it is to reach the exit, not everyone wants her to leave. Will she escape the chateau before she can have her own happily ever after?
Adele Parks books need no convincing to end up on my shelf, a skilled author in Domestic Drama Thriller will always provide the much-needed escape from reality in my opinion.
One of the many reasons I keep adding Adele Parks books to my collection is she can reveal parts of the puzzle at just the right time and the reader might believe they’ve put all the pieces together only to discover they were looking for a different piece entirely.
In this reviewer’s opinion Adele Parks is the queen of the promised plot twist having read a few of her books in recent years Both of You I can honestly say without a doubt her twists are like no other every time you think she has delivered her best, yet she goes and blows your mind ever bigger then the time before.
Whilst I am all about mind blowing plot twist I am now and forever a reader who seeks character-based stories the Author takes time to give as much attention to characters and their backgrounds as she does build the element of mystery. I didn’t love all the characters here except Dora and Evan, Dora makes for a believable protagonist and hopefully other reader’s will find a soft spot for her too, everyone needs an Evan, but I fear if I say any more, I will spoil the book and if it’s one book you don’t want spoiled it’s One Last Secret.
“No little girl grows up dreaming of becoming an escort. A sex worker. A whore.”- Adele Parks One Last Secret.
There was a period in the conflict sections in the book where I found myself wondering have, I missed something? I felt as if the suspense element slowed quite considerably; there were times when I felt like the plot was at risk of becoming slightly repetitive, Having now finished the book I wonder if this was done on purpose to add even more of a jaw drop effort to the plot twist if this was the case it worked!
I believe overall the plot was paced well the beginning and closing chapters made the reader feel as if they couldn’t put the book down it’s in my opinion the book really gains some good speed. As always, the interest for me when it comes to reading an Adele Parks novel is the elements of luxury she brings to her novels, the prospect of winning an outrages fortune in Just My Luck and the opportunity to holiday in the south of France in One Last Secret make this reader feel as if there’s an opportunity to escape the real world even just for a short while.
Domestic Drama might appear to some as a tip toe into the Thriller genre but in the case of Adele Parks you will be forgiven into thinking this especially in the case of One Last Secret it is full of nail-biting moments that will have you closing your eyes just in case.
Friends to lovers makes an appearance for those readers who love a good trope, and, in this case, I approve. The ending was not only satisfying but it packs a punch you don’t see coming I felt a wide variety of emotions upon reading the final pages so much, so I want more I want I need a sequel.
I highly recommend this book and Author to mature readers as I am sure others will tell you if you’re looking for a good Domestic Fiction but unsure where to begin look no further. Another triumph for this Author.
With continued thanks to Harlequin Books Australia for sending a physical copy of the book to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion.