Olivia is distracting herself from her divorce and the death of her mother by writing a cook book based on her Greek heritage. Encouraged by her great uncle George, she travels to the island of Castellorizo to discover her family’s past…
The Summer of Secrets is a dual timeline novel set mostly on the Greek island of Castellorizo. It is written from Olivia’s first person narrative in the present day and various third person perspectives in the past.
Maria, Sofia and George are three siblings living in the shadow of war. Their island suffers natural tragedies such as earthquakes as well as the territorial disputes of WW2. The close knit family is huge with some big characters. There is plenty of drama as well as emotion as the plot develops.
In the present day, Olivia has the chance for romance but also a rival claimant for the family’s house. She is fearful for her uncle’s health and they have a lovely relationship but he is also the last link to her late mum. George is greatly affected by the memories of the past which have haunted him for decades.
There is a lot of build up to the event that divided the Konstantinidis family but I felt that the ending was a little rushed. In my opinion, there was scope to find out more about the siblings in the intervening years. However, this could be a great excuse for a sequel!
The setting and history are vividly brought to life. There is a good mix of carefully researched detail alongside the human emotions and reactions to events. The patriarchal values that are espoused in the past timeline contrasted with Olivia and George’s freedoms in the present.
The Summer of Secrets was an emotional novel, packed with historical and cultural detail.
About the book:
Devastated at the dissolution of her marriage and the death of her dear mum, Olivia needs a change of scenery. So, she packs a bag and heads for the beautiful Greek island of Castellorizo, where her mother was born.
Olivia has always wondered about her heritage but her Nanna Sofia was reluctant to speak of the past. Now, she’s returned to their home, Olivia is determined to discover her history and find out what caused the rift that tore her family apart.
As Olivia uncovers secrets dating back to WWII, will she discover some things are best left in the past?
Print length: 464 pages.
Genre: Historical Fiction/Literary Fiction
REVIEWS
This book would for me have been a perfect beach read. Instead it made a great lockdown read as I sat in my garden with a glass of rose, imagining I was on holiday ― Fab After Fifty
We race to the end with our hearts thumping. Full of local colour and tradition this is a little slow to start but certainly builds to unexpected conclusions. Terrific stuff ― Love Reading, on Villa of Secrets
Full of raw emotion ― Sunday Post, on Villa of Secrets
One for the suitcase – whether real or imaginary. You’ll feel you’re in Greece as soon as you start reading ― Frost Magazine, on Secrets of Santorini
Packed with intrigue, danger and romance, Wilson’s passion for the classics and an endless fascination with foraging into the vibrant corners of history, this is a poignant and beautifully written story best read on a sunlounger with a glass of chilled ouzo ― Lancashire Telegraph, on Secrets of Santorini
Wilson delves into Greece’s war-torn history, weaving the past and present together to create an evocative and emotional drama that tugs at the heartstrings. It’s an equally enjoyable novel whether you’re hiding inside from the British rain or lounging outside in the sun ― Culture Fly
About the Author
Patricia Wilson was born in Liverpool, has lived on Crete and is now settled on Rhodes. She was first inspired to write when she unearthed a rusted machine gun in her garden – one used in the events that unfolded during World War II on the island of Crete. The now elderly women involved in those events told Patricia their story, and her celebrated debut Island of Secrets (150k copies sold) was the result.
Anna is newly single and unemployed so does an internet search for a dream job. She finds an ad for a live in position at an Italian castle. The only problem is that the ad wants a couple. She calls upon her neighbour Jake to help but can they keep up the pretence for a whole year?
The Italian Job is a romance novel with plenty of humour.
Anna and Jake have a tempestuous relationship and seem like polar opposites. But their antagonism cannot hide their growing attraction to each other and the romantic tension develops through the book. Both lead characters have their flaws but are easy to like so I was eager for them to discover their true feelings.
I liked the main premise of the plot and enjoyed seeing Jake and Anna wind each other up as they settle into their new situation. The romance was quite physical at times rather than an exploration of emotions. Both of them are united in their dislike of the repugnant Miles and the reader also loves to hate him. The peripheral characters and setting all contribute to bringing the plot to life and provide a good context for the development of the main characters.
The Italian Job is an enjoyable and light hearted summer read.
The Italian Job
Dream job. Dream house. Fake fiancé.
A year in a gorgeous Italian castle…
When Anna Roberts’ life implodes, an online search leads her to an ad for the ultimate dream job – management of a gorgeous castle on the shores of Lake Como, accommodation included. The only catch? Anna can’t do it alone…
…With the last man on earth she’d choose!
