Secrets Don't Make Friends: Volume 1

Lyla Payne

Nov 2015 · Trisha Leigh Ziegenhorn

About this ebook

TRIGGER WARNING: The beginning of this book deals with a physically and emotionally abusive relationship in a honest and realistic, violent manner.Jeyne Dalton has graduated from college, medical school, and has slogged through half of a surgical internship year with flying colors, which she figures HAS to mean she’s put her past – and her family – behind her for good. If only she hadn’t answered that random ad for a roommate, her life would be pretty damn perfect.

Dinah Robbins knows that, no matter what she does, the horror that is her life will never be behind her…unless her controlling, threatening, abusive boyfriend finally kills her. She’s floating, waiting, and advertised for a roommate as a last ditch, listless effort to save herself a few beatings here and there.

Jeyne and Dinah may have been roommates for months, but they’re not anything like friends. In fact, they hardly know each other at all – until the night Jeyne comes home late to find Dinah in a heap of trouble. The two girls then find themselves sharing a secret that brings them together in a way they never expected. And upends their lives in a way they may never be able to set right. 

Ratings and reviews

This is my first Lyla Payne novel and I feel I have started with a great one. I love her style of writing. This book looks at some serious issues that unfortunately are still happening to women around the world. In a matter of moments, things can escalate to life threatening situations. I was touched how pure and on point Lyla described some scenes. It wasn't as fast paced as I would like but it certainly was enthralling and had me hooked from the start. I was trying to think ahead to how were these girls going to come out of this problem they got into without consequential repercussions. I wanted it to work out for them but also have a sense of believability to it all. Lyla did this perfectly and I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. The way these two girls formed a strong friendship over adversity rang true to real life. That Dinah picked Jeyne to be her roommate for one particular reason, turned out to be her saving grace and her one loyal friend was so unexpected but a pleasure to uncover. This book has you in suspense and guessing and rooting for these girls so they too can have their HEA's. This won't be my last Lyla Payne book, that is for sure.

I love reading Lyla's books. She always leaves you either wanting more, or she leaves you completely satisfied. This book does both! Not only was I satisfied, I needed more. So what happens when you have a boyfriend that is abusing you and one night your roommate walks in and sees it happening? Well, you do what any rational human would do... get rid of the evidence. We all have that one friend that would do anything to help out. In this case, they are not so much friends, as just roommates. But that starts to change. Police get involved and let the freak out begin! Lyla has done it again. She has written a book that I love. I really want to read what happens next. This book is great! You will not be disappointed in it at all. She makes the characters come alive on the pages. You feel as though you are right there with them. Get this book now!!

Crack open a bottle of wine and brace yourself for a volley of emotions! Set aside what you think you know, your preconceived notions, and the limits you think you have because this book is going to shake you up and make you reexamine everything! With the current book hangover I have after finishing Secrets Don’t Make Friends, I’ve decided this book should come with wine. I might as well be buzzed if I’m going to be this hungover! I couldn’t get away from this story even when I didn’t have time to read. I continued to revisit Dinah and Jeyne in my mind each and every time I walked away. At the end was a desperate sprint to finish because I could no longer stand not knowing what was to become of these two! Elementary school teacher Dinah seemingly has it all together. From her manicured nails to her well-off boyfriend, she appears to have it all -- as far as her roommate, Jeyne, is concerned at least. Jeyne’s working her way through her first year of residency planning to being a surgeon, and she doesn’t have time for the weekend parties her self-absorbed roommate allows to go on all night. Dinah thinks Jeyne is stuffy and prickly, and the two barely tolerate one another’s presence. Worse than the parties are the fact that Dinah puts up with the same behavior from her boyfriend that reminds her of her own mother, and she has no desire to watch someone else waste their life being knocked around and degraded. She hears the fights, and she has no intentions of getting involved. Appearances are deceiving, and that sentiment thickens the further you get into the book. The book I thought I would be reading is in no way the book I found between the pages of Secrets Don’t Make Friends, but what I found exceeded my expectations. Lyla will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. This unlikely pair has more in common than what they ever believed, and it will take both of them to survive in the end. We often discover the world is not the black and white place we grow up believing it to be. In fact, the gray creeps in quite often, and these two young women are about to face the reality of life and death decisions. I’m finishing this review hours later still thinking about Jeyne, Dinah, and friendship. There’s nothing to be traded for friendships born of trust and the knowledge that the other will be there for you no matter what. I felt their angst, their worry, and their fear. I fell hard for Jeyne and Dinah, and I hung on tight holding my breath to see how their story would play out. Some authors stick closely to one genre and write it brilliantly; however, some authors have a gift for writing a wide variety of genres and doing so just as brilliantly without missing a beat. Lyla Payne is just that kind of author. Whether she’s writing under Lyla Payne or Trisha Leigh, you don’t want to miss ANY of her books!

About the author

Lyla Payne has been publishing New Adult romance novels for a little over a year, starting with Broken at Love and continuing with the rest of the Whitman University series. She loves telling stories, discovering the little reasons people fall in love, and uncovering hidden truths in the world around us – past and present. In her spare time she cuddles her two dogs, pretends to enjoy exercising so that she can eat as much Chipotle as she wants, and harbors a deep and abiding hope that Zac Efron likes older women. She loves reading, of course, along with movies, traveling, and Irish whiskey. Lyla’s hard at work, ALWAYS, and hopes to bring you more Whitman University antics and at least one more Lowcountry ghost tale before the end of the year.

If you want to know more, please visit her at http://lylapayne.com

If you’re a fan of Young Adult fiction—science fiction or otherwise—please check out her work that’s published under the name Trisha Leigh. http://trishaleigh.com