Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: July 10, 2018

Publisher: HQN

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Blurb:

When three generations of women are brought together by crisis, they learn over the course of one hot summer the power of family to support, nourish and surprise

Lauren has the perfect life…if she ignores the fact it’s a fragile house of cards, and that her daughter Mack has just had a teenage personality transplant.

Jenna is desperate to start a family with her husband, but it’s… Just. Not. Happening. Her heart is breaking, but she’s determined to keep her trademark smile on her face.

Nancy knows she hasn’t been the best mother, but how can she ever tell Lauren and Jenna the reason why?

Then life changes in an instant, and Lauren, Mack, Jenna and Nancy are thrown together for a summer on Martha’s Vineyard. Somehow, these very different women must relearn how to be a family. And while unraveling their secrets might be their biggest challege, the rewards could be infinite…

Heartwarming and fresh, Sarah Morgan’s brilliant new novel is a witty and deeply uplifting look at the power of a family of women.

Review:

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life so far it’s that when tragedy strikes family is everything and that’s the basis for How to Keep a Secret. Who can you turn to when your world comes crashing down around you? Your family of course, and even though Lauren and Jenna are as close as two sister can be their relationship with their mom Nancy is strained. Mack is Lauren’s teenaged daughter and like any mother and daughter their relationship is also rocky. Family dynamics are usually complex, but family dynamics between women take complex to a whole new level and the Stewart women have plenty of secrets they’ve been keeping from each other as well making for one juicy read.

Every single woman of the family has a point of view and it’s always nice to hear all the various perspectives, but Mack was my favorite of them all. Poor kid has been through a lot and while she does have her typical, moody teenage moments she also has a fierce and sassy side that I admired. All of the characters were great though and all were very well drawn, there was much more depth her than in Morgan’s rom coms and I do have to admit I missed some of her trademark humor here. This wasn’t a funny story though, humor wouldn’t have been appropriate so this really isn’t a complaint, just an observation.

While some of the secrets seemed fairly obvious to me others did surprise and please me and while there wasn’t comedy here there was still some light romance, but the book really centers on the family bond of the Stewart women and that’s always something that interests me. This would be yet another perfect book to add to your summer TBR when you want a lighter read with heart and depth written by a gifted author who always brings out a wide variety of emotions within me.

How to Keep a Secret in three words: Bittersweet, Complicated and Heartfelt.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to Anna at Aro Publicity for my review copy.