Synopsis

Having discovered her mother’s and Shane’s devastating betrayal, a determined Dahlia seeks to find what was taken from her and to chart a new life for herself. With the help of Vi’s friend, Englishman Thomas Squires, a dashing and enigmatic clandestine operative, Dahlia chases leads across London and Paris. Will Dahlia be able to right the wrong and allow herself to love again?

Excerpt

Prologue

My Dearest Dahlia,

I hate that I’ve waited so long to tell you this. Hell, I hate myself for what I’ve done. This is the tenth letter I’ve written you. Each time I promise myself I’ll send it, but I don’t.

She’s still alive, Dahlia! Our daughter, Marissa, is alive. Remember when your mother arranged her transfer to the NICU in a nearby hospital and told you she died a few days later? It wasn’t true.

I visited her everyday that she was there. Then one day, she was gone. A nurse told me that she had been transferred to another hospital, but I couldn’t figure out where. I contacted your mother who came to see me with a lawyer. She offered me a lot of money if I’d give her up. At the time I refused. I couldn’t do that. But you ended things when I went to see you later that day to tell you what happened. You were done with me. Your mother was right. I was a complete fuck-up and loser. I felt like shit. It was my fault you were in such bad shape. I was never there for you. How could I be there for our baby? I couldn’t be the father I wanted to be. I was broke, and she told me she would revoke your trust fund and leave you penniless. I couldn’t do that to you.

You think your parents gave me money as some consolation prize if I dropped out of your life. They were also buying my silence. I signed my life away to them. If I ever told you about Marissa, your mother swore I’d pay and my family would suffer. Back then my mom couldn’t pay her rent and the government was giving her a hard time about survivor benefits. Somehow, your mother magically made the issues disappear. Her influence was that deep, but I don’t need to tell you that. I knew that she would make my life miserable if I ever told you the truth.

I hit bottom after you left. It took me a long time to clean up and figure out what I was going to do with my life. Once I did, I realized my goal was to make things right for you and our daughter. If only I had worked it out sooner, maybe it would’ve been different for us. I regret giving up the two of you. A better person would’ve refused your mother’s offer. But I wasn’t that man then. I don’t know if I can ever convince you of how much I love you and will always love you.

I’ve tried to find Marissa. I even hired an investigator, but came up with nothing. Your mother doesn’t want her found.

Maybe, if we find each other again, we’ll be able to search for her together.

All my Love,
Shane

My Thoughts

The final installment of Dahlia's trilogy was fantastic! It's so hard to write a review will no spoilers, but I will say this:

For me Red Dahlia had a different feel to it - again. I felt more of a suspense feeling than anything else. There was less focus on the sex, but the sex scenes that were in the story were as HOT as ever. I wouldn't expect anything less from the amazing Vivian Winslow!

For a novella there sure was a lot going on. While it was great to see how Dahlia's story finished up for her, this novella also opened up a lot of questions - about Vi. I'm assuming, and hoping, that the next story we get from this author is Vi's!

Red Dahlia was a page turner, and even though I knew it was a novella, the story just seemed to fly by. As with all the installments in the Gilded Flower series, I wanted more!

If you have been reading these novellas, you definitely need to get Red Dahlia and continue the story. I don't know how anyone couldn't after the way Blue Dahlia ended! ;)

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating

Author Information

Vivian Winslow was born and raised in Southern California. Before becoming a writer, she made a career out of moving around the world every couple of years thanks to her husband’s job. She currently lives in New York City with her husband and two elementary school age children, and is grateful to finally have a place to call home for more than two years. New York is the perfect city to indulge her love of shopping, the arts and especially food.

If she’s not at home writing or running around the city with her kids, you’ll most likely find her indulging in pizza on the Lower East Side or having a cocktail at her favorite bar in Alphabet City. That said, she’s still a California girl at heart and would gladly trade in her heels for a pair of flip-flops to catch a sunset on the beach.

Hosted By