#Review: Summer of Secrets by Adrienne Vaughan @adrienneauthor #newrelease #RosshavenRomances #romance #RespectRomFic #SummerofSecrets

I’m really delighted today to help spread the word about the latest release from the lovely Adrienne Vaughan: Summer of Secrets was published by The Paris Press on 26th April, and is now available for kindle (just 99p, or free via Kindle Unlimited). And isn’t that cover just so summery and beautiful? Well, wait until you get to the story inside…

I first discovered Adrienne Vaughan’s gorgeous writing back in 2017 (my goodness, was it really that long ago?) when I read and reviewed The Hollow Heart, the first of her Heartfelt three-book series (you can read the review again here). I still have fond memories of the island community of Innishmahon, and the wonderful love story at the book’s core – and I’m quite disappointed that I’ve never managed to return for the other two books in that series, A Change of Heart and Secrets of the Heart. But then, in 2018, I had the privilege of being an early reader of her next book, That Summer at the Seahorse Hotel – I entirely loved it, and I was so thrilled when I realised that her latest book was a substantially altered version of that earlier book, now to be the first book in a new series of Rosshaven Romances. I’ll be looking forward to joining this series with the second book, Secrets of the Shell Sisters, to follow in August – but I really wanted to share again my earlier review (and I told you I loved it…!), which Adrienne was kind enough to check over to make sure it was right for the revised version too.

Let’s take a closer look…

Mia Flanagan has never been told who her father is and, aged ten, stopped asking. Now she keeps her own secrets. But when the movie she’s working on ends in disaster, she flies home to discover her fiancé has a secret too; leaving her dreams crushed.

 

Broken-hearted, a lonely summer in London looms. Until family friend, Archie Fitzgerald, invites her to stay at his fading mansion on Ireland’s ancient east coast.For Archie also has a secret, and the longer Mia stays, the more she wonders if Archie really is her father after all…

 

Summer of Secrets is a tale of how the ghost of love can blight many lives. And how Mia, realising the past cannot hurt her, must make way for new love and the promise of happiness waiting in the wings.

This book really was everything I wanted it to be, written with all the style and panache I’d hoped for – a wonderful sweeping story, with tragedy and secrets, passion and heartbreak, a hidden history to be uncovered, more than a touch of glitz and glamour, the world of the silver screen combined with a wonderful cast of (mostly) loveable eccentric characters in a perfectly drawn Irish setting.

At its heart is Mia – immediately likeable, with her career in film wardrobe (simply fascinating!), her questionable taste in men, trying to escape the shadow of her film star mother, surrounded by people who love her, but always with that uncomfortable question mark over the identity of her father. I loved seeing her story unspool, watching her relationships develop, seeing her find her own path into the future. But while I might have loved Mia, the undoubted star of the book – with all apologies to Mia’s mother Fenella – is the larger-than-life Archie, the mesmerising centre of every scene in which he appears.

This book isn’t a star vehicle though, it’s a wonderful ensemble piece – it’s a joy to cast and picture every character, each of whom takes their turn centre stage. Yes, even young Pearl – and you’ll know what I’m usually like about children in books. And the setting is almost a character in itself – the state-of-the-art hotel complex and the dilapidated Irish estate sitting uncomfortably side by side, the forbidding island in the bay a focus for much of the story.

It’s not all about the story and the setting – this is a book that gives you a good work-out on the emotional front too. There are some wonderful “moments” that make you feel absurdly tearful – like the sparring between Archie and Fenella, light banter but with a deep love and an undercurrent of tension, as she – and we – begin to realise that everything is about to change forever. And there are wide-screen full technicolour dramatic moments too, moments that make your heart beat rather faster, that have you turning the pages as you want to discover what happens – but, at the same time, you really don’t want to find out.

There are so many threads to this book that I don’t know where to start telling you about it – from corporate shenanigans to long-buried personal secrets of the past, dramatic scenes amid dramatic scenery, a current day love story and another (mmm, maybe more than one) giving depth to the background. There are villains and there are heroes, and there are some that you’re never entirely sure about until they show themselves – some driven by greed and jealousy, some with other motivations.

In the hands of a less able author, this book might have been just too much – the large cast of characters, the different threads of current and background story, the mixing of different worlds and settings. But Adrienne Vaughan is in absolute and total control of her material, stirring everything up every now and then but holding your hand and leading you firmly through any possible confusion. Don’t miss this book, whatever you do… did I forget to mention that I really loved it?

About the author

Adrienne Vaughan writes spell-binding, page-turning romantic suspense.

Her award-winning 5 Star Heartfelt Series – The Hollow Heart, A Change of Heart and Secrets of the Heart – features a feisty investigative journalist and her beautiful West Highland terrier and is set on a remote island off the West Coast of Ireland.

Her next two new novels (the second currently waiting in the wings to be published) are spell-binding family sagas with a touch of Irish magic, this time set on Ireland’s Ancient East Coast.

Her collection of short stories and poetry, Fur Coat & No Knickers was shortlisted for the Irish Carousel Prize for Anthology and includes Dodo’s Portrait, shortlisted for the Colm Toibin International Short Story Award at the Wexford Literary Festival in 2018.

All her books are heart-warming, uplifting and feature the fabulous twists and turns plus laugh out loud moments for which she is renowned.

She’s keeping everything crossed there’s still time to realise her ambition and become a Bond girl!

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