A Secret for a Secret

All In, Book 3

By: Helena Hunting

Narrated by: Stella Bloom, Jason Clarke

From New York Times bestselling author Helena Hunting comes a new romance about trading secrets, breaking the rules, and playing for keeps.

My name is Ryan Kingston, and I’m a rule follower. I’ve never been in a fistfight. I always obey the speed limit. I don’t get drunk, and I definitely don’t pick up random women at bars.

Except the night I found out that my whole existence has been a lie.

I got drunk. And picked up a stranger.

Her name was Queenie, and she was everything I’m not: reckless, impulsive, and chaotic. We did shots and traded secrets. And ended up naked at my place.

She left me a thank-you note in the morning and her panties as a parting gift. But no way to contact her.

Six weeks later I’m sitting in the first official team meeting of the season, and there she is. I neglected to mention that I’m the goalie for Seattle’s NHL team.

And Queenie? Turns out she’s the general manager’s daughter.

©2020 Helena Hunting (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Helena Hunting does it again!

I’m a fan of Helena Hunting and this book delivers what I’ve come to expect: fun quirky characters, smoking hot love making, and a lot of amusing dialogue. Narration on this on is spot on. Both narrators give their characters that spark of life that helps an audiobook shine.

A tale of acceptance and unconditional love

This was definitely my favorite of the series so far. It was so much fun, and so sexy too! I love a genuinely good guy who talks and acts dirty in the bedroom, and King was great. He and Queenie complemented each other–neat freak Ryan with a f-up family, and messy Queenie who was the most organized assistant ever, a sure recipe for laughs and conflicts.

There was some drama, but not too much angst. The author introduced–or re-introduced–some despicable characters that threatened our main couple. That, plus the fact that they weren’t allowed to have a relationship in the first place because Queenie was Ryan’s team’s GM, created enough tension that the happily ever after wasn’t a sure thing right from the beginning.

I loved how one of the story’s themes was what it is to be a mother–that the woman who gave you birth isn’t necessarily a mother, even that your mother isn’t necessarily your mother, and what kind of relationship one can have with their mother. The rest of the family wasn’t forgotten, especially Queenie’s father.

Both narrators did a great job–though my favorite was the male narrator, whose female voice was more pleasant than the female narrator’s male voice. But they conveyed the energy and the emotions perfectly. Amidst a good amount of sexy times and solid laughter, it was a tale of acceptance and unconditional love that I enjoyed very much.

My favorite of the series!

A Secret for a Secret is definitely my favorite of the All In series, it was so fun and heartfelt. King and Queenie are opposites who balanced each other so perfectly well. I really enjoyed them together.
Ryan Kingston- he's the best of the beta book boyfriends, He's so kind and caring towards Queenie- So.Much.Swoon. I just loved him! Although I think I'd have to do the driving, if he was mine.
I felt bad for Queenie. It's hard for me to imagine having a mother like hers- so unsupportive and dismissive. But she has such a wonderful Dad- he's so great, supporting and just loving her the way a father should. I'd love for Jake to get his own book! And then King comes along and treats her like a queen, ugh what a sweetie.
Even though Queenie and King both had some issues that had to be dealt with, this was definitely a low angst book. Well, for the most part- there was a point when I wanted to through my phone because of a certain ahole. But other than that, this was an easy read.
I liked seeing all the other characters from the previous 2 books make appearances, and it's always fun when Violet's around!

Jason Clarke and Stella Bloom were a great pairing, I enjoyed their performances. Jason actually does female voices pretty well! Stella brought the vulnerability to Queenie's character when it was called for, very nicely done.

He is a king.

Only in a novel but man oh man was he perfection. t
The heroine with her modern dilemas was also relatable. I loved the story.

Sweet, Funny

I really enjoyed King & Queenie as a couple. They were the perfect foil for one another, with neither one being annoyed by the others quirks. Queenie found King's neatness and boy scout ways to be endearing and King felt that Queenie was the perfect storm. I also liked that in this story it was the heroine who was the more commitment shy, that the hero was the one who had to do the convincing that what they had was worth the effort, that she herself was worth the effort. Queenie definitely had some self esteem issues and I'm glad that King never pushed her, that he moved at her pace and encouraged her to be who she really wanted to be.

