Fern Michaels (1933–2025)

Thanks to Goodreads and the publisher for a free copy of No Safe Secret by Fern Michaels.

This is the first of Fern Michael's books that I've ever read, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I work at the library, so I see her titles go in and out all the time, but I assumed this would be light romance. Yeah, it's not light romance.

No Safe Secret follows a woman during two times in her life. First, when she's known as Maddie, she experiences a horrific rape on the night of her senior prom and show more flees her small town -- leaving behind her negligent mother and all of the other awful people in her life.

Secondly, as an adult, she's changed her name to Molly and married a rich dentist, but her situation has not gotten any better. Her husband is horribly abusive, her step-sons are terrible to her. It's from one awful situation to another.

This is an incredibly important subject to write about, and I commend Fern Michaels for how she treated it. The rape and abuse are described in detail, just as a warning. But it also serves as an important look into why a person would stay in an abusive relationship and how they can repeatedly be abused throughout their lives.

I do wish that the ending had been stretched out a little more. From the back cover copy, I thought that there would be more of a focus on her previous life being discovered and the fallout from that. That came relatively late in the book, though, and the revelations at the end came at breakneck speed. It was gripping, and the book was hard to put down, but I wish it could have been given more time.

Still, like I said, a disturbing and important book. show less

Great collection of holiday short stories! These all had a great dose of candy canes and holiday pageants, putting us all the way at 5 gingerbread men on the cheer scale. I loved all of these, and especially the inclusive messages, like the first story by Theresa Alan which featured a romance which started with a volunteer trip to the hospital to play elves and Santa. The chemistry was cute and I loved the disabled rep. Yay for complex, sexy heroes in wheelchairs! And the third story by show more Linda Miller, we have a second-chance romance in a small town where a divorced stepmother proves that it’s choice and love that form families as she makes the holidays merry for two adorable kids.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

Author Fern Michaels is a queen of spinning good yarns and this one is as delightful as they come. It's a perfect holiday read as it focuses on the time of All Saints' Day through Christmas Eve and incorporates the frenetic energy as well as the wonder and magic of the season. It's a charming and relaxing read as you put your feet up after a long day of holiday preparations. Grab a cup of cocoa, a soft blanket and settle in for a cozy evening of reading.

Although the book opens with a show more sorrowful loss it quickly eases into a story of hope. Anna Rose Huntley, the matriarch of the family and owner of the Heart & Soul Bed & Breakfast, is excited and busily making the holiday preparations for her beloved guests. But seeing her way to Christmas was not meant to be. In her will, she leaves the running of the B&B to her granddaughter, Joy - the strong, highly driven business owner of Simply Joy nail polish company. How is Joy supposed to run a North Carolina B&B while she's operating her international business back in Denver? Why didn't Nana leave it to her own daughter who already lives there? What was she thinking?

With the help of Anna's faithful employees and Joy's mother, somehow all the holiday preparations fall into place but not without their drama. Joy is on a steep learning curve for this B&B business. But her "Nana's" attractive and young attorney, Will, provides Joy with simple diversions which help Joy keep her balance. There's a spark between these two which is obvious to others yet which Joy denies. Will all the charms of Spruce City, NC be enough for Joy to keep Heart & Soul B&B in the family? Only time will tell...

Fern Michaels does a superb job of world building in her books. We feel the charm of small town Spruce City as its residents make evening strolls through its historic district eyeing the Christmas light wonderland. We also sense the small town claustrophobia as everyone appears to know everybody else's business. The character development is excellent and realistic. My only criticism is that the ending felt rather rushed. None the less, I certainly enjoyed this story and look forward to reading many more by this wonderful storyteller.

I am grateful to author Fern Michaels and Kensington Publishing Corp. for having provided a free e-copy of this book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone. show less

I really don't understand what Mira/Harlequin was thinking reissuing these books. There are some novels that age well enough to be introduced to a modern audience, but these are certainly not in that category.

The men of both novels were horrible misogynists. I kept hoping someone would kick them in the balls or something just to shut them up. And that is basically all we knew about them. The third person POV was limited to the women and there were very, very few conversations and no show more backstory given (even if something about their pasts were mentioned it was never explained).

The women were such vapid, pathetic bimbos that you actually started seeing the misogynists' point. They were so stupid I was hoping they'd die just to deliver me from reading this thing. Both books had the worst cases of insta-love I've ever read. There was no rhyme or reason for it, simply the audience being told they're in love.

The writing left a lot to be desired. It read like a college freshman's creative writing first draft. I kept wondering if anyone actually read the story after it was written. The first book completely escapes me. I don't really know what happened because it was like a series of scenes thrown together. There was no motivations given for actions. Something seemingly important would happen, someone would say something that needed discussing and it was never brought up again. There was no continuity. The story resolves but how? They never discussed anything! She acts like an idiot, he's a brooding moron, there are issues of some sort (trust me, they don't make sense at all) but apparently none of it needed to be talked out.

I was hoping the second book would be better. I have no idea how, but it was worse. This one at least read as a cohesive story but again there was no delving into characters or plot. It was this woman making one stupid decision after another. And when you think there's no way she could make another stupid decision, couldn't do something else idiotic, couldn't be more of a dolt, couldn't possibly let herself be walked over and used with no qualms for the sake of this man she's known for five minutes, she somehow managed to take it a step further and end up in an even more stupid situation. I can't wrap my head around what happens. And, again, the story ends and the big issues between them go away with no talking, no resolution just her giddy over getting to serve him since he threw her an ounce of affection. I honestly can't remember the last time I read a book with a female protagonist who was this pathetic.

I started super skimming just so I could finish because I literally started throttling the book. I wish I had a way to safely set it on fire because I would do so with glee. I have so much book reader and female rage right now it would take an act violence against the book to assuage it. show less