It’s such a pleasure today to be joining the blog blitz for House of Christmas Secrets by Lynda Stacey, published by Choc Lit on all e-book platforms on 5th December. My thanks to those lovely people at Choc Lit for sending my e-copy for review. If you enjoyed House of Secrets and Tell Me No Secrets as much as I did (reviews here and here) – or if you just enjoy romantic suspense that keeps you reading way past your bedtime – you’re going to love this one!
This year we’re just going to have a nice, normal Christmas…
Last year’s Christmas at Wrea Head Hall didn’t quite go to plan which is why Jess Croft is determined this festive season will be the one to remember, for the right reasons. And she has plenty of reasons to be hopeful, she’s going to marry the man of her dreams, Jack Stone, seven days after New Year’s Eve. However, as family secrets are revealed in hidden letters and two unexpected guests turn up on the doorstep, Jess is left wondering whether her life will ever be the same again.
Can Jess and Jack still experience a peaceful festive season that they had imagined or are there some problems that even Christmas can’t fix?
If you read House of Secrets, you’ll remember Jess (Maddy’s sister) and the lovely Jack who are the focus for this story – but if you didn’t, this is 100% a stand-alone story, with any background gaps very well covered. And if you haven’t read a book by Lynda Stacey before, don’t be lulled into thinking – by that gorgeous cover – that the one’s going to be a light Christmassy read. You will get the lovely descriptions of Wrea Head Hall at Christmas, complete with tree and carollers – and the story does start quite slowly with great sadness touching everyone.
But then the unexpected guests appear, and we get a totally different story – an unexpected and rather lovely love interest, family complications, but also a breakneck thriller with tremendous pace and an edge of quite unexpected violence and evil. I know I’ve mentioned before that I’m rubbish at reviewing thrillers – I want to say “there’s this great bit when…”, but know that if I do I’ll give away the whole story. But should you be expecting everything to be rather genteel given the story’s primary setting, the parallel story that unspools is dark and distinctly disturbing, and as for the fireworks when the story lines come together – oh my goodness! There’s a good depth about the whole book too, as it looks at family and what it really means – and not just by focusing on those that have rather forgotten the meaning. Very nicely done – I enjoyed this one.
Giveaway
With thanks to Lynda and tour organiser Brook Cottage Books, I’m really pleased to be able to offer the chance for two lucky readers to win a signed copy of House of Secrets (UK & Ireland only). Here’s the rafflecopter for entry:
About the author
Lynda grew up in the mining village of Bentley, Doncaster, in South Yorkshire. Her own chaotic life story, along with varied career choices, helps Lynda to create stories of romantic suspense, with challenging and unpredictable plots, along with (as in all romances) very happy endings.
Lynda joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association in 2014 under the umbrella of the New Writers Scheme and in 2015, her debut novel House of Secrets won the Choc Lit & Whole Story Audiobooks Search for a Star competition.
She lives in a small rural hamlet near Doncaster, with her husband, Haydn, whom she’s been happily married to for over 20 years.
I’d like to win a copy of House of Secrets because it sounds right up my street!