Poppy's Secret

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆
Poppy’s Secret is a very sweet, second chance romance with just enough angst to keep me entertained, but not so much that it enters new adult territory. I have to hand it to Andrew Grey on this one, the angst that occurs bleeds over from Pat and Edge’s time together in their early twenties, appropriate for the young men they were but not the more world weary men they are now, and for the most part, both men seem to recognize when their disagreements begin sliding back into the land of immaturity and actively try to reign it in, wanting to deal with the problems of the present without so much of their baggage from the past controlling them. It’s a fine line for an author to write and Grey does it well, yet still allows for human nature and hurt feelings to result in the men succumbing to the angst and drama when tensions run high – and there are plenty of reasons for them to run high.

When Pat’s partner left him nine years ago, on the cusp of them beginning a family together, he made the difficult decision to raise the child their surrogate gave birth to on his own and keep their daughter’s existence a secret from Edge, allowing the man he loved to begin the life he obviously wanted more than the family they had planned. Edge’s return to town throws his world into chaos as Pat worries what the man he once loved will say when he learns of Emma’s existence, especially when Edge learns the real secret that Pat has kept all these years. Assuming this isn’t the first romance you’ve ever read, you’ll figure out what the secret is pretty quickly, possibly before you even start the book. However, don’t let that deter you because Grey’s talent in Poppy’s Secret is taking a predictable plot point and crafting a believable story that has an unexpected twist or two to keep you from feeling like you’ve heard this story before. For me, one of the plot twists was one that forced me to abandon the audiobook for several months because I had to be in the right frame of mind for it. No, it’s nothing horrific – this is a Dreamspun Desires title, after all – but it’s a topic that’s I’m sensitive to, to varying degrees throughout the year. This time around, the issue didn’t bother me at all and I was able to listen to the entirety of the audiobook without any problems. Well, that’s not entirely true. I did have to pause the sexy times scene that occurs while Edge is painting because it was a bit too hot for me to listen to in public; yeah, that one tapped right into my voyeuristic nature and had me dropping everything I was doing just so I could listen to it closely… twice… okay, three times. As much as I enjoyed that happy ending, it doesn’t compare to Pat, Edge, and Emma’s happy ending, especially as envisioned by Edge. That really was a beautiful dream.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, John Solo brings a beautiful, storyteller voice to the Dreamspun Desires audiobooks. In Poppy’s Secret, he not only nails the men’s angst and frustration, but he does a wonderful job of conveying their fears, their hopes, and their love. I’m not sure how to preface this, but he also performs Emma’s voice in an interesting way. Rather than trying to feminize his voice and/or trying to make it sound younger or high pitched for a young girl, Solo seems to use a different cadence (I think that’s the right word) when Emma speaks. When Emma talks, there’s a sing-song quality to her speech that I think works far better than a pitch change would have. I don’t know if I’m making any sense, but I think people who listen to the audiobook will understand what I’m bumbling all over here. Needless to say, I really enjoyed Poppy’s Secret, loving the conflict and angst Grey forced Pat and Edge to navigate through to achieve their happy ending, as well as the way Solo brings each character to life.

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free audiobook copy of Poppy's Secret by Andrew Grey, narrated by John Solo to listen to and review.

Andrew Grey is one of those hit and miss author for me. I was kinda giddy when I requested this to review, but I didn't disappoint.
This is a really cute story about second chance love. About family and acceptance and forgiveness.
Honestly, I really understood the reason why did Edge bolted out from their dreams to have a family. They're young, very young. Lacking of communication was their biggest problem. If only Edge told Pat the truth and Pat didn't that stubborn.
But what's happened , happened. The kid was born and Pat loving every second of taking care of his little Emma.
But not his love life it seemed.
Until all of a sudden, Edge back and wanted what he had left nine years ago. Selfish much?
Well yeah. But again, he wanted to change, and begging Pat for one more chance.
Pat in my opinion, was too easy forgiving him.
But then, I realized why did Pat easily accepted Edge again. It's a secret he kept for nine long years for himself.
So, the spark was stil, there, the love never change. They only need to find a way to each other this time, to build their dreams together.
This is a low angst, sweet and adorable story.
The way Edge interacted with Emma was adorable. Because...well...find it yourself.
Overall, this one was not disappointed, I liked it a lot. So, I think I can recommend this for a light read for you who like family's story. Sweet.

Pat made decisions that he felt were best for the situation he had found himself in but it does leave some secrets left unspoken.

Edge knows that he made a mistake early on but he sort of left things to float on. But now Edge's is ready to try again. He wants to make things right or at least find a way to start again.

Yet fear holds Pat back from fully embracing the reunion. He is still dealing with the hurt of Edge leaving and the fear of what the secret he holds will do to all of them. He doesn't want to lose any part of the life he built for himself but he also doesn't want to lose the new relationship he's building with Edge.

It was hard at times to see these two men who obviously love each other and have never gotten over the other one still struggle to get things back on track.

I usually shy away from second chance love stories. And stories written from one point of view are usually not rated with five stars from me. But this is an Andrew Grey book and he realistically made me love all of the characters and believe the happy ending.

This was one of my favorite books from the Dreamspun Desires series – and definitely a great Andrew Grey addition! In Poppy’s Secrets, we meet “Poppy” (Pat) with his 9 year-old daughter Emma, as the person who broke Poppy’s heart, Edge, tries to step back into his life. Edge is surprised Pat has a daughter… around the same age as the daughter they had planned to have together.

Throughout the story, there was a lot of push and pull for Pat – he had deeply loved Edge in the past, but his heart was crushed when Edge bolted from his life and their family, years earlier. He still wants to love Edge, but he just can’t put himself through that again. Through various trials and obstacles, Pat and Edge continue to work through what happened in the past to try and build a future together.

In typical Grey fashion, the characters are what did it for me. They were both deep, different, had their own struggles and worked very well together. Pat was definitely more defined than Edge, but most of the story was told from his POV, so that made sense. Even with a young kid in the mix, the story felt real and relatable – with a few tears throughout with Pat’s heartache.

This is a great read for people who love a good boomerang romance, sweet love, light sex, a super cute kid, and really likable characters. Definitely one worth picking up from this series!

Review Copy of Poppy’s Secret provided by Dreamspinner Press for an honest review. Reviewed by Mel at Alpha Book Club.