The castle owners will only accept a couple as caretakers, which means Anna needs a man on her arm at the interview. Enter her neighbour, Jake Tucker. Though Anna and Jake have never seen eye-to-eye, Jake’s had a rough few years and an escape to Italy sounds ideal. Yet, when they get the job and jet off, Anna and Jake face an unexpected challenge. Pretending to be a couple is difficult … but pretending the tension simmering between them doesn’t exist is quickly proving impossible!
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Giveaway to Win a PB copy of The Italian Job by Kathryn Freeman (Open INT)
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Author Bio –
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to write a book. It may have had something to do with my obsession with reading romance. Real life interfered and I headed off in a different direction – into the world of science, becoming a pharmacist before joining the pharmaceutical industry. I did end up writing, but it was about disease and medicines. Decades later, I’m finally doing what I always wanted to do.
With a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), all the romance in my life is in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes come in many disguises.
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Tamsin is newlywed to famous composer Robin when he suffers a stroke and later dies. The will proves a shock to his whole family…
The Second Wife is a domestic drama novel with psychological thriller elements and a potential murder mystery.
The book is written from the alternating first person perspectives of Tamsin, Robin’s second wife, and Mia, their cleaner. Both women have secrets in their backgrounds that make them vulnerable, whilst also possessing a determination to improve their lives. It also makes them potentially unreliable narrators and my opinion of them was swayed from chapter to chapter.
One of the themes that stood out for me was the idea of our preconceptions and prejudice. Tamsin is assumed to be a gold digger for marrying an older man, while Mia is desperate to hide the stigma of her past. Robin’s children have a sense of entitlement based on their family link and assume there is a natural path of inheritance.
I enjoyed the gradual character development and the snippets of information that the narrators reveal. There are some good twists in the plot which built up the momentum towards the finale.
The Second Wife is entertaining and enjoyable.
Book Blurb
She married the man she loved. Then she met his family.
Tamsin has recently married renowned composer Robin Featherstone. Robin is much older, but Tamsin doesn’t care – she’s in love.
And she knows Robin loves her too, even if he is very close to another young woman – his assistant, Mia.
But Robin’s ex-wife and grown children aren’t happy – they’re sure Tamsin is a gold-digger and Mia is an opportunist.
Then, when Robin dies suddenly, the family’s worst fears are realised – Tamsin stands to inherit everything. But when the will is read, its contents are beyond shocking.
As Mia and Tamsin are pitted against each other, only one thing is clear. The family will go to any lengths to stop either of them inheriting even a part of Robin’s estate.
Isolated in the family mansion, fearing for their lives and distrustful of each other, Tamsin and Mia are determined to stand their ground. But then a dark family secret is revealed which may engulf them all…
The Second Wife – the stunning psychological thriller from the author of The Visitors, The Arrangement, The New Neighbour.
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Author Bio
Miranda Rijks is a writer of psychological thrillers and suspense novels. She has an eclectic background ranging from law to running a garden centre. She’s been writing all of her life and has a Masters in writing. A couple of years ago she decided to ditch the business plans and press releases and now she’s living the dream, writing suspense novels full time. She lives in Sussex, England with her Dutch husband, musician daughter and black Labrador.
Miranda is the author of psychological thrillers. This will be her fourteenth novel published with Inkubator Books.
1942: Jewish Amelia is sent to a concentration camp and she begins an unlikely romance with a guard, Charlie, which endangers them both. Present day: Amelia is in her nineties and her health is failing. She gives her diary to her granddaughter Emma…
The Girl With The Diary is the first book in a trilogy of historical novels set in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. I will be reviewing the other books next month.
This book is written in the present day as well as during WW2. The two timelines alternate every chapter and are given equal weighting. However, it is the young Amelia’s story that really gripped me. Her heartbreaking experience glimmers with the tiny hope of her new found love.
The brutality of the camp is explicitly described which is upsetting but adds an authenticity to the plot. Love in unlikely situations is present in both timelines and shows the strength of the human spirit. There is plenty of emotion so be warned that you may need tissues!
Initially I felt a little impatient as I wanted to find out Amelia’s past quicker. However, Emma’s character in the present day is easy to identify with. I loved being taken on the journey along with her as she reads the diary, discovering the awful things that her grandmother experienced.
The Girl With The Diary is a completely captivating novel and I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
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About the Books:
The Girl with the Diary:
The worn leather-bound diary, tied with a red ribbon, has hidden the truth for seventy years. The spine crackles as she opens it,reading the long-forgotten words of her grandmother. “What if you never come back? What if you die trying?”
Nazi-occupied Prague,1942: Amelia is hiding in her closet when flashlights blind her and she’s captured by the SS. Out on the cobblestone street, her heart shatters as her mother is shot before her eyes. She is shoved onto a freight train with hundreds of others—hours pass as they travel in darkness.
Arriving in a concentration camp, Amelia fears for her life when she is led to a block by a soldier. He is her enemy, yet he secretly passes her a piece of bread; an act that saves her.
They are meant to despise one another, but Amelia and Charlie are powerfully drawn to each other. Amelia sees how Charlie risks everything to save prisoners from deportation—and she sees the kindness in his eyes.
Amongst so much tragedy, falling in love is a miracle. Yet, one day, Charlie utters those miraculous words. “I’m in love with you. To everyone else, we’re wrong, but what does that matter when nothing in this world is right?”
But under the all-seeing gaze of the guards and endless watchtowers, there is only so long they can keep their secret—and the very act of loving each other endangers their lives. Will they remain loyal to each other in the face of death? And when they finally say goodbye, will it be by choice or by force?
Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Choice, and Orphan Train will be totally swept away by this World War Two heartbreaker which shows that, even in hell, love can bloom.
This book was previously published as Last Words.
The Prison Child
How will we get by the guards? It seems impossible. Yet we will be dead by the end of the week if we don’t—my precious girl and I have nothing to lose by trying.
Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, 1943: In Theresienstadt concentration camp, a brown-eyed baby girl is born in darkness, surrounded by barbed wire. The innocent new-born has no hope of surviving—unless, by some kind of miracle, she is able to escape…
In New York, over a decade later, Annie listens to her mother and father’s urgent whispers on her twelfth birthday. “They’re going to find out that she doesn’t belong to us. She’ll be taken away.”
The little girl’s world crumbles. That day, her search for answers begins…
Everything in Annie’s life is a lie. As she grows older, she pieces together the fragments of her past. With a broken heart, she uncovers a story of bravery in the face of evil, hope amongst darkness, and forbidden love—the kind of love that takes immense courage.
Will the secret of who she really is come to light? And can she ever be reunited with her birth family—if they’re even alive?
Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Choice, and Orphan Train will be utterly glued to this unforgettable tale. It may break your heart, but it will piece it back together…
This book was previously published as The Other Blue Sky.
The Soldier’s Letters
“Survive for as long as you can, fight until you can’t fight any longer, and if this war ever ends, I want you to run as far from here as you can and never look back…”
Nazi-occupied Prague, 1941: On a foggy winter’s day, a solider called Charlie is ordered to murder an elderly Jewish woman. He refuses, but that doesn’t stop another Nazi shooting her. As the woman’s daughter cries out, “Mama, no, please don’t leave me!” Charlie knows that he is not a killer. He vows to save as many lives as he can.
In Theresienstadt concentration camp, he sees the same sapphire-eyed girl with beautiful auburn hair. Her name is Amelia. He escorts her to Block B and memorizes her prison number. They are meant to be enemies yet, in that instant, he falls in love.
Yet in such hell, love isn’t meant to exist and they are destined to be torn apart. Despite this, Charlie never stops looking for Amelia, writing letters to her and keeping them safe. But what are the chances of her surviving the war? Will the soldier’s letters remain unread forever?
Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Choice, and Orphan Train will be absolutely gripped by this heart-wrenching World War Two page-turner––a story of forbidden love, and its power to survive the impossible.
This book was previously published as Unspoken Words.
Author Bio
Shari J. Ryan is a USA Today Bestselling Author of Women’s Fiction, WWII Fiction, and 20th Century Historical Fiction with a focus on the Holocaust and Pearl Harbor.
Shortly after graduation from Johnson & Wales with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, Shari began her career as a graphic artist and freelance writer. She then found her passion for writing books in 2012 after her second son was born. Shari has been slaying words ever since.
With two Rone Awards and over 125k books sold, Shari has hit the USA Today Bestseller List, the Amazon’s Top 100, Barnes & Noble’s Top Ten, and iBooks at number one. Some of Shari’s bestselling books include Last Words, The Other Blue Sky, Unspoken Words and A Heart of Time.
Shari, a lifelong Boston girl, is happily married to her personal hero and US Marine and they have two wonderful little boys. For more details about her books, visit: www.sharijryan.com
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