Emma's Review: The Vicar's Daughter at the Lodging House by Natalie Meg Evans

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When Jess discovers the letter from her older sister Charlotte tucked into an old typewriter, her world is shaken. It’s dated two days after their father, the vicar, said she died. How could he lie about that? Desperate to uncover the truth, Jess must find her sister. The London location in her sister’s letter is her only clue…

Leaving her quiet life in the country as a vicar’s daughter behind, now Jess is in the city in wartime, her gas mask slung around her shoulder. Her one refuge is her room at a Mayfair lodging house with two other girls. Wealthy Betony is all style and charm, but she’s trying to shake her aristocratic airs and graces. Irish nurse Grace with her easy smile is much more down to earth, but Jess is certain she’s keeping a secret…

With war throwing the three girls together, can Jess’s new friends help find her missing sister, despite the secrets between them? Or will they be torn apart for good?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Hidden Letter at Bluebell Farm by Rebecca Alexander

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Arriving at Bluebell Farm in the English countryside, historian Tasha has never felt more alone. Her twins have left for university, her marriage is over, and she’s said goodbye to the place she thought would always be her home. Exploring the tumbledown farm and striking up a friendship with elderly Maud, whose prickly exterior masks a warm heart, offers the distraction Tasha desperately needs.

Together with Ryan, a silver-haired, motorbike-riding archaeologist, Tasha digs into the farm’s history. Soon she finds faded photographs and a sealed, yellowing letter that calls to her. But Maud’s eyes fill with tears as she insists the long-lost letter must never be opened. Could it be from Maud’s father, who went missing after the Second World War?

Intrigued by the stories hidden behind Maud’s sharp blue eyes, Tasha and Ryan unearth a heart-wrenching secret. Maud’s father’s disappearance is not the only mystery hidden on this farm. If Maud reads the letter after all these years, will it reveal all?

And with Maud’s encouragement, can Tasha have a second chance at love with kind-hearted Ryan? Or will the heartache in their own pasts keep them apart? 

Book Link: Kindle 

Emma's Review: Just One Look at You by Jill Mansell

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Fen can't believe her luck. A luxury holiday with her beloved grandmother Disa - what could be more delightful? It doesn't cross her mind that she might fall in love. Or that love can bring complications . . .

Jamie can't help it that women always fall for him, rather than for his kind-hearted friend Leon. Nor that only one of them got the looks (that would be Jamie). But how will he feel if the girl he's drawn to only has eyes for Leon?

Disa has a secret. A few weeks ago, an old letter in a file revealed a shocking truth about her late husband. She's come to Venice to find out more.

There's news on the way that will reverberate through all their lives, as Jill Mansell's joyful, heartbreaking new novel takes readers on a roller coaster ride of emotion - and makes us believe in love again.

Book Links: Kindle or Hardcover

Emma's Review: The Secret Sewing Society by Siobhan Curham

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Occupied Ukraine, 1940. Zirka has been sewing ever since she was a little girl. But now, every stitch contains a spark of rebellion. Together with her cousin Perla, as war rages around them they sew vital secret messages for the resistance into embroidered shirts.

Every night, Zirka leaves to meet with her fiancé in secret and Perla pours her heart out into her diary. Nobody else knows that Perla is living under false papers. If the two women are caught, or betrayed, it would mean certain death…

Lviv, 2022. As Ana gazes around at the peeling wallpaper, she hopes this little shop will bring her closer to the memory of her grandmother Zirka. After Ana’s mother suddenly refused to see or speak to Zirka decades ago, Ana has been desperate to find out what terrible secret tore them apart.

A diary hidden in a long-forgotten kitchen drawer tells of a secret sewing society vital to the war effort long ago. Ana knows she must continue her grandmother’s legacy of resistance now another war has come to her beloved country. But she’s no closer to finding the truth about her own family… and when she does, will she learn that some wartime secrets are too dangerous to uncover?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Secret Twins of Paris by Suzanne Kelman

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Paris, 2011: Lily Tremaine’s hands shake as she opens the envelope addressed in her mother’s hand. The faded letter inside reveals the long-buried family secret that her mother had a twin she was separated from during the Second World War. A tear slides down Lily’s cheek, knowing the loss of a sister caused her mother so much heartbreak. And now, after all these years, her mother needs Lily to find her…

As Lily begins to piece together the fragments of her mother’s story, she meets Julien, a photographer whose research contains the clues she needs to unlock the past. As they pore over faded black and white photographs together, a warm feeling begins to stir in Lily’s chest. But she knows she can’t bury her own recent heartbreak just yet, not until she has fulfilled her mother’s wish.

When the truth of what happened to the young twins is revealed, it is more shocking than Lily could have ever anticipated. And with her mother’s health failing, she is running out of time to find her mother’s missing sister. Can Lily piece together long-buried family secrets from the war in time to reunite the lost twins of Paris before it is too late?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback