Book Review ~ The Secret Sister (Fairham Island #1) by Brenda Novak
The Secret Sister
(Fairham Island #1)
by Brenda Novak
Did she once have a sister? Has her mother lied all these years? Why?
After a painful divorce, Maisey Lazarow returns to Fairham, the small island off the North Carolina coast where she grew up. She goes there to heal—and to help her brother, Keith, a deeply troubled man who's asked her to come home. But she refuses to stay in the family house. The last person she wants to see is the wealthy, controlling mother she escaped years ago.
Instead, she finds herself living next door to someone else she'd prefer to avoid—Rafe Romero, the wild, reckless boy to whom she lost her virginity at sixteen. He's back on the island, and to her surprise, he's raising a young daughter alone. Maisey's still attracted to him, but her heart's too broken to risk…
Then something even more disturbing happens. She discovers a box of photographs that evoke distant memories of a little girl, a child Keith remembers, too. Maisey believes the girl must've been their sister, but their mother claims there was no sister.
Maisey's convinced that child existed. So where is she now?
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In this first installment of the Fairham Island Series, Brenda Novak has once again crafted a romantic and suspenseful masterpiece that had me glued to the pages as the story unfolded. I loved the romantic aspect of the story, but the mystery surrounding the secret sister is what really held my interest. The story itself gave me the chills knowing that Ms. Novak based this story on a real life event she had heard about. It’s a complex story with suspense, intrigue and mystery, but it is also a story of a family dealing with a loss and grief. I loved the characters and really connected with them.
Ms. Novak gives the reader just enough information to keep us guessing and with an ending I didn’t see coming, this story will indeed keep you interested throughout with its unique and surprising twists and turns. This well-written novel is a compelling read that could definitely be read as a stand-alone, but Ms. Novak left the door open for future installments by introducing several of the Island residents. The Secret Sister is a great start to what appears will be an exciting and thrilling series and I can’t wait to see what Ms. Novak has in store for us.
4 stars
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak has penned over 45 novels. A two-time Rita nominee, she’s won The National Reader’s Choice, The Bookseller’s Best, The Bookbuyer’s Best and many other awards. She runs an annual online auction for diabetes research every May at www.brendanovak.com. To date, she’s raised over $2 million. Brenda considers herself lucky to be a mother of five and married to the love of her life.
