The Secret (Sarafin Perigord # 1) - A.J. Scott-Ryder

Description
Catherine is a surgeon born into a family with a frustrating number of secrets. Photos hidden from view, her mother crying in the night, her father telling her she'd find out more when she was older. Well, she's older, her parents have both passed away and still completely in the dark she's moving from London to France to live in the home she never knew her father owned - and to meet Jean-Marc, the mysterious friend of the family her father told her to trust.

France introduces her to Tristan and from there to love, happiness and the French way of life. It also brings the growing realisation that not only are many of the people that she meets not exactly human, but possibly neither is she...

When her family's darkest secret is finally revealed, Catherine is forced to choose between staying in France where she has finally found happiness or protecting those she now loves from what she has learned by returning to England to the same half-life that her parents endured.

My Opinion
I really enjoyed reading this book and it kept me entertained throughout a long coach journey, which would have bored me stupid if I had not had this book. The characters and paranormal element were original and interesting and even though I had to get towards the end of the book before I actually found out what Tristan was, the book had a good enough narrative to keep me interested. I don't normally like having to wait so long to find out something like that and it did frustrate me slightly when A.J. Scott-Ryder kept referring to certain terms (ceremonies, portals etc) as I didn't understand what they were and how they tied into the story. Thankfully though every question I had was answered during some point in the book and it was worth the wait (I did also find a glossary at the back after I finished reading which was slightly annoying as I could have saved myself a lot of confusion).

I loved the romance in this book and I felt I could easily connect with the characters, allowing me to get lost in the story even more. The misunderstanding between Tristan, Catherine and Jean-Marc had me laughing and 'awwing' at the same time, something I don't normally do. The romance and paranormal aspects were cleverly interlinked into the plot so it was simple to understand (when explained) and the imagery used in the book was great. I really got lost in the world A.J. Scott-Ryder created.
A few downsides to this book though was that at times I didn't feel the speech was as natural as it could be. For me it kind of took away from the great storyline, especially during intimate or heartfelt moments as it either didn't seem fit or was a little to cheesy for my liking. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book though. It is original, interesting and keeps you reading as you want to know more. I would seriously recommend this to paranormal romance or romance lovers.