REVIEW: Secret Haven by Catherine Cowles

In Secret Haven by Catherine Cowles, Fallon “Fal” Colson met and fell in love with Kyler “Kye” Blackwood when she was fourteen years old. Both dealing with their emotions and trauma that wouldn’t dissipate, they forged a bond that was so strong, so pure, it would carry them through for years and even decades to come. But then the unthinkable happens. After a horrific event in Kye’s life brings him under the protective wing of Fal’s family as a foster, they have no choice but to pretend not to know each other. The Colsons’ home is something Kye can’t turn down. And Fal knows she needs to keep up the story that they just met in order to keep him safe.

‘For fourteen years, I’d thought it was as easy as breathing for Kye to throw away his feelings for me and shift us into the friend zone. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. He’d given everything for me. And now, he was paying the price.’

Jump forward almost fifteen years and Kye and Fal still have an undeniable connection–even if it is only as friends. He’s gone on to make a name for himself in the world of tattoos as well as MMA while she’s become a social worker in Sparrow Falls. And Kye knows any child who gets Fal as their caseworker will be as protected and cared for as humanly possible. But unfortunately, her newest case is heartbreaking. And the ties it has to Kye and his past shock him through and through. He dives into the chaos with Fal, trying to do right by a trio of young girls whose lives have been anything but kind. He completely understands given his own childhood. The plan he and Fal come up with might be unorthodox, but Kye knows between the two of them and the Colsons backing them up, there’s no way they can’t succeed.

“You make me feel…not alone. And, Sparrow? I’ve been alone for basically as long as I’ve been breathing. But you? You make it all better.”

Epic doesn’t begin to describe SECRET HAVEN, the final book in the Sparrow Falls series. Catherine Cowles held absolutely nothing back and sent the Colsons and everyone in their sphere off with the most heartwarming, sweetest of HEAs.

“Love you, Sparrow. My hope in the dark. My haven.”

CW: View Spoiler »Child abuse & abandonment, drug use, murder, kidnapping, torture, mental illness « Hide Spoiler

I cannot tell you how sad I am to see Catherine Cowles’ popular Sparrow Falls series end. But SECRET HAVEN had everything fans could hope for…and then some. A swoony, sexy romance that was fourteen years in the making. A found family of people who had been to hell and back who finally got all the happiness they so deserved. And a trio of girls who persevered through a horrible home life to find the perfect soft spot to land and start fresh.

This is a series I would suggest reading in order starting with book one. While each can technically be read as a standalone, there have been a lot of hints at not only how Fallon and Kye’s relationship began years ago, but also about some of the side characters who were important to this particular storyline. And what a wild ride this was. Cowles was on point with, well, everything, but especially when it came to the plot twists and the suspense. As l always seem to do with her books, I found myself second guessing who I thought the culprit was after Kye and some people from his past. And while I was honestly sad about the circumstances of it all–and who it was–I think Cowles made it fit perfectly.

As for Kye and Fallon together, wow. Theirs was a poignant history that was as tender as it was sad. Because what drew them together in high school was the trauma they had both been through. I won’t give spoilers, but suffice to say Fallon and Kye, though they appeared to be opposites at first glance, were utter perfection together. They had this bond that–even though it changed and grew over the years–just couldn’t be severed. I adored every scene in which they were together. And even the bit of taboo about them being foster siblings didn’t bother me because they always seemed more like friends than siblings. After the Colsons’ initial shock at Fallon and Kye’s true feelings, you can guess that they rallied around them and protected (and teased) them fiercely. Be ready for hilarious group chats with all the siblings and their partners as well as TWO epilogues where everything for them gets tied up in a big old beautiful bow.

QOTD: Have you read any other books or series with a found family that you really enjoyed? If so, feel free to share!

Book Info:

Publication: Published: October 21st, 2025 | The PageSmith LLC | Sparrow Falls #6

The first time I met Kyler Blackwood, he was a bruised and battered boy with fire in his eyes and nowhere safe to land.

Since the first time he kissed me, he was my best-kept secret, my quiet rebellion, my haven in the storm.

But fate forced us apart, making us pretend to be strangers because it hurt too much to be anything else.

Years later, time hasn’t dulled what we felt, has never erased the way we fit. And when Kye’s past collides with my present, everything shifts.

It’s a choice neither of us expected.
A bond that never really broke.
A line we were never meant to cross.

We tell ourselves it’s only temporary, that the arrangement is just a means to an end. But with each passing day, the lie feels more like the truth. And with each stolen touch, Kye feels more like mine. Because some things were never meant to be pretend.

And some dangers are closer than we ever imagined…