The Secret Sister

August 1, 2015

Still reeling from the death of her infant daughter and a recent, difficult divorce, children's book author Maisey Lazarow returns to the South Carolina island where she was raised in order to put her life back together. Maisey wants peace and has absolutely no intention of staying with her icy, estranged mother in the family mansion, so she moves instead into one of her beloved seaside vacation cottages. Her neighbor turns out to be Rafe Romero, a successful contractor and single dad who was a brief part of a rebellious teenage past that Maisey would just as soon forget. A secret cache of family pictures found in the walls sends Maisey on a search for the truth about a sister she never knew she had, and her life becomes anything but peaceful. VERDICT Skillful plotting, well-developed characters (a blind little girl is adorable), a delightful romance, toxic family dynamics, and a puzzling mystery make this story a rewarding read that will appeal to both romance and women's fiction fans. Novak (This Heart of Mine) lives in the Sacramento, CA, area.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2015
Maisey Lazarow swore she would never set foot on Fairham Island again. However, after her marriage implodes and her brother Keith attempts suicide, she realizes the place she needs to be is home. Since staying with her controlling, always critical mother is out of the question, Maisey decides to live in one of the old bungalows owned by her deceased father, only to discover a new neighbor, Rafe Romero, the contractor hired by Maisey's mother to fix up the place. Given their past romantic history, Maisey is determined to keep her distance from Rafe, but that promise becomes increasingly difficult to keep when he uncovers a cache of old family photographs. In her latest, Novak (This Heart of Mine, 2015) neatly entwines contemporary romance and women's fiction by delivering the emotionally compelling romance readers expect while at the same time thoughtfully exploring the other relationships every woman has in her life. Add a gothic-tinged plot, and you have a book with wide reader appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)