It was great to check in with the other couples from the previous stories in this series, but this could be enjoyed as a standalone if you haven't read the others. As always Helena Hunting is spot on with the banter and there are several laugh out loud moments. There is some O/W and O/M drama from an ex for each of the main characters and I dropped one star because I did not like how awful Queenie's ex was to her. There were a couple of scenes that made me very anxious, which I'm sure was the point, great writing on Ms. Hunting's part for making me feel that tension in the moment, but it was a bit difficult for me to read and move on from. I'm sure that won't be the case for every reader.

Great book and even though Ms. Hunting has indicated the end to this particular series, I hold out hope that we will see all of these characters again in the future. I'm particularly interested in Queenie's dad Jake!

The male narrator was spot on but I did not care for the female, just not a voice I enjoy, but that's a personal preference.

Amazing

Wow. Queening is one tornado of a compassionate loving woman. Kingston is one upstanding beast of a man. They make for one well balanced fierce strong compassionate couple. I love the chemistry between them and there connection. It was a perfect balance of everything. Could not put this book down.

“He’s the calm and I’m the storm”

The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Romance: 💚🖤💙❤️💜
Heat: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌍🌏
Character development: 😢🙃🙂😚🥰

The heroine: Queenie - she is the daughter of the General Manager of the NHL Seattle expansion team. Her mother left when she was a baby and she was raised by her father alone, she tends to be a rule breaker and gets into trouble which her father usually has to help her get out of. She was on the verge of getting a psychology degree when her mother told her she would make a horrible psychologist, so she quit school and has since had and got fired from a string of waitress jobs.

The Hero: Ryan Kingston - He is a former boy scout, drinks milk with every meal, wears khaki’s and polo shirts, drives below the speed limit and is an all around good guy. He is also a hot as puck NHL Hockey Goalie.

The Story: On the night King finds out that his sister is really his mother, and Queenie loses yet another service job, they meet in a bar, get drunk and have a one-night stand. Six weeks later, when the season begins, King finds out that Queenie is not only the new assistant to his team’s general manager, but his daughter as well.

Helena Hunting does hockey romance like nobody else and I love all of them. I recently read Little Lies which is a spinoff series from this and the Pucked series and I loved to see Lavender, River and Kodiak from that book as little kids in this one. Queenie from this book also appeared in Little Lies, so it was nice to see her before she had her life together.

The book was told in dual points of view via dual narration. Narration was done by Stella Bloom and Jason Clarke who are two of my favorites. Jason has a deep sexy voice and Stella has a clear voice and she is great at portraying emotion through her voice.

4.5 Stars!! Each book in this series gets better & better.

I loved this story. It was actually the original one I wanted to read but, of course, couldn’t just start in the middle of the series. Boy am I glad I did! This series was heart warming bit AF stëamy scenes that 🤯 my mind as Helena Hunting stories do every time.
I wasn’t too sure about Kingston having his own book. Those Boy Scouts don’t traditionally do it for me. I should have known better! Helena wove such a tale that I loved his personality as we REALLY got to know him here. He was straight laced, yes but also protective, patient and caring. He didn’t let anger control him this giving him a healthy emotional age.
Then there is Queenie. The exact opposite of King and I felt so bad for her throughout. She was emotionally abused by more than one person and looking for love in all the wrong places until she stumbled on this hot drunk guy at the bar. The sparks flew immediately and never let up. Their chemistry was SMOKIN hot 🥵 and grew into so much more than a physical thing. They truly balanced each other out and I loved that about them.
I read and listened of course. Stella Bloom and Jason Clarke are 2 of my favorites so listening to them was no hardship. They have perfect cadence and inflection. Also giving this amazing book an extra boost to the next level when listening. I was never bored. All in all I loved this story. Only needed a bit more wrapping up with the ex and the mom. Other than that? A perfect 10 in my book. I will always one click Helena Hinting books as I know they will be amazing per the proof of all the books I’ve read prior! 🥰

Awwww Queenie and King!

I loved going back and listening to the audio of this book after I read it quite some months ago! Jason Clarke and Stella Bloom do an amazing job with the narration! I don’t see 2 better narrators for these characters!

I love Queenie and King and to listen to King’s dirty mouth was so worth it! I can’t wait to listen to a Kiss for a Kiss next!

Loved it!!!

Just as good as the others in this series! I thoroughly enjoyed Kingston and Queenie’s story!