e-ALC, 09:42:42
Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Brittany Pressley, Mia Wurgaft, Saskia Maarleveld, Stevi Incremona
Release Date: July 7, 2026
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Read from: June 6-7, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Google Play (I received this e-ALC from the publisher and Google Play. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Sexual Assualt, Adult/Minor Relationship, Dementia, Miscarriage, Rape
For Readers of: Adult, ARC, Audio, Contemporary, Sparkly Cover, Multiple POV, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Texas Local Reads, ThrillersSecrets emerge as a Texas beauty pageant turns deadly in this rich and addictive novel with a jaw-dropping twist from psychological suspense author Kelsey Cox.
2000: Isabelle Whitmore vanishes at Sherman Ranch in Anhalt, Texas, without a trace.
2025: The annual Lone Star Princess Pageant looms, bringing long-standing grudges to the surface. Ingrid fled Anhalt in the wake of her sister Isabelle’s disappearance and has now returned, just in time for a construction crew to start digging up Sherman Ranch; the pageant brings up past traumas that Melanie can’t forget; Cat, newly sober, starts to feel threatened in ways that bring back old demons; and Sarah Lynn, who comes from a long line of pageant winners, knows that losing is not an option.
When old resentments and new confrontations reach their boiling point, temperatures drop to deadly degrees as a record-setting storm brings down the state’s power grid. With everyone trapped under one roof, scores will be settled, and more than one person will end up dead.
Some secrets are better left buried.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This was crazy? Lol I was kind of on the fence because I’m not a huge fan of pageant shows, but this one takes the cake! It was full of mystery and suspense and the story itself was crazy. I found myself saying WTF at least every 3 pages lol
Ok so the characters were weird! They were all over the place. And I had no idea who it was because Lordt were they all unhinged. And all for different reasons. Idk, this was one of the messiest books I’ve read in a long time lol And it’s told from all of their POV’s so you get a front row look at all the unhingedness that they all have. It was a mess lol But even though I didn’t guess who did it, it was mostly because she wrote it that way. We all find out at the same time. Or you can be like me and just forget to make a guess and realize at the same time it’s introduced to the reader. There’s an extra craziness that happens just to make sure you were paying attention LOL
I loved the plot of this. If you know me, you know I have a weird affinity for cold cases. I watch them all the time, I will read them when I find them, etc. And this one was no different. I heard that there was a part of this book set in 2000 where a girl vanishes without a trace. Her body was never found and no one was ever caught for it. Then we get to 2025 when the pageant is about to begin again. With some people coming back to Anhalt, secrets come out and old grudges appear. But, the show must go on. Until a storm knocks out the power grid and someone ends up dead. Definitely all the things I love. FICTIONAL murder mysteries and cold cases. And set in my state. So basically, yes, I enjoyed this a lot!
This was a wild ride with a bomb ass audio cast. I just knew this was going to up my blood pressure lol And sure enough I did. I hope y’all decide to visit Texas by reading this. And don’t forget to let me know what you think!
Overall, I give this
