Nick Merrick is stretched to breaking point. He’s trying to keep his grades sky-high, or he won’t get into college. He’s trying to keep his brother’s business afloat, or the Merricks will be out on the street. He’s trying to keep the secret of where he’s going in the evenings from his twin brother Gabriel. Storms are brewing. On all sides.SECRETS IN THE WIND. DANGER IN THE AIR
The writing in this series has always been compelling – the drama and character development do a great job of sucking the reader into the world of the Merrik brothers. In my opinion, Secret is the most well-written book in the series.
Nick has always been my favourite Merrick brother, and he played a great supporting actor to all his brothers up until he began to take a leading role in his own story, with the novella Breathless. The other stories have all been entertaining, but with Secret we get a lot more depth in Nick’s story – and Quinn’s too. We have complicated relationships to explore as questions of sexuality, self-esteem, domestic violence and long-standing family feuds are examined.
In the zodiac, the air signs are the thinkers, and with Nick being an air elemental there’s far more introspection and a subtler more relaxed slant to the action. Brigid Kemmerer still delivers high octane actions scenes, but her pacing in this book is much more to my taste – with a healthy dose of reflection.
The story flits back and forth between Nick and Quinn, but we never lose sight of this genuinely being Nick’s story. Quinn does bring to light an unexpected aspect in what readers might always have considered a given in Merrick’s lives – the situation that is one Tyler Morgan. Tyler is a bad guy, and that’s all I’ve ever had to know. Tyler is a stubborn idiot who refuses to have a decent cathartic conversation with Michael, and that is all I’ve ever believed, but be prepared to learn a little more about Tyler.
Now playing back-up cast to Nick and Quinn are the host of other characters, the Merrick Brothers, Hunter and Becca. These characters all act as sounding boards for Nick and Quinn – or emotional punch-bags in some cases! The reactions of Michael, Gabriel, Nick and Chris are all in keeping with their characters, but that doesn’t mean that I saw anything coming. Like I said, the story unfolds beautifully.
I’ll be sorry to see this series end, even if it never had the amount of ‘paranormal activity’ I expected there to be. The end is coming up shortly with Sacrifice, and I’m a little worried about the title, it sounds so ominous.,
katjaweinert.com 
First, WOW is Nick hot! I’m so glad he has his shirt on so I can stare but don’t feel like a peeping Tom the way most romance covers with way too few clothes on make me feel.I’d love to read this series, but the purse strings have been too tight – and with this review, now I REALLY want to read the series! Crossing my fingers I stumble across a giveaway. 😉
It’s nice when an author can balance action with thoughtful characters
This series never had quite as much of a paranormal emphasis as I was expecting either, but I’m past the point of caring now. I love the characters and can’t wait to see how everything wraps for the Merricks in the final book! Nick has always been my favourite Merrick too, and I’m so pleases to hear his book worked for you. Lovely review! 🙂
Awesome review. I haven’t started this series yet, it’s been another one that gets pushed back. I’m going to have to pick this one up next time I’m book shopping, it really does sound fantastic. Thanks for sharing.