How To Keep A Secret by Sarah Morgan #Review #Women’sFiction #Romance #Contemporary

Title: How To Keep A Secret 

Author: Sarah Morgan

Publisher: HQ

Pages: 384

Published: June 14th, 2018

Rating: 5/5

Sarah Morgan is one of my go-to authors – I’ve loved everything I’ve ever read by her. However, for once I was wary as she acknowledges that this story is different to her usual style and it is – but it is still an enthralling read. As she says, it is “bigger in scope, with more characters, breadth and depth.” It is also an enthralling family drama and romance which takes readers on a rollercoaster emotional journey during which secrets are revealed impacting on the lives of all concerned.

Sisters Lauren and Jenna were so close as they grew up, sharing almost everything with each other – including keeping secret what they witnessed all those years ago. Marriage has resulted in them living continents apart but there are also secrets in their marriages that they haven’t shared with each other. Their mother is Nancy Stewart and she has many regrets about her daughters’ childhood but she kept things secret to protect them. Lauren is worried about her own teenage daughter, Mackenzie, who is rejecting her efforts to connect and it will take an untimely death, a funereal revelation, shocking financial surprises and returning back to the family home to bring the three generations back together again. There’s a need to revisit the past, for them to be honest with each other and to reconnect with others with significant roles in their past and future.

I loved this story. It has multiple relationships and is a delightful book to escape into. The characters are superbly developed, flaws, secrets and more. The intertwining stories, the emotional turmoil will have you laughing out loud sometimes, smiling inanely at times but near to tears at others. As the three generations discover more about themselves, each other and their relationships with others there is plenty of angst and drama that it is easy to empathise with. It is a heartwarming tale of family drama, secrets that split them and revelations to help heal rifts and reforge links to build a happier future for them all. I have no hesitation in very highly recommending this to anyone who enjoys well written women’s fiction.

I requested and was given a copy of this book, via NetGalley. This is my honest review of the book after choosing to read it.

Synopsis:

Three generations of Stewart women, all with secrets to keep…

Matriarch Nancy knows she hasn’t been the best mother but how can she ever tell her daughters the reason why? Lauren and Jenna are as close as two sisters can be and they made a pact years ago to keep a devastating secret from their mother – but is it time to come clean? Lauren’s teenage daughter Mackenzie masks her own pain by keeping her mother at a distance. Her mother, aunt and grandmother keep trying to reach her but will it take a stranger to show her the true meaning of family?

When life changes in an instant, the Stewart women are thrown together for a summer and suddenly they must relearn how to be a family. And whilst unravelling their secrets might be their biggest challenge, it could also be their finest moment . . .

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