Following the events of No Way Back, Her Secret sees our
heroine, Audrey Fox, now married to Daniel. But Daniel’s grown
daughter Connie is still causing trouble in paradise and it is not
long before Audrey is neck deep in secrets and lies, and once
more searching for true love and happiness.
What does TWG think?
Don’t tell me off, but I have to be honest here and say that I STILL haven’t had chance to read the prequel to this novel, ‘No Way Back’. I know, I know – I will. Thankfully though, I found that ‘Her Secret’ was okay to read as a standalone if you’re happy enough going through the story without too much of a background. Kelly Florentia does bring her readers up to date in the sequel briefly, but I don’t think it would do you any harm at all if you read the books out of order (and no I’m not just saying that because I’ve done that!!).
The main things I got from reading ‘Her Secret’ was:
– Kelly Florentia knows how to keep her readers on a hook.
– Kelly Florentia knows how to keep her readers on a hook.
AND
– Kelly Florentia knows how to keep her readers on a hook.
I couldn’t keep up! The story starts very simply with a brief update on what went on before, where Audrey is now, and how she is finding things after the day which she would love to forget. It didn’t take too long for the author to drop her first seed into the story, making the reader question where the storyline was heading and who would be involved. Then, just when the reader catches up with the result of the first seed, Kelly Florentia goes and drops multiple other seeds, taking her readers on a journey that will either bring them to a dead end, leave them with more questions in their heads than answers, or it will bring them to the truth. Or, just like it did me, manage to take me on all of those journeys! The weird thing about the too-ing and fro-ing, was that it wasn’t confusing at all because the author cleverly made me feel as though I had worked out what was going to happen off my own accord without the well placed hints that gave no room for doubt.
I am incredibly impressed at the skill Kelly Florentia showcases with her outstanding storytelling. It wasn’t that this author tricked her readers or her readers were gullible, it was the fact that she didn’t let us into the secret. I was in the dark just as much as the other characters, even though I was given more information than Audrey. Clever. Very, very clever.
Some of the discussions between Audrey and Connie got right on my wick as they came across more soap drama, as opposed to being the drama which brings out our nosey streaks. I also struggled to believe Connie’s age, not because people aren’t allowed to have a young streak when they hit a certain age, but because she really did come across like she had a similar mindset to say, Jess, for example. I’m not viewing that as a negative by the way, it’s just that Connie’s personality didn’t match with the age she was given. Good on her if she can work with it, but it had me raising my eyebrows a couple of times.
I have to admit that ‘Her Secret’ is such a dark horse of a book, and if it ever came head to head with ‘Desperate Housewives’ on NBC, it would win hands down. I can’t get over how intricately detailed the entire storyline was, especially as the author managed to keep the strength of it the entire way through! I thought the characters were a memorable mixture (you can take that whichever way you like!), although I was siding with Audrey more than anyone else. Do NOT get me started on Connie, seriously. Handbags at dawn springs to mind!!
What shocked me the most, however, was the last third of the book and the way Kelly Florentia got her readers to think with their heads in one chapter, and then their hearts with another. The words were there in black and white, yet due to the way that the author wrote them, I especially conveyed the storyline completely differently. For example; if we thought with our hearts then we would think a certain character had got caught up in the shocking situation, or if we thought with our heads then we would end up thinking that the other character was involved. It will make more sense if you have read the book, but I hope you can make sense of what I am trying to put across!
Kelly Florentia has blown me away with her outstanding, high energy, rollercoaster ride of a read which left my head and my heart arguing on a street corner. I LOVE the ‘sisterhood’ vibe that stands out throughout the entire novel – Ms.Florentia has certainly done her ‘sisters’ proud with this brilliant novel. Trust me on that, it’s so good I read it in 3 hours tops!
About the author.
Kelly Florentia was born and bred in north London, where she
continues to live with her husband Joe. Her debut novel THE
MAGIC TOUCH was published in March 2016. TO TELL A TALE
OR TWO… is a collection of her short tales. Kelly has a keen
interest in health and fitness and has written many articles on
the subject. SMOOTH OPERATOR (published in January 2017) is
a collection of twenty of her favourite smoothie recipes. No
Way Back was published by Urbane in Sept 2017.
The Writing Garnet 
Great review! Sounds like a really great book that I would love.
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