What's Her Secret? Books in Order

Crissy Smith's contribution to the What's Her Secret? collection is a two-part paranormal romance centered on Piper Maxwell and Jace Anderson. The story begins with Last Call and continues in Designated Alpha. Piper is carrying a dangerous secret and has spent much of her life moving on before anyone can get too close.

Then she meets Jace.

Jace owns the bar where Piper works and is an ex-Marine who sees that she is afraid of something, even if he does not know what. Piper wants him, but she believes staying with him would put him in danger. Their relationship starts with that push and pull: Jace wants a future with her, while Piper thinks survival means leaving before her past catches up.

The paranormal element is tied directly to Piper's hidden identity. Once that truth comes out, the danger becomes immediate. Her past is not finished with her, and Jace has to decide how far he will go to protect the woman he loves. Piper also has to face the possibility that being honest might be safer than running alone.

Designated Alpha picks up after the events of Last Call. Piper and Jace are trying to understand her origins and abilities while new people, including someone who may share Piper's gifts, enter their lives. The threat grows when the couple is taken captive and Piper has another secret she is desperate to keep hidden.

This is a compact, suspense-forward paranormal romance. It has a smaller cast and a tighter focus than the large Pack series, but the stakes remain personal and urgent. Piper's fear comes from real experience, while Jace's protectiveness is balanced by the fact that he cannot solve every problem for her.

The setting moves from the bar where Piper and Jace first connect to places where they can search for answers about what Piper is. The mood combines romance, danger, hidden history, and the question of whether a person can truly escape the past.

Read Last Call before Designated Alpha. The second book directly continues Piper and Jace's story, and its revelations work best after readers know why Piper has been living on the run.