4/5 stars

Synopsis:

From bestselling author Ella Carey comes an utterly gripping and sweeping historical novel about terrible choices and heartbreaking family mysteries. The past holds more secrets than we can ever imagine…

1946. Young, beautiful artist Rebecca survived the devastating war that claimed the lives of so many of the men and women she grew up with. Her friends have returned as empty shells or not at all. But although peace has been declared, Rebecca is still fighting at home. Her controlling mother will stop at nothing to prevent Rebecca from following her dream to become a painter.

When Rebecca meets dashing young Edward, a pilot during the war, she discovers both love and an escape. Edward makes her feel truly loved, alive and excited about her future and art. But when Edward takes Rebecca to visit his childhood home on the sweeping coast, their trip ends in tragedy. Edward’s father commits suicide and, consumed by grief, Edward is faced with a terrible choice: love or family?

Utterly distraught, Rebecca goes out to the shore by moonlight to paint. Under the stars, she stares into the waves, thinking about her life. The next morning she has disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a pencil on the sand. Finding the truth will change everything for those who were left behind…

Fans of My Name is Eva, Rhys Bowen and Lucinda Riley will fall head over heels in love with Secret Shores.

Author Bio:

Ella Carey is the international bestselling author of The Things We Don’t Say, Secret Shores, From a Paris Balcony, The House by the Lake, and Paris Time Capsule. Her books have been published in over fourteen languages, in twelve countries, and have been shortlisted for ARRA awards. A Francophile who has long been fascinated by secret histories set in Europe’s entrancing past, Ella has degrees in music, nineteenth-century women’s fiction, and modern European history. She lives in Melbourne with her two children and two Italian greyhounds who are constantly mistaken for whippets.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this novel!  Set in two different eras, we see how two people in love have to choose between their passions and their responsibilities.  Rebecca is a young, talented artist who has fallen in love with Edward, a writer with enormous responsibility hanging over his head.  I loved getting to know these characters along with their friends and family.  

We also meet Tess, a modern woman who is constantly fighting that glass ceiling in the 1980’s Manhattan publishing world.  It seems the more she learns about her latest author, the more she learns about herself.

Secret Shores was a wonderful escape into the settings of New York City, Australia and Greece.  The story kept me intrigued while the characters and their choices had me happy, frustrated, sad and excited all in one novel.  

https://bit.ly/3mCH9tX

3/5

Synopsis from Goodreads:

As the snow flutters down in the little village of Linnetford, escape to a cosy farmhouse kitchen, scented with the rich aromas of fruitcake and gingerbread, where a love of baking is about to unite two lonely hearts…

Cathy cooked at her mother’s side her whole life and could bake a fairy cake before she could ride a bike. Now she is facing her first Christmas without her beloved mother, she’s determined to use her memories for something positive. She decides to organise a weekly cooking class, sharing her mother’s precious recipes with other lonely souls.

There’s just one small spanner in the works: teenager Tansy, who attends Cathy’s classes even though she’s rude to everyone there and seems to hate every minute. Cathy is poised to ask Tansy to leave, but her uncle, physiotherapist Matt, begs her to give the teenager another chance. And Cathy can’t resist Matt’s sparkling hazel eyes and incredibly kind heart…

But just as Cathy is feeling she might find joy again, her ex returns to Linnetford, desperate for a second chance. With Matt becoming distant as his life gets more complicated, it seems so easy to return to the safe embrace of someone she knows so well. Can Cathy avoid the temptation of falling back in love with the man who broke her heart and let Christmas bring her the greatest gift – that of happiness?

My Thoughts: 

I had high hopes for this one – baking, romance, Christmas…it sounded like a great escape.  I did enjoy the setting and all the secondary characters were a lot of fun.  And I definitely craved more baked goods that I should as I was reading.  But the main character, Cathy was sorely lacking in self-confidence and that really bothered me.  It also felt as though the story had trouble focusing on one plot line – maybe it was just me because the book gets great reviews on Goodreads.  =)

4/5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Three months after four-year-old Holly Gebhardt was kidnapped, she was inexplicably returned to the same park from which she’d vanished…with no memory of the ordeal. Though a local handyman was convicted, suspicion also fell on his friend—Holly’s mother, Cecily. The troubling doubts about her involvement shattered the family, forever driving a wedge between mother and daughter.

Twenty years later, another girl goes missing under eerily similar circumstances. It’s just the latest in a series of kidnappings that Detective Jason Guidry thinks Holly can help solve. Though Holly has tried to move on with her life, a young girl’s life hangs in the balance. All she has to do is try to remember…

With her memory still mostly blank, Holly is missing vital pieces of the puzzle, and she believes her mother can put them in place. In desperation and fear, Holly and her mother come together again. But in a chilling rush toward the past, Cecily still has secrets she’s yet to share with her daughter. Should she dare to breathe a word, she could lose Holly all over again.

My Thoughts:

I’m not a huge fan of thrillers – they send to cause me more anxiety than reading should.  😉 But the description of this one on Netgalley suckered me in.  I really enjoyed meeting these characters and learning about their relationships.  The relationship between Holly and her mother was especially interesting – how in the world does a mother continue a “normal” life after her child has been kidnapped?  This novel kept me guessing almost until the end and I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for something in the thriller category.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book broke my heart and then put it back together again at least twice.

Martha is a single mom to twins Molly and Jacob.  It isn’t safe for the twins to live in their London suburb during World War 2 so the children are sent to live with strangers in the countryside.  In The Lost Children, we learn what it was like for mothers {and fathers} to make this sacrifice to keep their children safe.  The horrible war just kept battering families over and over but we watch them remain resilient and strong.

I loved this story and all the characters we meet have depth and a story all their own.  I definitely recommend this novel for anyone who likes a great setting and excellent character development!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Have you ever done something stupid that you wish you could undo? In this fun, Christmas themed novel, Maelyn gets that chance. She’s living the same Christmas vacation over and over until she makes the right choices. Along the way she finds out what will happen when she takes the chances she’s always wanted to. She might just discover what really matters and have the time of her life.

– Thank you to NetGalley for this Advanced Reading Copy. Thoughts and opinions are my own.