Mary Grace Winters married a sadistic, wife-beating police officer and had landed up in the hospital more than once.  After almost dying she gathered up her seven-year old son Tom, and left with the new identity of Caroline Stewart.  She was determined to make a good life for herself and Tom.  Now, seven years later, she is working at the university in Chicago and only a semester away from receiving her Bachelors Degree.  She has achieved her goal of having a good life but she still feels fearful that her ex-husband Rob, will show up some day.  Unknown to Caroline, the car she left at the bottom of the river was just found and Rob suspects the truth.  He wants his son and he wants revenge -- and being a police detective he knows how to find her information.

Max Hunter reports to work to find that his new secretary is a lovely young woman named Caroline.  He is instantly attracted to her and is determined to ask her out to dinner.  The more he talks to her the more he likes this intelligent and sweet woman.  Max has some of his own problems that need addressing, including the cane he needs to walk and the resentment he feels at what happened in the past.

As Caroline and Max work out their problems and move toward love, the evil forces surrounding Rob Winters are getting closer.  He is a brutally depraved man who doesn’t have a conscious at all.  When the car is found, State Bureau of Investigation Agent Steven Thacker reopens the case, gathering information on Rob but not realizing that his family is also threatened.

DON’T TELL is a story of horrendous spousal abuse and murder but it also is about the other side of the coin -- love, trust and commitment.  Ms Rose does a masterful job of telling the story and moving it along at a good clip.  All the secondary characters played their parts very well; Tom is a special character that is very protective of his mother and Rob, who is evil personified.  Another wonderful character is Caroline’s very dear friend, Dana, who works with battered women.   DON’T TELL is an excellent romantic suspense – it has an equal sharing of both romance and suspense keeping the reader mesmerized by the tale.  It will keep you on the edge of your seat with fear and rooting for the hero and heroine to find the light at the end of the tunnel.    Excellent writing and story telling by Karen Rose.