Synopsis:
Marie Parker didn’t mean to fall in love with two brothers. Honestly.
Steve was safe. Steady. The sensible choice.
Brad was charming, arrogant, reckless — and impossible to ignore.
What begins as a simple workplace love story quickly turns into something far more complicated. As lines blur and secrets slip out, Marie finds herself caught between desire and loyalty, pulled into a family drama where one wrong decision could change everything.
Set in the early 1990s, Everyone’s Hiding Something is a sharp, kitchen-sink rom-com rooted in real life and its imperfect choices. Funny, raw and painfully honest, it’s a tale of messy love, bad decisions and family secrets that never stay hidden for long.
Packed with shocking twists and huge revelations, this is real life unfiltered — where people love the wrong person, say the wrong thing, and make decisions they can’t take back.
Review:
This book is marketed as a rom-com, but after finishing it, I can confidently say that’s not what I found here.
The story opens with Marie at a funeral, and things go downhill quickly when she’s accused of being responsible for the death. That scene alone set the tone, and it was clear early on that comedy would not be taking center stage. Are there some funny moments? Yes, but they’re brief, while the main focus is on making difficult choices and living with the consequences.
Falling in love with two brothers can only end in heartbreak for someone, and the emotional journey reflects that. The push and pull between the characters was handled well. I could understand why certain decisions were made and how each choice carried weight. As the story progresses, we also learn more about why the characters turned into the people they are when we meet them, and how their upbringing shaped them.
The 90s references were a nice nod to a time I remember well: CDs, landlines, and the need for actual communication to stay connected. There’s also a reminder of how limited certain attitudes used to be, especially when it came to accepting someone’s choice of partner, and how, even today, we still have work to do in moving beyond the idea of “right” and “wrong” choices.
I enjoyed this book for what it is: a family drama that shows clearly how decisions made in the moment always lead to consequences. And in that aspect, it succeeded.
🌙 Recension: Everyone’s Hiding Something by N.R. Downs
📚 Genre: Fiction, Romance
📅 Release Date: March 11, 2026
📖 Publisher: Backstory Books
📱 Read as: Kindle
📗 included in Kindle Unlimited
💸 I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 417
⭐️ 4/5
Interested in more?
- Review: I Was Never Broken by Hazel Anthony
- Review: Posthumously Yours by Charles D. Braun
- Review: Don’t Answer the Phone by Miranda Rijks
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