REVIEW: Mr. Morrissey’s Secret- Toni V. Sweeney

Title: Mr. Morrissey’s Secret
Author: Toni V. Sweeney
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Later in Life Romance
Publisher: Wordwooze Publishing
Release Date: March 26, 2024
Format: Kindle
Pages: 186
Source: Amazon

David Morrissey's life is near-perfect. A widower with a teenage daughter, he teaches at an ultraconservative Southern preparatory school, had been voted Teacher of the Year three times, and is engaged to the daughter of the chairman of the school's board.

That life comes to a screeching halt when the fact of his previous employment is emblazoned across the headlines of the school newspaper … that twenty years before, everyone's favorite teacher was a cover model famous for those hot historical romances called "bodice rippers."

David isn't ashamed of his former employment. He simply considers it part of a different life and never mentions it. It's even on his application. The school board takes a jaundiced view, however, if a trifle belatedly. In short order, he loses his job, his fiancée, and has television and newspaper reporters beating down his door for interviews.

It's all just a little unfair.

David isn't taking it sitting down, however. He's preparing to fight back against the board's decision. Little does he know that this newsworthy event will bring back into his life the woman he loved and lost, and another much bigger, more important secret.

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Review By Sherry Perkins

Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team

“It started out as such a beautiful day.”—Mr. Morrissey’s Secret

I do enjoy books beginning with a bit of foreshadowing, especially romances ,since they offer us the much-desired promise of happiness ever after. Really, who doesn’t crave a little HEA? With Toni V. Sweeney, depending on the genre, she knows how to craft and deliver on a promise made. Because no matter what genre she is writing, she is particularly adept at setting the hook, telling a story, throwing in a clever twist, and then resolving the conflicts created.

In “Mr. Morrissey’s Secret,” David Morrissey is a prep school teacher at a South Carolina school. The good life is essentially his. He loves his job; his students like him. He has a steady romantic relationship with a coworker, and he has his daughter with him—his first wife died not so long ago. But he has a secret. It is something discovered incidentally by his daughter and her BFF, Flavia. They find a portfolio of book cover art in the attic with Morrissey as the partially clad, dashing hero. The art is for what we have affectionately come to know as “bodice ripper” novels. Already the object of several high school crushes and the usual teenaged curiosities about teaching faculty and staff, the prurient covers pique the interests of the school newspaper editor (and burgeoning investigative reporter) who happens to be Flavia’s sister. Although only considered titillating to most, the discovery is more problematic for the school principal, board, and of course, Morrissey’s love interest, Estella. So, Morrissey is fired, and his relationship with Estella is strained. As he fights his wrongful dismissal—because he made no secret on his resume that he had done ad work and modeling prior to becoming a teacher—someone from his past makes a reappearance and presents a more surprising secret. Thankfully, it’s a secret which offers a most satisfying solution.

Speaking of secrets, it’s no secret I enjoy Sweeney’s books. She is a go-to writer for me. One appealing bit of her writing style is the ability to connect us to “real” people, places, and predicaments. Her heroes are believable, the conflicts are familiar, and the places seem recognizable. In other words, Sweeney has a gift for making you feel that you can identify and sincerely root for the main characters!

A five-star review about a man who has an unexpected reconnection with his secret past.