I’ve always been a Dana Mason fan and Accidental Secrets was the perfect ending to a wonderful contemporary romance series. We got a short peek at Mike’s life in the first book, Accidental Groom, and I’m so glad that Dana came back and wrote his story!

Mike lost Rachel, his high school sweetheart, without explanation or discussion when she moved to a different state out of the blue at sixteen. The reason? She was pregnant with Mike’s baby and her mother, or The Witch, as I started calling her, basically destroyed three people’s lives; Rachel’s, Mike’s and their child’s. Rachel wasn’t allowed to tell Mike or contact him after the baby was born. It wasn’t until their daughter, Reagan, turned thirteen and started snooping around on the internet that she was able to finally figure out who her father was. Now living in the same town and opening a gym there, Reagan sends cryptic emails to him (Which I actually found cute and endearing).

When Rachel finds out what Reagan did, all hell breaks loose and she knows she has to tell Mike before he finds out some other way. To say the chemistry between them was still on fire was an understatement.

When push comes to shove, Mike knows he wants to spend time with his daughter, even if he’s angry at her mother for keeping her a secret for so many years. He wants to form a family unit with Reagan and be there to support her. First, he has to convince Rachel to let him meet her. Little does he know, he already has.

Accidental Secrets was a twisted and sad look at how families often do things for themselves instead of for the betterment of someone else. Rachel’s mother is the perfect example of someone who is protecting herself and not her daughter or granddaughter. I did find it difficult to swallow how much Rachel was still devoted to her family considering how they treated her. At the same time, I understood she needed that familial unit, even with its flaws, to help her take care of her daughter as a single mom who worked full-time.

In the end, the romance between Mike and Rachel won me over and getting to hear from all of their POV’s was refreshing. It gave me insight into their emotions as they all went through the same experience but for different reasons. Mike was just learning he had a daughter, Rachel was learning how to share her daughter, and Reagan was learning how to trust a father. Thank you, Dana, for a wonderful series about love, romance, family, and happily-ever-afters!

3 solid I love Mike stars

„Accidental Secrets“ is my first book by this author and I liked the writing style. The journal entries were really sweet and the few flashbacks gave a little insight in the past.
I enjoyed Rachel and Mike‘s story but I have to confess mostly because of Mike ;) and because of the best friends Isla, Mac and Kelley. Especially Isla, I love her for being real with Rachel and telling her to put her big girl panties on.

<i>.„Honey, I‘m sorry your mom was so brutal, but that was a long time ago, Reagan‘s asking, and he‘s here.“</i>

Rachel needed that. And although I really get where Rachel is coming from with all this secrecy I had a hard time liking her. I don‘t understand why she still puts up with her mother and why she stayed with her father...she says she really loves her mother and I‘m like WHY???

Mike is my fav and my heart broke for him and the lost time.

<i>.„Do you realize that in all your efforts to salvage things, in all your efforts to protect us, that I still lost everything?“</i>

He‘s awesome; strong, honest, hard working, friendly, reliable and forgiving. I love him for being able to empathize with Rachel even though he was angry.

Besides me not loving the h I am confused about the situation with Mike‘s parents. They seem supportive and tell Rachel they missed her but Rachel said Mike‘s parents weren‘t better than hers and that‘s why they couldn‘t have gone to them.
Maybe I misread or missed something but this really confused me.

Nevertheless I liked reading „Accidental Secrets“ and it also took a turn in the end I didn‘t see coming ;)

I have to say this is the first book of the series so I might be missing a few details or references from the previous 2 books. But even then I enjoyed this book, it was a fun, pretty straightforward romance novel about 2 characters who got split apart because of revenge and prejudices and then they found themselves together and rekindled their childhood romance.
It was a good book, I really didn't expect anything else than what I got and if I ever got the chance I would read the previous two. The writing was good and the characters were likeable

From the three books in this series I must say this one was definitely my favourite of them all. Mike and Rachel are brilliant as characters but my word Rachels mother is a bit of a nightmare!

