Ever start reading a book and realize you hadn’t read the first in the series. Often wonder if it really matters and usually authors go out of their way to make each book autonomous. However when it comes to Jennifer Ryan I do my best to avoid skipping any of her stories. So I found DIRTY LITTLE SECRET on my kindle and started reading what turned out to be a thought provoking book about first impressions, secrets and rumors. What do these three have in common – well no good could ever come from any one of them. And in DIRTY LITTLE SECRET Jennifer Ryan combines them all in telling Roxy Cordero’s story. How Roxy came to be at John Cordero’s Speckled Horse Ranch in Whitefall Montana.

Far cry from the Wild Rose Ranch in Nevada where Roxy had spent most of her life. Perhaps the most important question was why she had lived separated from her father John all these years. And that is the tale of DIRTY LITTLE SECRET by Jennifer Ryan. Why did a good man like John Cordero hide the existence of his only natural child, a little girl being raised by a totally unfit mother in circumstances that could have been disastrous. Roxy’s life was at times brutal and until she turned eighteen she took on the role of care giver for her mother Candy, a prostitute at Wild Rose Ranch. By now you are probably getting the picture. In short her mother Candy was a mess. John certainly knew that since he kept an eye on Roxy albeit from the safety of the shadows.

DIRTY LITTLE LIES is a story of hope and love. Body shaming and stereotyping is seen as what it truly is – bullying and harassment. Learning to live with these expected taunts is difficult and challenging to an adult. Imagine what it is like for a child. In the case of Roxy and her eclectic family of sisters each of them handled these issues in different ways. Roxy was the oldest of this group of girls whose mothers were in the same line of work as Candy. The other thing they had in common was the Wild Rose Ranch where their mothers worked. Roxy was mother hen of this little band of sisters and in DIRTY LITTLE SECRET we learn how important and vital is was to have someone to trust and rely on. When John dies Roxy is faced with making major adjustments to the life she had made for herself. So many new truths to uncover.

John’s family on the Speckled Horse Ranch was just as odd as Roxy’s. Noah and Annabelle were treated as John’s son and daughter but neither was sired by John. But they were accepted as his kids. Brought up in a stable environment, seemingly wanting for nothing. Noah’s mother is deceased. Annabelle’s mother Lisa is a thorn in both John and Annabelle’s side. And now with John passing is certain to be an even greater nuisance.

Again the burning question of why not take in your own daughter. So many questionable decisions and surely many regrets. So Roxy is the DIRTY LITTLE SECRET which is the core of the book. Jennifer Ryan created a very complex character with Roxy. Probably one of her best and most memorable. Love a story about a strong, take no prisoners female then DIRTY LITTLE SECRET should be on your must read list. Jennifer Ryan begins a great new series with DIRTY LITTLE SECRET. Now onto the next one in the Wild Rose Ranch series.