Summer Shorts: The Summer of Secrets by Alison Lucy & The First Wife by Emily Barr.

Product details:
Publisher: Canvas
Release date: May 17th 2012
Paperback, 416 pages.
Rating: 3½ out of 5.
Ages: Adult
Source: Received from publisher for review.

One heady summer. Three big secrets. 1989: Newlyweds Danny and Harriet arrive at their honeymoon paradise in the Caribbean. Days later Harriet returns home. Danny is left distraught but finds comfort in the arms of two women. Nine months later, three baby girls are born... 2010: Megan leaves her childhood sweetheart behind in the UK to go in search of her long-lost father. Miles from home and temptation is at every corner - not least in the arms of the gorgeous Ray... Esmé, a Mexican beauty, married Miguel at fifteen. In unlocking the secrets of her past, can she shed the shackles of her enforced marriage? Claudia has led a life of privilege but she's never really known what it feels like to be loved. Could David be the answer? Or will he disappoint her, just like her mother always did? Three women set off on an adventure to uncover the secrets surrounding their missing father. It may be the only way to lay their demons to rest but seeking out the truth could tear their lives apart.

A true summer sizzler, The Summer of Secrets by debut author Alison Lucy takes readers on an intoxicating journey to Mexico as three very different young women seek to discover their true selves by uncovering the long-held secrets of their past.

1989 sees Danny abandoned by his wife Heather on their honeymoon in Mexico.  Heartbroken and alone, Danny finds comfort in some very strong alcohol, and in the arms of two beautiful women.  Nine months later, three baby girls are born and Danny is nowhere to be found.

Fast-forward twenty something years and these three young women are all searching for answers, all searching for the truth about their father, who it seems disappeared twenty years earlier.

As we follow Megan, Esme and Claudia on their search, we find out all about their hopes and fears, their dreams and their rather active love lives in a book that is predictable at times, but which is also a whole lot of fun, making it a perfect beach read and definitely one to add to your summer reading list!

Product details:
Publisher: Headline Review
Release date: March 1st 2011
Paperback, 320 pages.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Ages: Adult.
Source: Purchased.

His first wife was everything you're not. But was she everything she seemed?

Lily, a young woman left alone in the world on the death of her grandparents, finds purpose when she befriends Harry Summers, a grieving widower, whose wife Sarah recently took her own life in Barcelona. The pair fall in love and Lily finally finds the security she has never had. But Lily's life takes a darker turn when she realises there may be more to Sarah's death than meets the eye. Anxious to find the truth before she marries her beloved Harry, Lily sets off to Barcelona in search of answers. What she discovers is more shocking than she could ever have imagined...

Although lacking the suspense and intrigue of some of her earlier works, The First Wife by Emily Barr, which sees twenty-something Lily Button journey to Barcelona in order to find out more about the past life of man she’s about to marry, will find it’s readership in longtime fans of the author who can’t get enough of her special blend of mystery, romance, travel and adventure.

Life has never been easy for Lily. Abandoned by her parents as a child, she found a home with her eccentric Grandparents, but now they’re gone too, leaving Lily alone in the world with no place to live, no money and little formal education.

Enter widower Harry Summer.  As handsome as he is worldly and charming, this former actor appears to be the answer to all of Lily’s hopes and dreams, and she falls head over heels in love with him in no time at all.

Despite the brevity of their romance, Lily doesn’t hesitate to say yes when Harry proposes.  Something is niggling at her though, telling her to slow down, telling her that something isn’t right.  It’s only when Lily finally decides to trust her instincts and delve deeper into the world of the man she loves, that she finds out the shocking secrets about Harry and his first wife.