Emma's Review: My Grandmother's Secret by Laura Sweeney

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

After her marriage ends, Grace returns to her late grandmother Lily’s seaside cottage in the beautiful village of Dovecote. The path to the house is lined with daisy bushes, and Grace immediately feels like she’s returned home. Surely spending time here will heal her heart?

Clearing out the chest of drawers in her grandmother’s bedroom, Grace discovers romantic letters from the Second World War, each signed ‘Henri’. Lily shared everything with Grace, so why doesn’t she recognise his name? Hidden amongst the letters is a sealed envelope, addressed in Lily’s hand. But what stopped her from sending it?

Desperate for answers, Grace asks the one person she knows can help, her ex-boyfriend and historian, James. His charming smile and kind, brown eyes are a welcome distraction from her grief, and they agree to find out what happened to Henri. As they begin to spend more time together, Grace wonders if years of heartache could be unwritten…

But just as Grace’s feelings for James resurface, they uncover a heartbreaking secret that changes everything. Could these letters be a sign Grace needs to take a second chance on love? Or will Lily’s past force Grace to confront a secret of her own, which could tear her and James apart forever?

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Emma's Review: Inheriting the Cottage by the Loch by Kennedy Kerr

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Catriona McGovern and her sister Bridget have never seen eye to eye since Catie left Loch Cameron years ago. So when they learn of a mysterious inheritance from a woman they have never met, Bridget and Catriona are stunned. The will states they must put aside their differences and live together in the beautiful, ivy-covered house overlooking the loch for at least one year.

Catie needs all the help she can get untangling historical property records and housekeeper diaries for the manor. The local laird’s wayward younger brother, Matt Cameron, is tasked with helping out: although surly Matt, newly returned to the Highlands under a cloud of his own seems less than pleased. But spending time together at the old mansion, they soon bond over their love of old movies and Matt’s increasingly cheeky jokes.

But Castle View House is hiding more secrets than the sisters ever thought possible. And when a battered wall safe in the attic reveals a clue as to who left them the house and why, the sisters are pulled into a decades-old family mystery that could finally reunite them, or tear them apart for good…

Can Catie and Matt work together to see that there’s more to life than burn out in the big city, and that family is the most important treasure of all?

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Emma's Review: The Village Midwife by Tilly Tennant

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Welcome to Thimblebury, the charming stone village nestled in the rolling hills of the Lake District, where midwife Zoe is hoping for a bright new beginning…

When midwife Zoe Padbury moves into Kestrel Cottage, high on a misty hill above the village of Thimblebury, everyone rallies round to make sure she doesn’t feel lonely. And as she begins her job at the doctor’s surgery, dealing with expectant mums and helping to bring newborns into the world, warmth begins to flood back into her battered and broken heart.

But the evenings are long and as Zoe sits on her cornflower-blue sofa, looking at the golden peaks crowned by clouds, she can’t help but wish she had someone to share her new life with. Her ex-husband treated her badly, but it’s still hard to resist his warm and loving messages begging for a second chance.

Distraction arrives when she meets Alex out walking his shaggy grey dog, and discovers that he will be moving in next door. As she chats to Alex, Zoe finds it hard to ignore his thick dark hair and eyes the colour of chocolate, and her heart clenches at the worried frown that creases his brow.

She soon learns why Alex is anxious when she pays his pregnant daughter a home visit and learns of the tragedy that has brought them to Thimblebury. Zoe is no stranger to sadness, and as she and Alex lean on each other, a tentative spark begins to flicker.

But when Alex gets the wrong idea and thinks Zoe has betrayed his trust, followed by Zoe’s ex appearing on her doorstep, swearing he’s a changed man, will that spark be snuffed out? Coming to the Lake District was meant to be a fresh start for Zoe. But what if the pull of her old life is too overwhelming to resist?

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Emma's Review: The Home for War Orphans by Jenna Ness

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Margot has spent most of her life at St Agnes’ Orphanage with her little sister Lucie. She does her best to care for all the children, cradling them under the stars when Sister Helen can’t get them to sleep. But she knows that when the Nazis reach the gates of Paris, the Jewish orphans will be in terrible danger. She must help them escape…

Holding on tightly to Lucie as they all scramble into a truck bound for the countryside, Margot cannot prevent her hands from shaking. Then one night, by the flickering light of the makeshift fire, Sister Helen tells Margot she has found a rich family to take Lucie in. But there will be no safety for the other children – unless Margot can lead them to the French coast for a ship destined for America.

Looking from her sister’s bright blue eyes to the little patchwork teddy the children share, Margot realises she must trust someone else with the only family she has left. But as soon as the wrought-iron gates of Lucie’s new home slam shut, Margot knows she’s made a mistake. Devastated at being left behind with strangers, Lucie runs away.

Margot knows the only place Lucie will run to is the high stone walls of the orphanage, where she last knew warmth and food and comfort. With fear in her heart, Margot is faced with an impossible choice. Should she race to save her sister from a terrible fate, or make sure the other orphans escape?

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Emma's Review: The Tuscan Sister's Secret by Daniela Sacerdoti

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Ever since her twin sister returned to the family home, Bianca has felt more lost than ever. For the first time in her life, she’s not the only one taking care of her family. But her newfound freedom makes it impossible to stop thinking about Lorenzo. She has loved him since they met beneath a tree between their houses as children, but a long-seated family feud means they can never be together...

Determined to distract herself from her heartache, Bianca is delighted when she runs into a childhood friend, Brando, who secures her a job at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. And the more time she spends with him in the archives, cataloguing the museum’s precious library, the more she becomes captivated by his warm brown eyes. Maybe his gentle smile will heal her heart?

But when Bianca discovers a long-lost diary in the archives, written by a young woman who once lived in her family’s villa, she is gripped by the story of forbidden love that mirrors her own. As she reads, Bianca wonders whether she should take courage from this stranger’s story. But is Bianca’s chance for happiness already lost forever? Or is it not too late for her to heal the wounds of the past, and fight for the man she loves?

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