The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter by Susan Meier
Harlequin
Contemporary
ISBN: 978-0373178117
Reviewed by Vanessa




Eight years ago, Max Montgomery broke his wife’s heart.  After five years of marriage of which three were volatile because Max discovered a family secret and had to deal with, the marriage fell apart.  Kate couldn’t take Max’s choice of coping anymore, and she left him.  She had to get out and not just for herself, but for the little secret that she refused to share with Max.  Now Kate has inadvertently returned to Max’s turf, and he soon discovers her secret as well as feelings that they share that never really died all those years apart.  Can Max promise his ex-wife, Kate, forever as they embark on a second chance or will she never be able to trust him again?  Has Max really changed or is it all an act to get what he wants, and can he truly forgive her?

The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter is an emotionally evocative story that draws you in and makes you believe in these characters.  I found myself completely understanding both Max and Kate’s points of view and reasons for their choices throughout The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter.  Max’s reaction to the secret that Kate kept from him for eight long years was realistic as well as logical while Kate’s case for keeping her secret were thoroughly appreciated in The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter as well.

Max and Kate’s emotions and their fluctuations with them as they learned to deal with one another, came across as authentic in The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter.  There were still lingering emotions from the past that crept up for both protagonists as they learned to accept the choices that each had made back then.  Kate and Max’s decisions had consequences that had long reaching repercussions that just wouldn’t go away, and they couldn’t just ignore them either in The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter.  Both characters had to learn to deal with them to adjust to the new realities in order to move on with their lives either together or separately.

I joyfully recommend The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter as Kate truly portrayed the once bitten twice shy adage, and Max had to learn to own his mistakes for his actions from the past and how they affected their present/future.