What would you do if you discovered you were living a lie?
When a shocking news report shatters Juno Ryan's world, she suddenly finds herself without the man she loves - and with no way of getting the answers she needs.
Juno flees to the enchanting Villa Naranja in Spain. The blue skies and orange groves - along with Pep, the local winemaker's handsome son - begin to soothe her broken heart. But just when she begins to feel whole again, another bombshell drops.
Juno might have run away from her secrets, but the past isn't finished with her...
Many thanks to Headline via NetGalley for my copy of The Hideaway to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Hideaway by Sheila O Flanagan sees Juno Ryan arriving to the warm climate of Spain and specifically the small town of Beniflor. She has escaped from her work as a radiologist as things have not being going that well for her recently. She loves her job and always been dedicated to it but recent events have meant that her mind is straying and she cannot concentrate on the task at hand. A work colleague suggests taking some time out to be by herself, to come to terms with what she has discovered. Pilar originally comes from Spain so Juno takes her up on the offer of staying in her grandmother's house which has laid idle since her passing. I thought Juno was brave to go off on her own but I think deep down she knew she was struggling and staying in her present environment no matter how much she enjoyed her work was really not the thing for her at that time.
When we first meet Juno she is an emotional wreck and quite honestly a character that went on to be quite infuriating throughout the book because of the way she approached and dealt with things. I felt she lacked courage, strength and conviction and I understand she needed to go through a process to reach those emotional points and some sort of acceptance and realisation as to what her next step may be but the journey to do so was quite long and drawn out at times and I did feel the book could have been shorter. Juno feels her competence and strength have been called into question and that she is about to be tested to her limit. Upon hearing earth shattering news she becomes engulfed in anguish, grief and pain and these feelings only intensify. She hopes by getting away from it all that she can slowly begin to heal. But how can she when everything she believed to be true has been not even been called into question but rather thrown into utter disarray. She is experiencing a maelstrom of emotions and the question remains can she cope with what is ahead of her?
Initially I did feel sorry for Juno as the news she heard meant her life was turned upside down but after a while I thought hold on you had been taken for granted and used and if the major event had not happened surely sooner rather than later you would have discovered things anyway. You couldn't have gone on the way things were. As she settled into the villa Juno really needed to stop thinking and over analysing things. I don't think she was ever going to get the answers she so desperately craved instead she needed to man up so to speak and get over things instead of moping around. Seclusion and isolation would hopefully offer the closure she needed but was she willing to let her heart open up once again of some form of romance came her way?
In the first half of the book nothing much happened at all. There were times Juno spoke to no other characters bar a cat who had taken up residence at the villa. There was endless repetition of what she did every day and how she set about renovating the house as a means to take her mind off things but honestly this all became so monotonous and boring that I was just dying for something exciting to happen and for the pace to be ramped up big time. This never actually happened. Yes later there is more interaction as different characters start to make an appearance. Despite the potential the overall plot showed, I don't think this book ever really got off the ground and at times I did struggle with whether I should keep reading. I did keep going because I wanted to know the outcome for Juno but when spirits and ghostly happenings started to be mentioned, I thought this is too much and why is it being included in this book? It didn't need it at all. Some strands became too airy fairy for me and the mentions of chakras, spirituality and mysticality was just all a bit too much.
When the romance element did arrive I thought finally Juno was letting go and just throwing caution to the wind and going for it and who cares what the consequences were. She was on holiday and she needed to let go but then on the other hand given all the time she had spent explaining to the reader how her heart and mind felt was it just too soon? Then when someone else turns up out of the blue in the last quarter it just felt even more rushed and that decisions had to be made quick smart because we were nearing the end of the book. Yes the book was too long in my opinion but all the romance that came in the last quarter would have been better off from the midway point and curtailing the descriptions of her daily life in Spain in the earlier chapters would have been more beneficial.I felt that would have enabled the reader to get to the heart of the story much quicker.
The Hideaway wasn't the best book I have read by Sheila O'Flanagan. I was disappointed because I know what brilliant stories she can write as I have spent many an hour indulging in her writing particularly her earlier books. I view this book as one to read on holidays on a sun lounger as a book you pick up and down when you feel like it. It won't be the most memorable book you have ever read but I'm sure long term fans will enjoy it.
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