Philippe Lafrance is a well known reclusive writer whose life is suddenly thrown upside down when the grandfather he never knew existed, dies. He investigates the reason and learns that his family has kept secrets from him. Deep, ugly secrets. Worse, a killer is murdering the men in his family. He discovers that his father, then his grandfather, were murdered by someone desperate to keep secrets buried.
Bereft, Roxanne St-Clair is left to manage a restaurant when the only person who ever mattered to her, her foster parent and mentor, is murdered. She puts her life on hold to find his killer and bring him to justice.
Thrown together by circumstance and a mutual goal, Philippe and Roxanne fight their attraction and team up to find the killer, bring him to justice and unearth the truth. To stay alive, they must keep one step ahead of the assassin in order to prevent him from killing his next target, Philippe.
Will they succeed in bringing to justice this killer before Philippe becomes his next victim? Will they be able to deal with the truth behind the deadly secrets?
Reviews for Deadly Secrets
"Buckle up and keep your hands inside the cart at all times because this story will take you on a wild roller coaster ride. Full of twists, loops, and unexpected turns, this book will appeal to anyone who enjoys the genres of mysteries and/or romantic suspense. Both main characters are extremely well developed. Each has a past that neither wishes to share, but slowly open up as the story progresses. As in reality, the couple must meet and interview several people. Some of these become secondary characters and are almost as well developed as the main ones. Leeann Burke has written an intoxicating story that you will not easily put down." - Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
"The key to this excellent romantic amateur sleuth novel is that the fully developed lead characters never lose sight of what is critical: finding the culprit before he or she makes their attempt to kill Philippe; the romance takes a necessary back seat to the suspense. The support cast is solid as Philippe and Roxanne investigate each suspect to fathom who the killer is. Fans will appreciate Leann Burke strong thriller as the identity of the killer is in plain sight yet almost impossible to pick out of the usual suspects." - Harriett Klausner
"From the beginning, Leeann Burke draws her readers in with a gripping suspense that leaves you breathless. I found myself picking out suspects and trying to determine the identity of the killer, but the author left me surprised in the end. DEADLY SECRETS is a fabulous book that is perfect to curl up with on a lazy afternoon. Definitely a recommended read!" Lacey, Romance Junkies
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have characters living in my head. It wasn’t until the age of 12 that I realized not everyone hears characters talking to them. That’s about the time I put pen to paper and created their stories. I finished my first and only short story within weeks. I kept on writing through high school, university and my first few jobs. To this day I still have a pen and paper handy.
I have completed 10 manuscripts. After 22 years of writing I got “the call”. The owner of LBF Books called to let me know she wanted to purchase DEADLY SECRETS. I can’t express what it feels like to finally see my publication dream come true.
I currently live in Ottawa Canada and I’m working on DEADLY DESIRES as sequel to DEADLY SECRETS and plotting more books.
A note from Leeann...
Deadly Secrets is a sponsor for the American Breast Cancer Foundation (ABCF). Both LBF Books and I will be donating funds from the sale of each copy of DEADLY SECRETS to the ABCF and Breast Cancer Research.
An Interview with Leeann Burke
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Leeann, thank you for talking with us at TRS. Please tell us about your featured book, Deadly Secrets.
LB: It's my pleasure. Thanks for interviewing me.
HH: How do you take a character, completely upend their life, and then set about putting things to rights?
LB: Usually by the time I write their story their lives are upended. Do I set them right? I'd like to think I point them in the right direction. I have to confess when I start out writing a book I intended for my characters to go in a certain direction, but usually they are stubborn and go in a completely different direction which makes writing their story a challenge, interesting and I end up with a better story.
HH: What do you like most about Philippe?
LB: Philippe is a bit of a recluse, but a loveable one. He's the kind of person who is loyal and will do anything for the ones he loves. He can be a little impatient at time but when it counts he can be the most patient person there is. That's how he helped Roxanne deal with her fears.
HH: What do you like best about Roxanne and how do you relate to her?
LB: Roxanne is an independent, stubborn and hard headed woman. My father would probably say she's me to a 't'. Roxanne will go to the ends of the earth to help someone she cares about. That's how she gets tangled up with Philippe in Deadly Secrets she wants revenge against the person who killed George, her foster parent.
HH: What can you tell us about the forthcoming Deadly Desires?
LB:Deadly Desires is Vanessa and Black's story. They appear briefly in Deadly Secrets. The sparks flew in the brief moments they were together in Deadly Secrets which told me they had a story of their own.
It seems Vanessa has a stalker, one who is also a serial killer. It's up to Black to protect her and uncover the identity of her stalker before he kills the man in Vanessa's life, him.
HH: What's your favorite type of story to write and why?
LB: I experimented with different genres and time periods, but I always seem to kill people off. That's when I discovered my true genre, Romantic Suspense. However readers have said that I write a "who done it with romantic flare".
HH: How disciplined are you as a writer?
LB: I used to be very disciplined. For years I wrote every day, no matter what. Now that I'm older, have more responsibilities and less time to write I accept the fact that I'll write when I can. At first I felt guilty and angry with myself, but I quickly realized that quality writing time is better than none at all.
HH: Where and when do you do your best work?
LB: I know there are writers out there who do their best work in the morning or the evenings. For me, I do my best work when I'm inspired. It can happen early in the morning, late a night, during lunch time or while I'm on the bus to and from work. I always have a pen and pad of paper in my purse for just those occasions.
HH: What goals have you set for yourself at this point in your career?
LB: My goals are to write good books and to keep paying it forward to different charities. As you know Deadly Secrets is a sponsored title for the American Breast Cancer Foundation. They are a great organization that I'm proud to be associated with. I plan on donating proceeds from my next book to ovarian cancer. I'm hoping to have different charities or causes with each book I publish.
HH: What are you reading now?
LB: I just finished reading an advance copy of Hannah Howell's IF HE'S WICKED. I loved her highland historical, but her new series has me hooked.
