Review: No Such Thing As A Secret – Shelly Fredman

No Such Thing As A Secret by Shelly Fredman
Series:  Brandy Alexander #1
Release Date:  May 20, 2005
Publisher:   AuthorHouse
Page Count:  
Source:  Sassy Girl Book Club

Meet Brandy Alexander, a young woman from South Philadelphia, with a big mouth, an even bigger heart and a little problem with impulse control. It’s not her fault trouble seems to follow her around. Okay, it is her fault, but why quibble over details? When Brandy (a puff piece reporter for a local Los Angeles TV news station) returns to her hometown, after a four year absence, she is thrilled to be reunited with friends and family. But her joy is short-lived when her best friend, John, becomes the victim of a tragic accident. Brandy is alone in thinking that the death is no “accident,” and as she sets out to prove her theory, she stumbles upon a political scandal of major proportions. Things begin to heat up when it appears that her former boyfriend, police detective Robert Anthony DiCarlo, is involved in sabotaging the investigation. The one thing Brandy knows for sure is that people keep turning up dead, and if she doesn’t get some answers, fast, she could end up on the short list. As Brandy searches out the truth, she gains some unexpected allies, including sexy, dangerous, street-savvy Nicholas Santiago, and the now-married Bobby, who still holds a torch for his former girlfriend. With humor, guts and determination Brandy tackles each challenge, be it dodging a bullet or resisting that box of Tastykakes in the cupboard. Murder, mayhem and romance abound in Shelly Fredman’s novel, proving there really is No Such Thing as a Secret.

Have you ever finished a book and thought to yourself “How is it I’ve never heard of this book before?”  That’s the question I’ve been asking myself as I search the internet for the rest of the books in this series.



Brandy Alexander is a small time reporter for an LA station on her way back home to Philadelphia for her high school best friend’s wedding.  She’s avoided going back in the four years she’s been away because of a certain cop who broke her heart.  But her best friend Franny, the bride, has demanded she come home to be in the wedding, so here she comes.


Trouble seems to find Brandy almost as soon as she sets foot back in the city of brotherly love.  She has a kid pee his pants in front of her while waiting to buy food at the airport, is almost run over by a van being piloted by eighty year old nuns, takes a drunken tumble off a stage at the sight of her ex-boyfriend (we won’t mention the boob that pops out just prior to this incident), believes her best male friend Johnny has been blown to pieces and manages to get her brother’s priceless (to him) car towed.  This all within a few days of coming home!!


Troubled by what happened to her friend Johnny, she decides to start investigating the story he had told her the day he picked her up.  She figures she owes to Johnny to find out why he was blown up and exactly who’s responsible.  When she takes the obvious route, the police, she’s disheartened that no one seems to believe her story, which leads Brandy to start investigating on her own.


While navigating the trouble thrown in her path (or rather what she places in her path), she also must deal with the unresolved issues between her and Bobby (the cop ex-boyfriend), the hideous bridesmaid dresses Franny has picked out and her suddenly very alert labido when she enlists the very sexy and very mysterious Nick Santiago.

This book was a riot.  I was laughing out loud at various parts of the book that had me remembering what is was like to grow up back East in an Italian family.  It was priceless.

If you enjoy the Stephanie Plum series, you will devour this book.  It’s what Stephanie was back in the beginning.

Can’t wait to read the next book in the series!