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.

Summer Spotlight: Author Alison Lucy on her favourite summer reads +++ Win a copy of The Summer of Secrets!

The Summer of Secrets by Alison Lucy
Publisher: Canvas
Release date: May 17th 2012
Ages: Adult

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.

Author Alison Lucy on her favourite summer reads!

This is what I want from a perfect summer read. It must be utterly absorbing and yet easy to read at the same time. It must hold my attention but not demand it. It must not be too depressing or preoccupying, but it mustn’t be too flighty either, I would prefer it to last more than one short day on the beach. Every time I go on holiday I plan meticulously which books to take but still the books I enjoy the most are not those that I pack, but the ones I acquire. Spending time and money in bookshops overseas is a must, whether that means browsing the English Language corner of a city centre chain or rummaging through a stacked table in the corner of a boatyard. I have found treasure on book swap tables like this, buried beneath every book that Dan Brown and Nora Roberts ever wrote, the parched saga of the The Thornbirds kept me going for weeks, I discovered Janet Evanovich, and I found one my most beloved non-fiction books, Travels, a collection of essays by Michael Crichton, which combines the authors first-rate storytelling ability with brutal honesty concerning his life’s journeys, physical and otherwise.

If I am on holiday I want a book that I can easily take to the beach. I used to treat myself to airport exclusive editions of new paperbacks, in the larger paperback format, but after hauling I Am Charlotte Simmons around for three weeks I wished I had waited for the mass market edition. I haven’t bought a Kindle yet but it is the prospect of lighter holiday luggage that I find most tempting. I picked up The Immigrants by Howard Fast in a second hand bookshop in Mexico. The Immigrants is an enormous brick of a book, spanning generations of family life in San Francisco and Napa Valley. Despite its heft it ticks almost all of my summer read boxes: sexy heroes, exotic locations, romance, peril, and the ability to sweep me up into a fantastic story without a great deal of mental effort on my part.

Which is why my favourite summer reads will always be those written by Jackie Collins. I read Hollywood Wives first, the summer I turned fourteen, and ever since then Jackie has featured prominently in my summers, lying out in the back garden during some precious British sunshine, or my first holiday on my own with friends. I remember buying oversized paperbacks at Heathrow, and being unable to resist an American hardback edition of Vendetta: Lucky’s Revenge when I saw it in a bookshop in L.A. Most of all I like how reading these books of summer in the depths of a mundane winter will transport you to a warmer, more optimistic place where true love can conquer anything at all.

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Thanks to Alison for the great guest post! I hope you all got some ideas for your summer reading list!

Alison will be hosting a live Twitter Interview ‘twinterview’ on the 23rd May between 5-6pm so be sure to log on for that!

 

I have an extra special treat for UK readers today -- Alison's publisher Canvas have very generously offered TEN copies of Summer of Secrets for you lucky readers to win. Just fill in the form to enter!

Following the blog is not necessary to gain entry to this competition, but is always appreciated!

COMPETITION CLOSED! WINNERS ANNOUNCED SOON!