I knew falling for Evangeline Carrington would ruin everything.
I just didn’t know how fast.
She was my twin brother’s girlfriend in college.
But I’d wanted her first.
Gorgeous, sharp-tongued, impossible to ignore, Evangeline is the kind of woman you never really forget. And when I run into her at a teammate’s wedding years later, one dance turns into too many drinks … and one reckless night neither of us can take back.
I try putting distance between us again, but that becomes impossible once Evangeline starts covering my team as a field producer. She’s determined to prove she earned her place, and keeping us a secret is the only way to protect the career she’s fought for.
And I want to keep us a secret because my brother wants her back.
But secrets like ours were never built to survive. Not with cameras following her every move, looking for a scandal. Not with my brother suddenly showing up at my games and making a play for my girl. And definitely not when every stolen touch between us feels less like a mistake … and more like something neither of us is willing to give up.
Because the deeper I fall for Evangeline, the more impossible the decision becomes—choosing my family … or the woman I think was always meant to be mine.
(ARC Read)
There is just something about a hero who has been quietly in love for years that gets me every single time, and Aston Griffith had me from page one.
The setup for this book could have easily been filled with unnecessary drama, but Ava Sutton handled it so well. Aston isn’t torn because he doesn’t know who he wants. He’s torn because loving Eva means risking one of the most important relationships in his life—his twin brother. That emotional conflict felt real from beginning to end, and it made every decision carry so much more weight.
Aston is the definition of a gentle giant. On the football field he’s intimidating, confident, and impossible to miss. The second Eva walks into the room, though? He completely melts. He waited too long to ask her out in college, stepped aside for his brother, and spent years wondering what might have been. When fate gives him a second chance, you can feel how desperately he wants to do the right thing while also realizing he’s finally found the woman he’s never stopped wanting.
“Eva, look at me.”
“I’ve always looked at you.”
And Eva? I absolutely adored her. She’s smart, ambitious, quick-witted, and refuses to let anyone question whether she belongs as a field producer covering professional football. She worked hard for her career, and I loved that even while navigating a secret relationship, she never lost sight of her own goals. She matched Aston perfectly because she never let him get too comfortable. The banter between them was one of my favorite parts of the book. Whether she was feeding interview questions through a reporter just to mess with him, teasing him about his flannel obsession, or finding new ways to keep him on his toes, every interaction felt effortless and fun. They challenged each other, laughed together, and genuinely enjoyed being around one another.
“Are you hosting a lumberjack convention, or do you have a kink for wood and leather I should know about?”
The chemistry between these two was incredible. Every stolen glance on the sidelines, every secret touch, every quiet moment where they had to pretend nothing was happening only made the tension stronger. Once they were finally able to stop hiding, their relationship felt so natural. They simply fit, and it was impossible not to root for them.
She’s not a memory for me. She’s a storm, and she belongs right here, in the center of the life I’m building.
One thing I especially appreciated was that Ava resisted the urge to manufacture drama just for the sake of it. The emotional moments felt earned, the conflicts stayed grounded in the characters and their relationships, and the payoff was all the more satisfying because of it. It’s a story about love, but it’s also about family, loyalty, forgiveness, and realizing that sometimes doing the right thing isn’t as simple as sacrificing your own happiness.
“You were meant to be mine the first time I saw you years ago.”
I also continue to love the found family Ava has created in this series. Every gathering with the Titans crew feels like coming home, and I would happily accept an invitation to any of their family dinners. The cameos from the Walker University characters were such a fun bonus, and every glimpse of the Griffith family only made me more excited for future books.
If you love secret relationships, years of yearning, protective football heroes who absolutely lose their minds over one woman, sharp banter, and enough family tension to keep you glued to the pages, The Secret delivers all of it.
Release Date: July 24th, 2026
Thank you to Ava Sutton for the ARC read!