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Book Review: Secrets by Freya North

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I love British Chick Lit and I don’t know why I’ve never run across Freya North before but I can tell you that Secrets won’t be the last of her books that I read. For me this novel was a great escape from my everyday life as it was a nice and fluffy kind of read and I needed that.

Tess is in trouble – big trouble. We find her hiding with her daughter at the beginning of the novel although we have no idea why. Tess is looking for a way out so when she finds an ad in the paper about a job as a house sitter she jumps at the chance. She phones up the owner and doesn’t really give him a chance to say much before he finds that she’s telling him that she’s driving up to his place right away. He’s thinking he’s got a real nut on his hands until he opens his door to Tess and baby Em.

Joe doesn’t know why but he ends up letting Tess stay. She’s nutty and a little odd and she just seems to take over. Even stranger is she has showed up with nothing. Most house sitters he’s had come with almost everything except the kitchen sink. Tess keeps asking if she can use his stuff. He has to admit though that she seems to make a house come alive. On his first trip away Tess starts her overhaul of his place and when he comes back he has to secretly admit to himself that he kind of likes it. She’s made this house of his into a home again.

I liked Tess. She was funny and I enjoyed the exchanges between her and Joe and especially all the new British words I learned. Joe on the other hand irritated me with his playboy ways but by the end of the book I warmed up to him. He was a man who had no intentions of becoming serious with anyone and especially someone like Tess but hey, who has any power over love most of the time? To be truthful, this is a slow book. Will you find anything earth shattering in its pages – no, but you will find a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon curled up in your favorite chair. It’s like taking a look into the everyday life of two people and it worked for me. I loved that slow pace and the eventual revealing of the all important secrets that both Tess and Joe kept. I also loved the setting of Secrets- a seaside town that I would love to live in!

You can pick up your own copy of Secrets by Freya North here in the US and here in Canada.

Source:  Review copy provided by Sourcebooks via NetGalley.  No compensation was received for this review and all opinions are my own.

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    • Serena, I love Jill Mansell so, in all honesty, no this isn’t Jill. If you’re open to a new British author and go in with an open mind you’ll probably enjoy it. If you go in comparing it to Jill then I’d say you won’t. Freya’s style is a little different but I found her funny. I really enjoy British Chick Lit so I’m happy to have found another author and I will read more of hers. I hope I was able to answer your question well enough.

      • I haven’t read too many other British Chick lit authors. I might give this one a try now that I know not to expect Jill’s style.

    • Wendy, I suppose you’re right. You aren’t supposed to like the guy in the beginning. Lol. I really enjoy Kinsella. Her stand alone novels are my favorites although I do love the Shopaholic series as well.

    • Harvee, I bet you’d enjoy this one. I really need to find myself more British author’s because there is just something about their writing that I love.

  5. I can’t say that this is a genre I’m drawn to, but I do like books that have that witty British banter. They are a nice break from the heavier stuff.

    • Sandy, no this is isn’t your genre at all. I’m not sure you’d enjoy this unless you were specifically looking for something fluffy.

    • Mary, yes this is a good beach read. Unfortunately I couldn’t wait that long so I had to read it surrounded by snow. I guess that’s why I was so jealous of her being at the beach. Lol.

  7. I love chick lit, especially British and especially Jill Mansell, for the reason you state — it’s an escape. I’ll have to keep this author in mind.

    • Anna, as I said to Serena, Jill is my favorite as well but I’m open to new British author’s as well. They seem so funny in their writing and for me that is such an escape.

  8. Not sure about this one. The fact that it’s sort of slow warns me away a little bit, but the fact that Joe irritated you probably doesn’t bode well for me. I am glad that he finally became less annoying, and that you enjoyed the book though!

    • Heather, I’m not sure you’d like this one. I think you really need to be a fan of British Chick Lit and it is a slower read and I know a lot of people just don’t like that in a book. Thankfully if the story is one I like I’m ok with it.

    • Linda, I hope you get a chance to try one. I did see that she has lots of books so I’ll have quite a few to choose from. I’ve heard Pillow Talk is really good.

  11. When I do read chick lit, I prefer the English authors for some reason — I think it’s because their books tend to be a bit snarky, and I like that in my chick lit, lol. This author I’ve never heard of, though…need to check her out.

    • Beth(bookgirl), that’s the word I was looking for before – snarky. That’s what I like about British chick lit. It’s snarky and funny.

    • Marce, if it’s not a genre that you love then it’s not a book for you. I love it and wish I had more time to read more of it.

  13. This one sounds like a nice one Dar. I don’t mind if the story is slow, so long as it’s good. I do enjoy British Chick Lit and don’t read it as much as I’d like to.

  14. This book sounds wonderful! I haven’t read much by Freya North in the past, but I’ll definitely look her up in Waterstones next time I’m in. Thanks! 🙂

    If you like ‘slow build’ romances you should check out Catherine Anderson – I love her stuff! (But there’s no ‘British’ words in her books.)

  15. I’m glad that you enjoyed this one. It just didn’t work for me, but I wouldn’t say that I would not pick it up again sometime later and finish it.