Burn For Me by Shiloh Walker

Burn For Me: A Secrets & Shadows Story by Shiloh Walker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I actually started reading the Secrets & Shadows series with the second novella, Break for Me, and never got a chance to go back and read Burn for Me (although apparently I bought it and didn’t remember doing it). Having read the other two novellas and three novels in the series, it was nice to go back and read Tate’s story to find out just how he and Ali got together. While Break for Me got me hooked on the series and Ms. Walker’s writing, I have no doubt that Burn for Me would have done the same had I read it first – especially with that ending.

Truth be told, I’m actually glad I didn’t get to see this version of Tate and met him after the healing had already started. However, knowing the man that Tate becomes did not make this story any less emotional for me. The chemistry between Tate and Ali is apparent and not just because the novella starts with a sex scene (one of several seriously hot sex scenes). The story is written in such a way that the author gives us a little time in both Ali and Tate’s head, so we find out rather quickly that Ali loves Tate and has for years. Because Tate has put restrictions on their relationship to keep it at the friends with benefits level, she knows she can’t tell him how she really feels or she’ll lose him. But three years is a long time to love someone and only have part of him and Ali is beginning to question whether or not her heart can take it. I liked that while it was not an easy decision to come to, when Ali finally admitted that she was never going to have all of Tate and could no longer live that way she didn’t play games and give him an ultimatum. No, she told him straight out that she couldn’t see him anymore and why and didn’t give him a chance to change her mind. It was heartbreaking to watch because Ali didn’t do it expecting that Tate would suddenly profess his love for her, she did it knowing she was ripping her and his heart out and that it would end their friendship as well.

While it may not have been her intent, her breaking up with him forced Tate to reexamine his life and what he believed about his mother’s disappearance. This was the other big revelation for me as I was unaware of just how much Tate had blamed his father for his mother’s disappearance, how long their estrangement lasted, and how it affected everyone in his life that he was close to (his sisters and Ali). Witnessing the reconciliation between Tate and his father left me a blubbering mess both because it was good to see them reunite, but also because of the hard-learned and heartfelt advice his father gave him about love. Burn for Me was a great book and one I am so glad I finally got the chance to read. I really hope that Ms. Walker is planning to write more books in the Secrets & Shadows series because it’s one of my favorite romantic suspense series.



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