Even though this is a second chance romance, It is full of very heavy topics that were dealt with in a very sensitive way (sort of) Well worth the read

Rachel and Mike were high school sweethearts who were ripped apart when the unexpected happens. We meet them again 14 years later when Mike moves to the same city Rachel lives and they are forced to face their past and see if there is a future for them.
Overall, it was an okay story. It passes quickly but it still felt like it dragged. I really wanted to see what happens but often the two main characters went on and on about the same thing, with exactly the same thoughts. I felt like it was not necessary and didn't make the story better. The "evil" character was one dimensional and I expected something to be explained more that would add any dept to her or explain how she behaved. Even though we kind of get it in the end, it is not very believable because it is not really explained. All is said in a couple of sentences without there being any emotion behind it.
I did like the added perspective of Reagan and I felt like her voice was very age-appropriate.
Sadly, I don't think I want to read the other stories about the people in this world because it was not interesting enough for me.

Overall rating- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Young love. Its always comes with a bubbly feeling. A giddiness that only first love give us. A love without condition. Thats why maybe our first love leaves such an impact on us that it becomes unforgetable. We all remember our first kiss,first touch, first love. Young love. Never to be forgotten specially if something unexpected and special comes out of that love even you are not together anymore. And that is exactly what happens with Rachel and Michael. They were young and so very much in love. And like so many young people,they made a mistake which led to Rachel being out of Michael's life for good. Rachel lost the only man she loved and left her old life behind. The girl wasn't even 18 years old and already facing the most challenging and important life decisions without anyone by her side. Not even her parents. Don't get me started on her mother. There is something fundamentally wrong with that woman and sadly I know people like her. That person had neither compassion or love even for her daughter much less her grand-daughter and Rachel's dad just string along with all her heartless actions. It was really heart breaking to read her journal entries. The way a 16 year old girl describes her loneliness is so emotional. Girls that age should be thinking about school ,pop culture, friends and exams not finding ways to raise a child. I liked Mike. He was very understanding considering the fact that he never knew he had a 13 year old daughter because of Rachel's actions. He was wonderful to both Rachel and Raegan. Coming to Raegan,that girl is the star of the show(or book in this case). She is so smart and wise and so full of energy. That girl wrote a letter to a complete stranger informing him that he is her father. She is so cool and direct and down right awesome. She is actually the reason Mike and Rachel are actually together! Like a said, an absolute 'star of the show'.

I loved all the secondary characters starting from Mac, Kell, Isla, Diana, Mike parents but not Rachel's mom. Never that woman. She is downright selfish and cruel.
I am very thankful to netgalley, Bookouture publishing and ofcourse Dana Mason for this wonderful book and introducing me to this series. I haven't read the previous books in this series yet but I would love to. This book was really good and consists of serious matters such as rape, teen pregnancy and such sensitive factors. And it comes with an important lesson to always talk our mind. Specially woman. I liked this book a lot. The author handled these sensitive matters with such grace and an wonderful storytelling.

Coming to Mike and Rachel's chemistry, oh it was off the charts. I mean their reunion consisted of them ending up in bed even before Rachel could tell Mike about Raegan. It was that streamy.

I heartly recommend it! Happy reading everyone.

3.5 stars

This well-written story was much angstier than I thought it would be. I'm not usually a big fan of a lot of angst, but it's the driving force behind this one, and it is well done. Ms. Mason puts a fresh twist on the dual first-person POV by extending it to a trio first-person POV. I was surprised at first, but it didn't take long to realize that this convention added a great deal of depth to the story that would not have been possible otherwise. Rachel and Mike have been through so much, and it was wonderful to see them find their way back to each other. Rachel's mom is a real piece of work, and I disliked her so very, very much that it actually decreased my enjoyment of the book a bit, primarily because I had a hard time understanding why Rachel hadn't already cut such a toxic person out of her life. It was great to see Mac and Kelley again; their story was my favorite in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for generously providing an ARC for review.

Love love loved it!!! This is the third book in this series and I've read them all and enjoyed then but this one is my absolute favorite! I usually don't like books with kids involved it does help when they're older, not sure why but this one was awesome!! Ooooooh her mother omg I wanted to punch her in the face lol definitely don't miss out on this book and series !! They are definitely stand alone but well worth reading all!! Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!