One Last Secret
A week at an opulent chateau in the south of France was supposed to be a straightforward swan song for Dora. As a sharp, highly discreet escort, playing the part of a repeat client's devoted girlfriend should be effortless. It’s meant to be her lavish farewell to the industry before she escapes to start a new life with the man she truly loves. But the moment Dora arrives, the glittering illusion fractures. She suddenly finds herself face-to-face with a ghost from her past—the one man who sees right through her carefully constructed masks. As long-buried truths threaten to erupt, the luxurious getaway turns sinister, making it terrifyingly clear that keeping one last secret could cost Dora her life.
- Dora (Theodora/Natalya) - Sex worker, 31
- Daniel - Dora’s client
- Elspeth - Dora’s manager, 39
- Evan - Dora’s best friend/fiancé
- Giles and Melanie - Actors posing as married couple
- Chen and Liling - Actors posing as married couple
- Marmalade - Shaun's dog
- Sisi and Neo - Actors posing as married couple
- Amanda - Actor posing as Jonathan's wife
- Jonathan - Works for Shaun
- Radmila - Dora’s mother
- Dottie - Dora’s daughter
- Shaun - Dottie’s father
- Dora goes by the name Natalya to her clients.
- Dora is beaten and raped by a new client, but he is wearing a mask so she can’t identify him.
- The attacker warns her to stop what she’s doing or the next time will be her last.
- Evan asks Dora to marry him and give up sex work and she says yes.
- Evan travels out of the country for a business trip.
- Daniel asks Natalya to accompany him to a friend’s house for a week and pretend to be his girlfriend, and she agrees.
- Daniel and Natalya travel to a house where she meets his friends.
- Daniel’s friends are friendly one moment and cruel to Natalya the next.
- Natalya believes Jonathan is the client who beat and raped her.
- Natalya keeps misremembering events, like believing she fell asleep by the pool but waking up in her bed, and being told she said and did things she doesn’t remember.
- Neo films Giles and Natalya having sex. Natalya doesn’t remember the encounter, but Neo insists she asked him to film it.
- Eleven years ago: Dora gives birth to a baby she names Dottie.
- Dora becomes friends with Graham who helps her out.
- Graham’s job moves him away.
- When Dottie is almost a year old, Dora finally tells Radmila about her and Radmila comes to live with Dora and Dottie.
- Dora starts working as an escort after failing to find other work that pays enough to support herself and Dottie.
- When Radmila finds out Dora is doing sex work, she says she is taking Dottie home to Serbia and Dora agrees it’s for the best.
- Radmila adopts Dottie and tells people that Dottie is her daughter and Dora is her sister.
- Now: Jonathan reveals that Daniel brought Natalya there at his request because Daniel owed him a favor.
- The real man behind everything arrives: Shaun, Dottie’s father, who paid Jonathan to beat Natalya at the hotel and bring her to the house.
- Shaun reveals that everyone at the house was an actor and that Jonathan works for him.
- Dora was being drugged the entire time she was at the house and was never losing her mind.
- Dora believes that when Dottie was six, she and Radmila died in a car accident.
- Dora pushes Jonathan down the stairs, killing him.
- Evan tracks Dora’s phone after she stops replying to his texts.
- Evan arrives and Dora explains what is happening and asks for his help.
- Evan reveals that Shaun is his father.
- Shaun believes Dora tracked Evan down to get revenge on him for abandoning her.
- Dora stabs Shaun in the face with a letter opener, causing him to fall into the pool and drown.
- Evan pretends he cannot swim, allowing Shaun to drown, but Dora later learns that Evan is actually an excellent swimmer and intentionally let Shaun die to protect her.
- Evan and Dora drag Shaun’s body into the house and set the house on fire.
- After Dottie and Radmila supposedly died, Dora tracked down Evan in an attempt to take him away from Shaun and ruin Shaun’s life.
- Dora never tells Evan that she fathered a baby with Shaun.
- Epilogue: Radmila had breast cancer and was already in the process of giving Dottie up for adoption when she died.
- Dottie wasn't in the car when Radmila died.
One Last Secret starts off with a lot of promise, offering very thorough and engaging character development for both Dora and Evan. Unfortunately, this turns into a big problem later in the book when we keep getting more and more backstory for Dora that does not add any value to the present storyline.
The narrative relies entirely too much on Dora’s internal thoughts and monologue rather than dynamic dialogue, causing the plot to really start to drag. When it comes to the plot, there are a few twists in the second half of the book, but only one is genuinely surprising. While I didn't see the others coming, they felt like they came completely out of nowhere but not in a good way.
As a quick note for prospective readers: there is a very heavy focus on sex work and sex throughout the book. While it isn't overly explicit, it is a constant topic of conversation, so if that isn't your preference, this is definitely one to skip.
Finally, the epilogue leaves something to be desired. While it is easy to understand the thematic significance it is meant to have on the rest of the story, logically, it just doesn't make sense. It requires too much suspension of disbelief to accept that things could play out the way they did without people finding out. Overall, while the initial character building is strong, the pacing issues and unearned twists make this one tough to get through.
- Radmila - Dead - Car accident
- Dottie - Alive - Living with her adoptive parents
- Jonathan - Dead - Cracked his head open after Dora pushed him down the stairs
- Shaun - Dead - Drowned
- Dora - Alive - Trying to have a baby with Evan
- Evan - Alive - Trying to have a baby with Dora
- Sex work
- Drugs
- Violence
- Rape
- Gaslighting
- Bullying
- Car accident
- Death of a parent
Publisher: Mira
ISBN: 9780778386773
Publication Date: December 27, 2022
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
