First published 2006
Charisse has built her life on careful secrets, but her husband holds the power to destroy everything she has worked to protect. For years, she has kept the truth from her mother, knowing the revelation would shatter their relationship. Now her marriage has become a minefield where one wrong step could trigger the exposure she dreads most. Whitney and Taylor have stood by Charisse through countless challenges over their long friendship. They watch as she struggles with the impossible choice between confronting her husband's threats and continuing to live under his control. The three women must navigate this crisis together, but some battles can only be fought alone. The secret Charisse guards so fiercely threatens to consume not just her marriage, but the relationships that have anchored her life. As her husband's threats escalate, she faces the question that haunts every hidden truth: is the cost of keeping a secret higher than the price of letting it go?
Genres: fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
421 pages · Hardcover · Thorndike Pr
Content warnings: domestic-violence, emotional-abuse